Scoreboard

Week Eleven Game Summaries

Amherst 20, Williams 12
AMHERST, Mass. -- Senior Amherst football tri-captain Brian Daoust picked off three passes from Williams College rookie quarterback Jake Moore and fellow Tri-captain Matt Hall and junior Derrell Wright each tallied more than 100 receiving yards as the Jeffs defeated archrival Williams for the first time since 1986, rallying from a 9-0 halftime deficit to earn a 20-12 win and their first outright Little Three title in 14 years.

"It's unbelievable, because these kids and this coaching staff worked so hard," said Amherst Head Coach E.J. Mills, who was 0-3 against Williams entering Saturday. "Our kids just wanted it so bad.  It's a culmination of a lot of hard work over a lot of years.  I just couldn't be happier."

Despite the happy ending the game would start on an ugly note for both teams, with Williams kicker Robert Kaufman missing a 41-yard field goal attempt before the teams traded punts. On the Ephs' third possession, the visitors got going, mounting a 71-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD run from rookie Tyler Shea. Moore, who came in for starter Joe Reardon after he had been shaky on the first two series, came up with the big play of the drive, connecting with senior Colin Vataha for a 57-yard pass to set up the Shea run.

The Jeffs would punt again on their next possession, before the Williams offense marched right back downfield. Moore completed passes on five of his six attempts on the drive, including a 25-yard strike to Vataha, before a big sack by Amherst defensive linemen Ted Hollo and Gregg Stanewicz on third-and-three forced the Ephs to settle for a 36-yard field goal by Kaufman. Nevertheless, the Ephs, after scoring on back-to-back possessions, had a 9-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

That lead would last through halftime, as Williams outgained the Jeffs 183-94 in the opening 30 minutes. Half of Amherst's 94 yards came on a 47-yard Hall reception from senior signal-caller Peter Honig late in the second quarter to get the Jeffs inside the Williams 10, before a third-down sack by Mark Rosenthal forced Amherst to settle for a field goal, which senior Liam Fleming pulled wide to the left.

After an offensively anemic first half, the Jeffs, with a 0-12-1 record against Williams in the last 13 meetings between the two teams, came charging out of the gates in the second half. After an 11-yard Honig rush and an 11-yard completion to Hall, junior Jeff tailback Okey Ugwonali broke free on a reverse for a 52-yard gain down to the Williams 1, before Honig took it in himself two plays later to close the Jeffs to within two.

"We had the momentum right from the beginning of the second half," said Honig. "It was a real big thing for us to get that touchdown.  It definitely gave us a lot of confidence."

From there, Amherst continued to move the ball well throughout the third quarter, while Williams struggled. Neither team was able to break through, however, so the 9-7 Williams lead lasted into the fourth quarter. On the opening drive of the final period, the Ephs marched the ball 34 yards to the Amherst 43, before Moore coughed the ball up -- the third of four Williams turnovers on the afternoon. Amherst junior Kevin Bush pounced on the loose ball, giving the Jeffs the ball in good field position early in the fourth.

The hosts didn't waste the opportunity, with Honig connecting with Wright for a 36-yard completion on the second play after the turnover, getting the ball to the Williams 4. From there, a pair of Ugwonali carries got the ball into the end zone, as the Jeffs took the lead for the first time, going ahead 13-9 after missing the 2-point conversion attempt, with the passing game leading the way.

"We knew it was there in the first half," said Wright. "We were just having some problems with our timing.  Our offensive line did an awesome job giving Pete time to throw and we were getting open in the second half."

After Williams punted on its ensuing drive, the Amherst offense went to work once more, beginning with a 32-yard completion from Honig to Hall. On the second play of the drive, Honig found Wright for 16 yards, before a short rush and an incomplete pass found the Jeffs facing third-and-7 from the Williams 22 with 8:24 remaining. On one of the biggest plays of the game, Honig evaded the Williams rush to hit Wright, wide open over the middle, for a 22-yard score. Fleming's PAT put the Jeffs ahead 20-9.

The game was far from over, since Amherst had held fourth-quarter leads in three of the last four meetings between the two teams (all four Williams wins), as the Ephs came back with a scoring drive of their own, as Moore completed four of six passes to lead Williams inside the Amherst 10. On third down, however, Amherst tri-captain Dan Lalli, who finished with a career-high 15 tackles on the day, stopped Williams senior Ken Ojukwu short of a first down, forcing the Ephs to settle for a field goal, a 25-yarder from Kaufman that split the uprights.

