MEDFORD, MASS, - The Wesleyan football team, or Cardiac Cardinals as they have recently been nicknamed, just seem to love dramatic endings. This Saturday marks the 3^rd straight week where they have had to drive down and produce a go-ahead 4^th quarter score to win the game. Today version came earlier than the past two weeks, as the Cardinals began their drive at their own 7-yard line with 12:15 remaining. The 13-play, 93 yard drive gave Wesleyan the lead with 4:54 left. The defense made their stop, and the offense way able to run out the clock from there.

The Cardinals have come alive in the final quarter all season, producing some of the better finishes in the NESCAC. Two weeks ago, they had to drive down the field on a 13-play 75-yard drive against Bates to take the lead with less than five minutes to go. The drive was capped off by five-yard touchdown pass from David Estevez '22. Then just last week against Bowdoin, the Cardinals pushed the ball down the field on a 15-play 77-yard touchdown drive that put them ahead by 3 with only 1:06 remaining. Bowdoin was able to drive down to the 20-yard line, but could not capitalize on the field goal attempt pushing it left as the clock struck triple zeros. Then came today, where Wesleyan proved once again that they are one of the best fourth quarter teams in the conference. The 13-play, 93-yard drive was finished off by a 3rd down 4-yard rush by Estevez to put the Cardinals up for good.

A matchup between two of the highest scoring teams in the NESCAC did not disappoint. The teams combined for 71 points in a thrilling 36-35 contest that saw a handful of explosive plays by both offenses. Wesleyan produced 618 total yards of offense, while Tufts was able to put together 521, together exceeding the 1100-yard mark. Wesleyan's 618 yards set a team record for a single game, breaking the previous record set in 1994 vs. Bates (599). The defenses did allow their fair share of yards, however, both came through with multiple big plays including four forced fumbles, two blocked kicks, and an interception.

It seems like every time the offense needs a big play QB David Estevez is there. He was again Saturday, putting together 474 total yards of offense to lead the Cardinals once again. His 474 total yards set record number two of the afternoon for the Cardinals, breaking the previous record set by Jim Lukowski in 1985. He finished 13-23 for 270 yards and a touchdown. He also threw his first interception of the year, breaking a streak of four straight games to open the year. Estevez was even better on the ground, rushing 22 times for 204 yards and two touchdowns. He is now up to 807 yards and 9 TD's through the air in five games while completing 73.7% of his passes. Possibly even more impressively he has a team leading 451rush yards to go with two touchdowns on only 78 carries giving him over 5.8 yards per rush.

The high scoring affair began with some defense. The Wesleyan defense was able to get a stop on the opening drive, however Jack Nally '24 fumbled the punt. The turnover was quickly negated by a three and out forced by the Cardinals who returned the favor, punting three plays later. Tufts tested that stiff Wesleyan run defense (52.5 yards allowed per game), starting their next drive with two straight rushes going for 14 and 18 yards. After a six-yard completion to John Andre, the Jumbos went back to the ground with Tyler Johnson for another 14 yards. In three plays Tufts had nearly surpassed the average rush yards allowed by the Cardinals defense. The drive stalled at the Wesleyan 30-yard line thanks to a Jackson Eighmy '22 tackle for loss set up a 4^th and 20.

Estevez and the offense took over at their own 30-yard line, and immediately got to work. The QB scrambled towards the sideline and picked up 15 to start the drive, a theme in today's contest. The Tufts defense has struggled to keep teams from rushing on them all year, but the big play on this drive came through the air as Estevez connected with Logan Tomlinson '23 for 54 yards setting them up at the 1-yard line. They cashed into the endzone the following play as Charlie McPhee '22 scored putting Wesleyan up 6-0. It would stay that way as the extra point was blocked by Brendan Coughli.

The Tufts offense once again was not able to move the ball into Cardinal territory the following possession. After one first down to their own 35-yard line, the Wesleyan defense held strong and forced a punt. The Wesleyan drive once again started with an Estevez run this time of six yards, pushing the ball to the 50-yard line. After a 1-yard loss, Estevez went to the air to McPhee connecting on a 54-yard catch and run to have the Cardinals in business down to the Tufts 3-yard line. Estevez marched to the line and took it himself to open up the score to 12-0, as Daniel Yoon '24 pushed the extra point wide.

The next Tufts drive took them into the second quarter, beginning with a Michael Berluti pass to Chase Mangini for 10 yards. Two incompletions made it look like the drive when then coming to an end, however, Berluti scrambled out of the pocket for 26 yards and into Wesleyan territory. The drive would then stall, forcing the Jumbos to punt.

