/notables/2021/11/week11-wrapup-rivalries

Wabash deals DePauw blow; Williams winds up perfect

The Ephs ended a 10-season drought with the NESCAC championship.
Williams athletics photo
 

The Cortaca Jug game and the Dutchman Shoes each had national implications for the NCAA playoffs, while Wabash handed DePauw a stinging loss heading into the postseason, Randolph-Macon extended its winning streak in The Game and Williams beat Amherst to finish a season 9-0 for the first time. 

The Cortaca Jug and Dutchman Shoes games can be found covered in our Week 11 national roundup.

DePauw, already the winners of the North Coast Athletic Conference, took a 21-0 lead on Wabash in the first quarter of their Monon Bell rivalry game, the first one played in Wabash's brand-new stadium. Liam Thompson dialed up some magic, however, when he hit tight end Jackson Clayborne for 18 yards to set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak to cap a 75-play drive that got Wabash on the scoreboard and the crowd into the game early in the second quarter. Leading 21-7, the Tigers marched straight down the field on the Little Giants, but senior Kamron Ferguson intercepted a Chase Andries pass at the Wabash 7-yard line to kill the drive. Two drives later, Thompson again had Wabash on the move, hitting Derek Allen for gains of five and 26 yards and Clayborne for nine more. With 8,400 fans expecting Thompson to sneak it in from the 1-yard line with 47 seconds left in the half, he faked it and handed off to Heisman Skeens for a jet sweep touchdown run, and Wabash was within seven, 21-14. The Little Giants (6-4) remained within seven late in the third at 28-21 before outscoring DePauw 21-7 the rest of the way to win the 127th meeting of the teams. Wabash leads the all-time series 63-55, with nine ties.

Williams finished the season 9-0 for the first time and won the NESCAC for the first time since 2010, defeating archrival Amherst 24-19 in front of an announced crowd of 7,000. It's the first unbeaten season for the Ephs since the conference expanded to a nine-game schedule in 2017. With under a minute to go, the Mammoths faced fourth-and-10 at their own 47-yard line. Quarterback Chad Peterson dropped back to pass and threw to Joe Masterson, his favorite receiver on the day, about 3 yards past the sticks. Masterson, covered by two Williams defenders, attempted to make a sliding catch but couldn't corral the ball before it hit the ground, effectively sealing the game for the Ephs. Bobby Maimaron, playing his final game of his fourth and final season for Williams, went 11-of-14 for 257 passing yards.

The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy retained the Secretaries' Cup with a convincing 49-14 victory at archrival Coast Guard. The win improves the Mariners' record to 8-1 (5-1 NEWMAC) on the season, with the eight wins tying a program record for victories in a season in coach Mike Toop's final regular season game as head coach. The Bears end the year 2-8, 0-6. Merchant Marine hopes to receive a postseason bowl game invite. Ian Blankenship passed for 126 yards, completing five of nine attempts with two TDs, while also leading the team with 154 yards on the ground.

Randolph-Macon defeated Hampden-Sydney for the eighth consecutive time as the 126th edition of The Game went to the Yellow Jackets by a 37-14 score. Sophomore quarterback Brecht Heuchan threw for 265 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Randolph-Macon improved to 9-1 and has the faintest of hopes of getting an at-large bid on Sunday. There are just five at-large bids to divide up among the 27 conferences with automatic bids in Division III football. Defensive end Tyler DeBerry led the R-MC defense with 11 tackles, including eight solo stops. He had one and a half tackles for loss, a quarterback sack, one forced fumble and a quarterback hurry.

The Sixth Street Rivalry game ended up in an upset, as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps fell into a 21-0 first-half hole and couldn't crawl back out of it. Pomona-Pitzer came away with a 24-10 win in the season finale. Pomona-Pitzer ends its season at 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the SCIAC, while CMS concludes its season at 7-3, 4-2. Justin Edwards came into the day with 1,090 yards and a program-record 16 touchdowns, but was held to 56 yards and no scores by the Sagehen defense. Evan Flitz threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third in the win, which avenged a 25-3 loss in the season opener.

Franklin is getting the Victory Bell back after the Grizzlies put up 27 second-half points to defeat Hanover 27-16. It's the first time that Franklin has won the bell and the rivalry game since 2017. The teams have met 91 times, with Hanover leading the season 45-43-3. Franklin set the tone with a three-and-out defensively to open the second half and cut Hanover's lead to 10-7. The Grizzlies took the lead midway through the third quarter and retook the lead at the end of the third.

Dec. 15: All times Eastern
Final
Cortland 38, at North Central (Ill.) 37
@ Salem, Virginia
Video Box Score Recap Photos
Dec. 9: All times Eastern
Final
North Central (Ill.) 34, at Wartburg 27
Box Score Recap
Final
Cortland 49, at Randolph-Macon 14
Box Score Recap Recap Recap Photos
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