Box Score SOMERVILLE – Tufts University and Williams College locked horns in a tremendous back-and-forth NESCAC football battle on Saturday with the Ephs taking a 32-29 overtime victory at the newly renovated Ellis Oval.
Tufts had moved ahead 26-23 – the seventh lead change of the game - at 6:30 of the fourth quarter when junior running back Tyler Johnson scored on a one-yard run capping a 10-play, 79-yard drive. However, Williams' freshman kicker Ivan Shuran booted a 33-yard field goal with 43 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to send the game to OT tied 26-26.
Williams won the overtime toss and gave Tufts the ball first. Junior Patrick Walsh was good on a 40-yard field goal attempt for a 29-26 Tufts advantage. However, Williams senior QB Bobby Maimaron connected for 17 yards to classmate Frank Stola down to the eight-yard line on the Ephs' first play of their OT possession. Two plays later, junior Joel Nicholas scored on a four-yard rush to give the visitors the victory.
Johnson was outstanding in his first career start for Tufts, rushing 22 times for 114 yards and a touchdown and also catching three balls for 59 yards. His 49-yard run on the third play of the game led to Tufts' first touchdown. Junior tight end Joshua Meriwether made a great one-handed grab in the left side of the end zone for a 10-yard score from junior QB Trevon Woodson. The extra point kick was blocked.
A pair of Williams sacks, in which senior Ian Devine was involved with both, helped give the Ephs the ball at the Tufts 39 to start a possession later in the first period. After converting a fourth and one from the 13, the Ephs scored on a 10-yard Maimaron run to take a 7-6 lead.
In the middle of the second quarter, Woodson completed a fourth-down conversion pass to graduate receiver OJ Armstrong and then a 20-yard throw to junior Philip Lutz (pictured) on a third and 11 play. That led to Armstrong's 12-yard touchdown catch at 8:12 of the second for a 12-7 Jumbo advantage after the PAT was blocked again.
The Tufts defense did a great job limiting Maimaron – the NESCAC Player of the Week after Williams' 41-13 victory against Middlebury last Saturday – and the Ephs over the first 30 minutes. The hosts took the 12-7 lead into halftime.
The Ephs would gain some momentum with two third-quarter scores giving them a 19-16 lead. Senior Dan Vaughn caught a 21-yard TD pass from Maimaron at 10:36 and Shuran launched a 44-yard field goal with 3:01 on the clock.
Though Tufts did not score in the third, they started a scoring drive late in the period that would give them a 19-16 lead on the first play of the fourth. With Woodson out of the game due to an injury, sophomore quarterback Matt Crowley led a seven-play, 89-yard drive that culminated with a 47-yard scoring pass to Lutz who jetted down the left sideline for the score. Crowley's 28-yard pass to junior Billy Dunn and a Williams pass interference call on a Crowley ball to Jackson Butler had converted third downs during the drive.
Williams responded, completing two third and longs and a fourth and one on their next possession leading to a two-yard Nicholas touchdown. That put the visitors up 23-19 with 11 minutes on the fourth-quarter clock and led to the dramatic finish.
Williams gained 387 total yards to Tufts' 377. The Jumbos (0-2) passed for 240 yards with Woodson completing 8 of 13 for 99 yards and two TDs before he left, and then Crowley coming on to go six for 16 for 141 yards and a TD. Lutz caught five passes for 104 yards and the TD while Armstrong finished with five receptions for 31 yards and his TD.
Williams (2-0) had 184 yards on the ground to Tufts' 137. Nicholas gained 99 yards with the two TDs on 22 carries. Maimaron ran 12 times for 64 yards and a score while completing 14 of 28 passes for 203 yards and a TD. Stola caught five passes for 83 yards.
Defensively, Brandyn Jones and Spencer Alligood led Tufts with 10 tackles. Michael Butler recorded 1.5 tackles for losses. On the Williams side, Devine (seven tackles) and TJ Rothmann (eight tackles) both had two sacks. Coleston Smith led he Ephs with a game-high 13 stops.
Watch Post-Game Comments from Tufts Coach Jay Civetti ...