The Williams defense held Amherst to three-and-out on their next possession, but the Amherst kicking game, beset with problems all season, came through in the clutch, as sophomore punter Geoff Bough turned in a 61-yard punt to pin the Ephs deep in their own territory with 2:16 to play.

Then Daoust, who had already picked off Moore passes in the second and third quarters, came up with one more on the Ephs' first play of the drive, outleaping Vataha at midfield to seal Amherst's biggest win in 14 years. From there, the Jeffs ran the clock out, taking the 2000 edition of the "Biggest Little Game in America" by snapping the "Biggest Little Winless Streak in America" at a lucky 13.

Daoust led a quintet of exceptional performances by Amherst players, including Lalli's 15 tackles and 100-yard games from Hall, Wright and Ugwonali. Hall finished the day with four receptions for 101 yards, Wright pulled in eight passes for 122, and Ugwonali added 18 carries for 107 yards, as the Jeffs racked up 352 yards of total offense -- 258 in the second half.

Williams was paced offensively by Vataha and senior Matt Student, who pulled in eight passes for 41 yards to set a single-season school record for receptions. Moore finished 13-for-21 for 170 yards, but with three costly interceptions and the game's lone lost fumble, while Honig turned in a solid all-around game, finishing 15-for-31 for 230 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

With the win, the Jeffs finish the 2000 season with a 7-1 record as the outright champions of the Little Three, thanks to the win over Williams and their 9-7 win at Wesleyan on October 21. The squad is also assured of a share of the NESCAC title, along with 7-1 Colby and 7-1 Middlebury, but that pales in comparison to the enormity of finally upending their archrivals.

"What can you say?" reflected a jubilant Honig. "We played this game for a lot of people.  Not just for our players, but for all the teams that came before us.  I'm just so happy that we were the team that could do it."

Williams finishes its 2000 campaign with a 5-3 record. With the loss, the Ephs fail to capture at least a share of the Little Three title for the first time since the last Amherst win, the 10-7 game from 1986 that can finally be forgotten, now that the Jeffs have relegated the "Biggest Little Winless Streak in America" to little more than an obscure historical footnote.

Ithaca 19, Cortland State 14
CORTLAND, N.Y. -- Ithaca built a 19-0 second-half lead and held off a furious Cortland rally over the final seven minutes to defeat the Red Dragons 19-14 in the annual battle for the Cortaca Jug in front of an estimated 8,200 fans at Cortland's Davis Field.

Ithaca scored on three of its first four possessions in the second half. Junior Brian Young capped off an 11-play, 85-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Conor Mulkeen with 9:07 left in the third quarter. Senior running back Tommy Giorgio rushed for 111 yards on a school-record 39 carries. He scored on a 1-yard run with 5:17 left in the third quarter to put the Bombers ahead 13-0 and threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to wide-open senior Ted Sullivan on a halfback option with 8:31 left in the game. Ithaca had the extra point kick on its second touchdown blocked and failed on a two-point pass on its third score.

Cortland began its comeback with a six-play, 76-yard scoring drive. Senior Ryan McCarthy completed 33-yard and 17-yard passes to freshman tight end Tony Romano, followed by a 6-yard touchdown pass to senior Rocco Colucci with 6:31 left.

Cortland almost recovered an ensuing onsides kick, giving Ithaca the ball at the Cortland 40-yard line. The Red Dragons stopped the Bombers on downs at the 17-yard line with 3:36 left. McCarthy completed a 13-yard pass to senior Brian Babst and, two plays later, a 21-yard completion to Colucci. On the next play, McCarthy rolled right, then threw back left to Romano, who broke a tackle and raced 49 yards for a touchdown. The extra point kick closed the Ithaca lead to 19-14 with 3:01 remaining.

Cortland elected to kick deep instead of trying an onsides kick again. The Bombers started on their own 15-yard line and had two Giorgio rushes go for no gain. On third down, Giorgio fumbled a pitch from Young and the ball was recovered by Cortland junior defensive end Paul Camillo on the Ithaca 6-yard line with 1:57 left.

After a delay of game penalty pushed the Red Dragons back to the 11-yard line, McCarthy completed a 4-yard pass to sophomore tailback Brinton Battle to the 7-yard line. Battle rushed for 2 yards on second down and a pass to Babst was stopped for no gain at the 5-yard line with 30 seconds left. On fourth down, an Ithaca blitz forced McCarthy to rush his throw to Babst near the goal line. The pass eluded Babst's reach and fell incomplete, giving the ball back to Ithaca on downs with 26 seconds remaining.

