The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Wesleyan falls in overtime thriller
Amherst kicked a field goal with 23 seconds left and then again in overtime to win
MIDDLETOWN » It seemed fitting that the 120th meeting between Little Three rivals Wesleyan and Amherst was played under one of Grantland Rice’s blue, gray October skies. But instead of a famed backfield, it was a kicker who doomed the Cardinals.
Lord Jeffs senior Phil Nwosu booted a 41-yard field goal with just 23 seconds left to tie it, then won it in overtime with another kick as Amherst defeated Wesleyan, 33-30, before a Homecoming Day crowd of 3,750 at Corwin Stadium on Andrus Field.
“Those are two of the biggest kicks you’re going to find,” said Amherst coach E.J. Mills. “He’s a clutch performer. It was a game of just a bunch of big plays. That’s what college football is all about.”
Nwosu, who made all four of his field goal attempts, delivered the game-winner from 35 yards out in a steady rain after Amherst’s defense stuffed the Cardinals on a fourth-and inches play from the 3-yard line.
“It’s just trust and believing in your teammates and yourself,” said Nwosu. “My mantra is just plant and trust…that’s it. It feels
amazing. It still hasn’t sunk in.”
The thrilling contest of NESCAC unbeatens had four lead changes in the second half.
“This is a great rivalry,” Mills added. “I’ve got a lot respect for Wesleyan. Those guys have done an amazing job and that’s a very good football team. We’re very fortunate. It was just a battle, back and forth and we just hung in there.”
Wesleyan (4-1) built a 13-10 halftime lead behind a pair of short touchdown runs from Kyle Gibson and Lou Stevens.
Ike Fuchs’ 30-yard field goal stretched the Cardinals lead to 16-10 early in the third quarter. Amherst then took their first lead when Nick Kelly scored on a 5-yard TD run, capping an 11-play, 85-yard drive for a 17-16 edge.
Wesleyan (4 -1) responded by marching 75 yards in 10 plays, regaining the lead 23-17 on a 20yard touchdown pass from JesseWarren to Jay Fabien with 2:45 left in the third quarter.
Nwosu closed the gap to 23-20 with a 30-yard field goal at the end of the third, setting the stage for a wild finish.
The first big play of the fourth quarter came from Amherst junior defensive back and local hero Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, who dove and intercepted a Warren pass at the Wesleyan 39.
“They ran two crossing routes and the quarterback didn’t see it coming and he threw it a little low and I just happened to make the play,” said Fairfield-Sonn, the former Valley Regional/Old Lyme star. “But it was a total team effort on defense. It’s all about teamwork.”
Six plays later, Kelly plunged in from the 1-yard line and the Lord Jeffs (50) led 27-23 with 11:03 left to play.
After an exchange of possessions, Warren stunned Amherst with a 68-yard TD toss to Fabien, who got behind the secondary on the left sideline and raced into the enmd zone, and the Cardinals had a 30-27 lead with 3:53 remaining.
Wesleyan regained possession at its own 34-yard line with 2:21 left in regulation.
The Cardinals, however, failed to get a first down and Warren’s punt sailed out of bounds after traveling just 12 yards, setting the Lord Jeffs up at the Wesleyan 49 with 1:34 to go.
Amherst senior quarterback Max Lippe then engineered the game-tying field goal drive, running for seven yards before hitting Gene Garay for 13 yards on a fourthand-3 play. Lippe also completed a 5-yard toss to Jackson McGonagle before Nwosu’s field goal tied it at 30.
“We made some mistakes, obviously,” said Wesleyan coach Mike Whalen. “In the first half it was some of the personal fouls I think that cost us and then in the second half we made some errors in the special teams. Anytime you give somebody a short field with a weapon like (Nwosu) they’re usually going to come out with points. Then at the end of regulation if we could have pinned them down there (with the punt) thenmaybe it’s a different outcome. But there’s no one play that wins or loses the game. I’m proud of the way our kids played and battled.”
Wesleyan had the ball first in overtime and drove to the Amherst 3-yard line. But on fourth-and-1, Gibson was stopped by junior defensive back Chris Gow and a swarm of Amherst defenders.
“Right before that Coach Mills said this is the season right here and who’s going to step up and make a play,” FairfieldSonn said. “The whole defense pushed them back and won the game for us.”
The chain was brought out and Gibson’s run was just inches short.
“It looked like he had a little more than what they gave us,” Whalen said. “We thought about (a field goal) but we felt that to win the game we were going to need to get a touchdown. With their kicker anything inside of 40 yards is almost automatic for him. We were going to go for six. It was a heck of a game.”
Lippe completed 20 of 32 passes for 158 yards, Kelly led all rushers with 122 yards on 22 carries, while Garay had nine receptions for 99 yards for Amherst, which leads the series 69-42-9.
Warren finished 19-of26 for 305 yards and Stevens gained 81 yards on 24 attempts.
Besides a second straight Little Three crown, Wesleyan was also vying to go 5-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since the school’s glory days in 1947-48.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Whalen. “But we’ll come back on Monday and get ready. There’s still a lot of football that has to be played. We have to take care of business the next three weeks. We’re still in the thick of things. Right now we don’t control our own destiny so we’ll see what happens.”