Tufts defense finally came through on Wesleyan's next possession as CB Brandyn Jones completed his first of two forced fumbles on the day. Jones was able to jar the ball free from Tomlinson after he had picked up the first down, setting up the Tufts offense in plus territory. After two incomplete passes Berluti used his legs, scrambling for 36 yards and a Jumbo touchdown. The extra point was good, and the score was now 12-7.

The Cardinals made quick work of the Tufts defense the following possession, as they connected on two big plays to find themselves back in the endzone and in control of the game once again. First was a 48-yard catch by WR Zyaire Sterling '22. It was followed up by a nice 27-yard connection to Tomlinson for his 5^th receiving TD of the year. The extra point was good and Wesleyan was back up 19-7. The Wesleyan defense was able to force a fumble a few plays later thanks to leading tackler, Danny Banks '22.

Following the fumble by Billy Dunn, the Tufts defense held forcing a field goal attempt. Yoon came through and kicked the 33-yard field goal in between the uprights pushing the Wesleyan lead to 15. The Tufts offense came alive to end the half as Berluti found WR Philip Lutz open in the middle of the field for a 61-yard touchdown. The defense followed, with another forced fumble following a big 23-yard run by Estevez. The strip sack set Tufts up with great field position at the Wesleyan 37-yard line.

After another big Berluti scramble of 24 yards, the QB connected with Mangini for a two-yard TD pass to set the halftime score of 22-21. Wesleyan tried to push the ball down the field in the final seconds of the half, but came up short. A Tomlinson 31-yard reception was then fumbled as time expired in the first half.
Ashton Scott '22 came on to quarterback the team on the opening drive for Wesleyan. He completed an 11-yard pass to Tomlinson, followed by a 11-yard run by McPhee but the drive stalled from there. Tufts went to the ground to open the second half as Johnson ran for three, 14, then 19 yards on consecutive plays moving the Jumbos into the Wesleyan side of the field. This set up a long pass play from Berluti to WR Jackson Butler for 24 more yards. The Cardinal defense was able to hold up, as Keith Henderson '23 came through with a sack forcing a punt.

The Pat Walsh punt pinned the Wesleyan offense back inside their own two-yard line. It wouldn't stay like that for long, as Estevez broke through the line and went racing down the far sideline before eventually being caught from behind at the Tufts 10-yard line. A 88 yard run, set up a first and goal for the Cardinals. They immediately put the ball in the endzone, as they brought in Scott again to throw a spiral to TE Ezra Jenifer '23 adding to the Cardinal lead.
Tufts marched right back down the field. Berluti connected on passes of 16,11, and 17 yards consecutively, followed by a trio of Johnson runs of 7 or more yards. The drive was capped off by a 13-yard reception from Butler, who also tied the game with a leaping one-hand catch for the two-point conversion knotting the game at 29.

After a Wesleyan three and out, Tufts went for the big play as Berluti found Lutz for the catch and run of 55 yards before being pushed out of bounds at the Wesleyan seven-yard line. The next play, Berluti threw a swing pass to an open Johnson who made two men miss before crossing the goal line. Then came perhaps the biggest play of the game, as the extra point was blocked by Danny Banks keeping it at only a six-point deficit.

The next Wesleyan drive saw Estevez get picked off by Jonathan O'Nea, his first interception thrown of the year. The Cardinals were able to get the ball back and drive down the field on the game deciding possession of the game. The big play came when Tomlinson took a carry for 33 yards, setting them up in Tuft's territory. Estevez and McGee took turns rushing before the QB found his way into the endzone on a four-yard score. The extra point was put through by Yoon and Wesleyan had taken the lead. Wesleyan forced a quick three and out, and at 4:34 left that would be the last time Tufts touched the ball on offense. Wesleyan ran out the clock, converting on a crucial 3^rd and six as Estevez found Jenifer open off of the play action leading to a 19 yard gain and a Cardinals victory.

Wesleyan rushed the ball extremely well today, finishing with 277 yards on the ground. Estevez led the way for the Cardinals with 22 rushes for 204 and 2 TD's. McPhee added 34 yards on 15 carries and a TD. Through the air it was also Estevez leading the way with 270 yards on 13-23, to go with a TD and an INT. Ashton Scott threw for 71 yards and a TD as well. The leading receiver for the Cardinals was Tomlinson with 10 catches for 186 yards and a touchdown.

For Tufts, it was a combination of rushing and throwing as well. Berluti led the way with 314 yards and four TD's on 27-46 passing. On the ground it was the combination of Berluti (7 rushes, 104 yds) and Johnson (13 rushes, 88 yds). The top receiver for the Jumbos today was Lutz with nine catches for 94 yards and a touchdown.

Wesleyan (5-0) will try to stay undefeated as they head back to Corwin Stadium next week to play host to Middlebury (1-4) on Saturday at 1 PM.