BRUNSWICK, Me. – Doomed by some costly miscues throughout the first three quarters, the Wesleyan football team nearly salvaged a fourth quarter comeback but a two-point conversion attempt in the closing minutes that would have tied the score came up short as the Cardinals fell to the Bowdoin Polar Bears 26-22 on Saturday afternoon. Wesleyan (4-2) sees their three-game win streak snapped while the Polar Bears (2-4) record their first win since week one.
 
In a game where Wesleyan dominated the counting stats, outgaining Bowdoin nearly 2:1 (502-261), several miscues loomed large as Bowdoin took advantage of a poor punt in the first quarter, a dropped punt return in the second quarter, a pick-six in the third quarter and two Wesleyan trips to the red zone that resulted in no points.
 
The Cardinals rushed for 162 yards on the day, compared to just 54 for the Polar Bears, as the Cardinals averaged 5.2 yards per carry while holding the Polar Bears to just 1.9 yards per attempt. The passing totals were much the same, as Wesleyan threw for 340 yards compared to 207 for Bowdoin.
 
QB Niko Candido '25 threw for a career-high 230 yards, going 13-for-20 through the air with 2 TD and 1 INT. QB David Estevez '22 struggled hitting his targets, going just 9-for-23 on his attempts, but his nine completions went for 110 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT. As a tandem, the Cardinals' QB duo combined for 340 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT.
 
RB Charlie McPhee '22 was effective on the ground throughout, recording 104 yards on 12 carries, averaging 8.7 yards per rush. This marked McPhee's third career 100+ rushing yard performance and his first of the season.
 
WR Logan Tomlinson '22 continued to produce at an elite level, recording seven catches for 96 yards and 1 TD. The senior now has 44 catches for 592 yards and 7 TD through six games in 2022. WR Matt Simco '22 added five catches for 78 yards while Chase Wilson '25 went for four catches for 65 yards. WR Thomas Elkhoury '24 recorded two catches for 50 yards and two scores on the afternoon.
 
On defense, S Chris Guttman '23 recorded his first career interception but the Cardinal defense wasn't able to register a sack for the first time this season.
 
Wesleyan started the game positively with a touchdown on their first offensive possession. On the first Cardinal play on offense, Estevez found TE Matt Luttenberger '24 open for 24 yards  and two plays later, McPhee rushed 24 yards to the Bowdoin 25-yard line. Later on 4^th-and-13, Estevez connected with Simco for a crucial 15-yard pick up. And later on 3^rd-down inside the 10-yard line, Estevez carried over the goal line to make it 7-0 Wesleyan midway through the first.
 
After another Bowdoin punt, the Cardinals were pinned deep and after being held on 3^rd down, an eight-yard punt gave the Polar Bears the ball back inside the red zone. The Wesleyan defense nearly held as Bowdoin had a 3^rd-and-goal play from the 1-yard line that was punched in by RB Andre Eden to tie the score.
 
Just a few minutes later, as Bowdoin was punting from the Wesleyan 44-yard line, a fumbled return gave Bowdoin the ball back once again deep inside Cardinal territory. This time on a 4^th-and-goal play from the 1, Eden again found enough daylight to punch in another score to give Bowdoin a 14-7 lead.
 
Bowdoin later made it 21-7 with a drive that went 64 yards in five plays. QB Andrew Bowl found Colton Fahey for 20 yards and Brendan King for 29 on consecutive plays. He then connected with Fahey once again to score another TD for Bowdoin.
 
Wesleyan had a big answer towards the end of the half, marching 74 yards down the field in 12 plays in a drive that lasted only 2:18 of game clock as the Cardinals relied upon the no-huddle offense to make it a one-score game. The Cardinals converted three key third downs on the drive, including an Estevez connection to Elkhoury for a 17-yard TD on what was a 3^rd-and-10 play inside the red zone.
 
Trailing 21-14 at the half, Wesleyan nearly tied the score up on their first series in the second half. Wesleyan marched 56 yards down the field before seeing their drive stall out in the red zone, with two straight incompletions finishing the drive as the Cardinals came up empty.
 
Just as Guttman made a big play on 3^rd-down with Bowdoin driving inside the Wesleyan red zone on the next series, on the very next play, Max Jacobs intercepted Candido and took the turnover 10 yards in for a score as Bowdoin reclaimed their 14-point lead.
 
Looking for an answer, the Cardinals again came up empty on a possession where they had the ball on the Bowdoin 8-yard line with a 1^st-and-goal play. A negative rush attempt followed by three straight incompletions resulted in another scoreless possession inside the red zone.
 
As the clock wound under seven minutes to play, Candido led the Cardinals down the field with chunk passing plays to five different receivers including a 22-yard pitch and catch to McPhee out of the backfield. With the ball on the Bowdoin 16-yard line, Candido found Tomlinson for a touchdown score to make it 28-20 but a key blocked extra point loomed large in the final minutes.
 
Wesleyan's defense forced a Bowdoin three-and-out on offense and with 2:49 remaining, Candido again led the Cardinals down the field with three straight completions to Tomlinson for 11 yards, Wilson for 12 and Wilson again for 21. He capped the drive with a 21-yard strike to Elkhoury to make it 28-26. Needing the two-point conversion to tie the score, McPhee was denied short of the goal line.
 
After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt, Bowdoin finished the game off a pair of kneel downs to score a big upset victory in front of 2,000+ fans on Family Weekend.
 
Wesleyan looks to regroup next Saturday with a trip to Amherst on Saturday, October 29 for a 1 PM start. Amherst is coming off a big road win at Tufts for what was their first win of the season.