MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – For the second consecutive week, the Wesleyan football team was locked in a back-and-forth dual with a league rival from Maine as the Cardinals scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:06 remaining and later saw Bowdoin kicker Jotham Casey miss the potential game-tying field goal as the clock expired, giving Wesleyan a thrilling 38-35 win on Saturday from Corwin Stadium at Andrus Field.
 
Just one week removed from marching 75 yards down the field on 13 plays for the eventual game-winning TD late in the fourth at Bates, Wesleyan pulled out another extended drive in this week's iteration. Needing a touchdown trailing by 4, the Cardinals went on a 15-play, 77-yard drive that lasted nearly six minutes, caped by a 2-yard TD from RB Charlie McPhee, his second of the day, that put Wesleyan out in front 38-35 with 1:06 left. Even with the home crowd at a fever pitch, Bowdoin calmly marched down the field as four straight pass plays of 10+ yards put the ball at the Wesleyan 20-yard line. With just four seconds left though, all Bowdoin could hope for was a FG to send the game into overtime but a Casey miss to the left was the final play of the game.
 
In an offensive slugfest that not many could have ever seen coming, a gritty Bowdoin side totaled a massive 514 yards of offense while the Cardinals nearly matched that total with 488. Between the two teams, the Polar Bears and Cardinals combined for over 1000 yards of total offense and 73 points.
 
QB David Estevez '22 continues to be the engine behind a dynamic Wesleyan offense as he finished 21-for-27 for 232 passing yards with 3 TD and 0 INT. Coming into this season with 155 career passing yards, Estevez has now thrown for 537 through four games in 2021 while he is completing passes at a ridiculous 81.1% clip to go along with 8 TD and 0 INT. He also continues to lead the team in rushing, amassing 81 yards on 17 carries in this one while he even caught one pass for nine yards.
 
Coming into this one, it seemed like the battle to watch was going to be on the ground as Bowdoin came in with the NESCAC's leading rusher (RB Andre Eden) while the Cardinals came in with the nation's seventh-ranked rushing defense (35.3 yards allowed per game). Eden went right to work with a 16 yard carry on the first play while QB Andrew Boel, making his first career start for the Polar Bears, hit the home crowd with a 51-yard hookup to Aise Pream to make it 7-0 Bowdoin just 2:25 into play.
 
Bowdoin crossed into Wesleyan territory on their next drive too but DL Zach Thannum '24 came up big with his first career sack on 3^rd-and-7, forcing a Polar Bear punt. Estevez then engineered an 80-yard TD drive as he found TE Liam Downey '22 for a 27-yard gain on 3^rd down to get the drive started. He then rushed for 19 and 11 yards before finding WR Luis Sanchez '24 for 13 to put the ball on the Bowdoin 11-yard line. After a loss of 3 on the 1^st down play, Estevez took to the air and WR Logan Tomlinson '23 came down with the TD from 14 yards out to tie the score at 7-7.
 
After a 15-play drive on the next possession, the Polar Bears came away with no points to show for a great drive as Boel was picked in the end zone by DB Alex Beauchesne '24 for the sophomore's second INT of the season. Just over two minutes later, however, the Bowdoin defense came up with a stop and on the next drive, Boel spotted Colton Fahey open deep as the two connected for a 72-yard TD as the Polar Bears retook the lead.
 
Back-and-forth the game went as QB Ashton Scott '22 took over at QB for the next Wesleyan drive and found Sanchez for a 33-yard score that tied things up at 14-14. Wesleyan's defense forced a 3-and-out and the Cardinals cashed in with a TD on the very next drive as Estevez found Downey for 14, Tomlinson for 6, Tomlinson again for 16 and Downey for 14, all through the air as Wesleyan had the ball inside the Bowdoin red zone late in the half. Estevez came two yards short of the end zone on a rush attempt but found WR Thomas Eklhoury '24 open another Wesleyan TD as the Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 21-14 just before the half.
 
