MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Wesleyan football team opened its 2022 season with a decisive 41-10 win over Bates on Saturday afternoon from Corwin Stadium. The Cardinals (1-0) move their winning streak to 16 straight games against Bates (0-1) that featured the return of the Bobcats' first-year head coach Matt Coyne '12 to Middletown, who took the reins of the Bobcat program earlier this year.
 
Wesleyan outgained Bates 453-241 on offense while the Cardinals amassed 24 first downs compared to just 10 for the Bobcats. QBs David Estevez '22 (15-20, 181 yards, 3 TD) and Ashton Scott '22 (6-13, 111 yards, 1 TD) combined to go 21-for-33 passing for 292 yards, 4 TD and 0 INT.
 
Seven different players caught at least two passes for Wesleyan. WR Logan Tomlinson '23 led the team with four catches for 50 yards and 2 TD. WR Chase Wilson '25 scored his first career TD on a 25-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Five Cardinals also rushed at least five times with RB Kellan Walker '25 scoring his first career TD on a 33-yard scamper late in the fourth. As a team, Wesleyan rushed 35 times for 161 yards (4.6 yards/carry).
 
DL Nick Helbig '23 was a one-man wrecking crew on defense as the reigning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year posted a career-high three sacks to go along with two forced fumbled and seven tackles (four solo). Helbig broke through for a TFL and forced fumble on a crucial 4^th-and-goal play on Bates' opening drive to snuff a prime scoring chance. He later strip-sacked Bates QB Liam Foley early in the third with the Bobcats only trailing by 10, setting up the Cardinals for a Tomlinson score just two plays later that continued what was a 24-0 scoring run for Wesleyan.
 
It was a near disastrous start for the Cardinals as Foley connected with Mohamed Diaware on the near sideline for a 73-yard hookup on what was a 3^rd-and-6 play on the Bates opening drive. As Diaware ran inside the 10-yard line, however, he tripped up prior to crossing the goal line as Bates had it 1^st-and-goal from the 3. Three straight rush attempts couldn't find the end zone, setting up a 4^th-and-goal from the 1 before Helbig broke free and stuffed Reza Badiee in the backfield, forcing a fumble on the play recovered by DT Pat Boujoukos '24.
 
The momentum shift was evident as Wesleyan took over and marched 14 plays down the field, running more than seven minutes off the clock before PK Daniel Yoon '24 hit a 30-yard FG attempt to put the Cardinals up 3-0. The big play on the drive came on an 27-yard completion from Estevez to WR Matt Simco '22 on a 3^rd-and-8 play in Wesleyan territory.
 
Neither side got much going for the remainder of the first quarter, before an extended nine-play 84-yard drive was capped by consecutive big plays through the air. First Estevez found Simco again, this time for 28 yards crossing over midfield into Bates territory. On the next play, Estevez found Tomlinson who high-pointed the ball in the middle of the end zone for six. Yoon's extra point made the score 10-0 Cardinals with 10:21 left in the half.
 
Bates got on the board with a 30-yard FG from Archie Green Jr. but Wesleyan answered right back on their next possession as Yoon belted a career-long 45-yard FG to restore a 10-point Cardinal lead heading into halftime.
 
Another huge momentum shift occurred right at the start of the second half as RB Owen Brickley '23 fumbled on the first play of the third quarter, giving Bates the ball from the Wesleyan 16-yard line. On a 3^rd-and-8 play, Foley lofted a pass high in the corner that was picked off by CB Danny Banks '23, denying the Bobcats of points once again with Bates deep in the Cardinal red zone.
 
Helbig then came away with a massive strip sack a few minutes later deep in the Bates end of the field, giving the Cardinal offense the ball back from the 14-yard line. Two plays later, Estevez found Tomlinson again, this time on the far sideline, for a nine-yard TD to make it 20-3 Cardinals.
 
Estevez tossed his third TD of the day late in the third, finding Wilson open with a perfectly lofted ball that made it 27-3 Wesleyan. And on the next Cardinal drive, Scott came in at QB and completed a 44-yard bomb to WR Thomas Elkhoury '24, the longest play of the day for the Cardinals on offense. After a pass interference call in the end zone extended the drive, Scott found TE Ezra Jenifer '23 open in the flat and the senior did the rest, carrying over the goal line to cap a 24-0 Wesleyan scoring run and make it 34-3 Cardinals with 12:12 remaining.
 
Bates scored their only TD of the day with Foley finding Jackson Hayes for 28 yards, only to see Wesleyan answer with another score, this time on the ground as Walker broke through a big hole to take it in from 33 yards out.
 
Aside from the 73-yard Diaware reception on the third play of the game, Wesleyan's passing defense held the Bobcats to just 73 passing yards on 20 attempts for the game. The Cardinal rush defense also held Bates to just 95 yards on 35 carries, averaging just 2.7 yards/carry. Wesleyan was 4-for-4 scoring touchdowns on their red zone opportunities while the Cardinals won the turnover battle 3-1.
 
Wesleyan has a big test ahead next week as the Cardinals head to Middlebury for a 1:00 PM start on Saturday, September 24. The Panthers won the NESCAC Championship in 2019 and are coming off a 17-6 road win at Amherst in week one this season. The Cardinals will be looking for their first win at Middlebury since 2014.