WILIAMSTOWN, MA – In a game that delighted the packed stands of brand new Farley-Lamb field, the Williams College Ephs (1-0) blanked the Bowdoin College Polar Bears (0-1) by a score of 36-0.
The Ephs displayed facility with both the rush and pash offense: Quarterback Austin Lommen, a new transfer from Boston College, went 18-27 for 184 yards and running back Alex Scyocurka rushed for 128 yards on 19 carries. Eight of Lommen's completions were to his high school teammate Steven Kiesel, who recorded 62 yards receiving.
Williams opened the scoring on their second drive of the game with an impressive 8-play march of 65 yards to the endzone. After a tough a beautiful 21-yard pass from Lommen to WR Darrias Sime, Scyocurka capped the drive with a 15-yard run untouched into the endzone.
After neither team was able to score on their next respective possessions, Bowdoin started their drive on their own four yard line. However, Polar Bear quarterback Mac Caputi's second pass of the drive was picked off by Williams DB Taysean Scott after bouncing off the helmet of receiver Daniel Barone, and Scott was able to find an easy route to the endzone. Joe Mallock missed the PAT, putting the score at 13-0.
The Ephs forced Bowdoin to punt on their ensuing possession, and returner Tom Cabarle took it 27 yards, giving the Williams offense excellent field position on the Bowdoin 27-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Ephs QB Austin Lommen connected with WR Colin Brown on a well-run post route, moving the Ephs up to the 3. Two plays later, Jean Luc Etienne punched it in for the score, putting Williams up 19-0 following another missed extra point.
That was the score going into halftime. Neither team was able to score for much of the third quarter, despite Williams recovering a fumble inside the Bowdoin 20. After forcing another Polar Bear three-and-out, Alex Scyocurka singlehandedly ran the Ephs to paydirt, marching 56 yards on three rushes, including a 33-yard touchdown run to put the Ephs up 26-0.
Bowdoin finally made it into Ephs territory at the end of the third quarter, but two huge defensive plays by Taysean Scott to break up surefire first down completions on third and fourth down put an end to the Bowdoin drive.
The Ephs struck again on their next drive with scoring reception by Jean Luc Etienne off a dump pass by Austin Lommen, making the score 33-0 at the top of the fourth quarter. At this point Williams pulled many of its starters, including Lommen and Scyocurka in favor of QB Mark Pomella and first-year RB's Connor Harris and Greg Plumb.
After several abortive drives by both teams, Williams DB Josh Gilkerson forced another Bowdoin fumble, this time by Liam Blair-Ford, to give the Ephs the ball at the Bowdoin 44-yard line. Connor Harris netted the Ephs a first down with a tough 3-yard run on fourth down, and the drive culminated in a 28-yard field goal by Joe Mallock, setting what would be the final score of 36-0.
Despite not being able to score, the Bowdoin offense notched 212 yards of total offense, most of which came in the second half. QB Mac Caputi went 19-36 (53%) for 132 yards and 1 interception, and Tyler Grant led the Polar Bear rushing attack with 58 yards on 21 carries. Daniel Barone caught 6 passes for 45 yards, in addition to a total of 70 return yards.
On the defensive side, Jibrail Coy led the Polar Bears in tackles with six, and Jake Prince contributed 5 more, including 2 for a loss. Ephs DB Jack Ryan also recorded six tackles plus a fumble recovery, and Tom Cabarle came up with some big stops on his way to four tackles, two of which were behind the line, as well as the other recovered fumble. Cabarle also notched 44 yards on punt returns.
The Ephs were very excited to get the win to christen their new field; both Taysean Scott and Austin Lommen mentioned the satisfaction they felt in, as Lommen put it, "defending the home field and putting up a good number." Williams head coach Aaron Kelton, while clearly pleased with the victory, was guarded in his comments, saying, "The film doesn't lie: we will make any corrections we need to…We've got a really great opponent coming in next week [in Trinity]." He did praise his new quarterback, saying of Lommen: "He did a great job in his first start, he led us. That's what it's about: finding players who are going to lead us."
The victory is the Ephs' 11th straight home victory over the Polar Bears, continuing a streak dating back to 1979. Williams will take on Trinity at home next Saturday at 1:30, while Bowdoin will host Amherst.