Boel continued to show out in his first career start, finding Austin Hiscoe open deep right at the start of the 3^rd quarter for a 50-yard score and just a few minutes later he found Fahey again for another score as the Polar Bears led 28-21 just six minutes into the quarter.
 
Wesleyan had good field possession, taking the ball at their own 48 midway through the third quarter and four plays into the drive, they had the ball at the Bowdoin 9-yard line. Two plays later, on a 3^rd-and-goal, Estevez looked over the Bowdoin defense and spotted McPhee open in the flat as he tossed to his right and the Cardinal RB did the rest for his first career receiving TD that tied the score once again.
 
Tomlinson made an incredible leaping catch early in the fourth, stealing a would-be INT from a Polar Bear defensive back and instead hauling in a 22-yard reception to take the ball into the Bowdoin red zone. Even though the drive didn't result in a TD, K/P Daniel Yoon '24 hit from 26 yards out as Wesleyan retook the lead at 31-28 with 9:43 left.
 
The big play continued to doom the Wesleyan defense as Fahey got look down the near sideline for a 50-yard bomb as Bowdoin's fourth TD of 50+ yards on the day made it 35-31 with 7:08 left on the clock.
 
Even with that momentum swinging play, this Wesleyan squad was unfazed as the Cardinals chose to rely on the ground game in marching down the field. McPhee rushed for gains of 8, 5, 9 and 5 to kickstart the would-be game-winning TD drive. Estevez then found WR Zyaire Sterling '22 open in front of the Bowdoin bench for 10 yards and again two plays later for 9. Estevez then rushed for 3 and McPhee carried for 9 but an incomplete pass to Tomlinson in the end zone signaled a huge 4^th-and-1 play with just over a minute left. Needing a year, it was McPhee who got the off-tackle carry, plowing into the Bowdoin defensive line and gaining the 1 yard needed for the 1^st down. Estevez nearly scored on the next play, dragged down at the 2-yard line only to give to McPhee on the next play who punched in the go-ahead score.
 
With 1:06 remaining, Bowdoin quickly maneuvered down the field as Boel found several receivers open, the last of which being Bo Millett for 10 to give Boel 400+ passing yards in his first career start. That set up the would-be game-tying FG attempt that missed just wide, sending the Cardinals and the home crowd of 4,000+ home celebrating a win.
 
Wesleyan was efficient on the ground, gaining 188 yards on 38 carries while passing for a season-high 300 yards in the win. Estevez (21-for-27, 232 yards, 3 TD) and Scott (5-for-9, 68 yards, 1 TD) combined for 300 yards with 4 TD and 0 INT while completing 26-of-36 pass attempts. So far on the season, the Wesleyan QB tandem has thrown for 1,042 yards with 13 TD and 0 INT.
 
McPhee grinded out positive yardage all day long on the ground, finishing with 78 yards on 18 carries with 2 total TD (one rushing, one receiving). Of his 18 carries, only one went for a loss while he managed 78 yards and yet his longest rush of the day was just 9 yards.
 
Tomlinson had a big day with 10 catches for 118 yards and 1 TD. The junior registered his first career 100-yard game and the first for any Cardinal this season while he now has 26 catches for 370 yards with 4 TD through four games this season.  
 
Downey had a career day, going for four catches for 67 yards, both represent single-game career-highs for the senior TE. Sanchez and Elkhoury both scored for the second straight week.
 
Boel was tremendous at QB for Bowdoin, going 21-for-30 for 410 yards with 5 TD and 1 INT while he was sacked just once in his first career start. Eden gained 78 yards on just nine carries (8.7 yards per rush) while Fahey amassed a stellar total with eight catches for 221 yards and 3 TD as he hauled in more than half of Boel's passing yards.
 
Wesleyan will bring their undefeated 4-0 record on the road with them to face Tufts (0-4) on Saturday, October 16 for a 1:30 PM start. The Cardinals won the last meeting against the Jumbos 20-13 in 2019 but each of the last four meetings between the two sides has been decided by just one score.