The teams played a scoreless first half with no real scoring chances except for a missed 42-yard field goal by Cortland's George Oostmeyer on the final play of the half.

McCarthy finished 26-for-46 passing for a career-high 333 yards. Ithaca's defense, however, recorded seven sacks -- three each by junior linebacker Mark McDonough and senior defensive end Mike McGreevy -- and held the Red Dragons to minus-19 yards rushing. McDonough registered 15 tackles. Babst led Cortland with nine catches for 85 yards and finished the season with 60 receptions, making him the fourth player in school history to reach that mark. Romano finished with five catches for 113 yards and sophomore linebacker Todd Goodwin recorded 16 tackles and an interception.

Ithaca leads 34-22-3 in the overall series between the schools, which are located 25 miles apart in Central New York. The Bombers hold a 29-13 edge since the Cortaca Jug was introduced as the traveling trophy for the rivalry in 1959. The visiting team has won the last four games in the series.

DePauw 27, Wabash 17
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- How do you win the Bell? You have a plan, adjust, play through adversity, deal with huge swings of emotion and momentum and finally just want it more than the guys across the line of scrimmage.

DePauw did all of the above in scrapping its way to a 27-17 victory against a game Wabash squad for the Tigers' fifth straight Monon Bell victory under the gray skies of Hollett Little Giant Stadium. 

The win, in the 107th meeting, lifted DePauw's advantage in the series to 50-48-9 and 34-29-6 since the Monon Bell was introduced in 1932.

The game figured to be a close, high-scoring affair. Wabash (6-3) was coming off a 69-33 victory against Denison. Sophomore quarterback Jake Knott (son of another Wabash quarterback Dave Knott and brother of 1998 DePauw graduate Sarah Knott) put up big numbers all year.

DePauw at 5-4 had reeled off five wins in a row after four heartbreaking defeats by a combined total of 18 points against quality teams. The Tigers had a solid quarterback in Jason Lee, and two talented receivers, Joe Schoen, who broke DePauw's season reception record last week and Dan Ryan, who was one score away from breaking Jamie Cunha's season touchdown record. 

The script didn't play out as planned as the first half turned out to be a tense defensive struggle dotted with turnovers that ended in a 3-3 deadlock, and, as often happens in this contest, there are unlikely stars.

The second half began with the Tigers kicking off and Wabash's committing yet another turnover. The Tigers capitalized when Rondell Ferguson caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Lee, and the Tigers looked to be on a roll. The point-after failed, though, and the score was 9-3.

But Wabash came back, and not only surged ahead on a 3-yard sneak by Knott but also tacked on another touchdown on a pass from Knott to Ryan Short with just less than 10 minutes to go in regulation. The score was 17-9, and the momentum seemed to have shifted to Wabash.

DePauw began yet another fourth quarter comeback as it marched 71 yards in nine plays capped off by Lee's 30-yard pass to John Stephens with 6:51 left. Stephens was playing the game with a broken wrist and will have surgery Tuesday. The Tigers went for two and the tie. Lee completed a pass to Schoen who appeared to have crossed the plain, but was ruled just short.

The Tiger defense stepped it up again as they have all season as Freddy Marrero stopped Wabash back Korey Mauck for a 5-yard loss on first down. DePauw held and after a short punt and Stephens' 12-yard return, they had the ball on the Wabash 23. 

Lee completed an 8-yard strike to Stephens and then Jackson Rust ran it in from 15 yards to give the Tigers a 21-17 lead with just 4:26 left.

On its next series, Wabash had a third-and-one from their own 22, but Jason Geringer stopped Mauck for a 3-yard loss forcing the Little Giants to punt.

The Tigers needed just six plays to put the game away as Lee teamed with Stephens for a 25-yard score to make it 27-17 with only 1:03 left.

DePauw head coach Nick Mourouzis said that he had never been so proud of a team. "Wabash's motto is that 'Wabash always fights.' At DePauw, we say, 'DePauw never quits.' That's what you saw on the field today. Our guys refused to lose."

Quarterback Lee, on the field despite a torn anterior cruciate ligament, played with poise and leadership and stood in time and again against ferocious Wabash front-four pressure. He completed 25 of 42 passes for 276 yards. 

The Tiger defense forced six turnovers, the last by defensive back John Christophersen to ring the 2000 Bell once and for all. But that wouldn't have been possible had it not been for the overall day-long pressure on the dangerous Knott, particularly keeping him from getting outside on the scramble.

Lee saluted his offensive line: "Our guys played great. They held their own against a great front four."