The Cardinals roll into week 2 undefeated for the fourth straight season, after defeating Bates in dominating fashion last Saturday, 41-10. The offense was clicking on all cylinders, and the defense contributed two forced fumbled and an interception on way to only allowing 10 Bobcats' points. In week 2, the Cardinals will meet the Middlebury Panthers, a team that Wesleyan has a long and eventful history with on the gridiron. The teams will match up for the 52^nd time in their storied histories, with the Cardinals holding the series lead (26-23-2).

The rivalry has been in full effect over the past few years, with matchups holding big implications coming regularly. Back in 2019, the two teams met in week 6 with everything on the line. They both carried 5-0 records with dreams of an undefeated season within their reach. The Panthers came in and beat the Cardinals by a score of 45-21, ending Wesleyan's undefeated season. The Panthers would end the season undefeated, a perfect 9-0 ending in a NESCAC title. Meanwhile, Wesleyan would win out, but fell short of a NESCAC Championship at 8-1.

The two teams met again two years later in 2021, where the Cardinals seeked revenge. Many Wesleyan players were on that team that fell short to the Panthers in 2019 and wanted to avenge their loss a few years prior. They would get out to an early lead and never look back, taking home a 24-0 victory to improve to 6-0 on the season. A few players will be back for round three in 2022, including both quarterbacks, David Estevez '22 and Ashton Scott '22 who played massive rolls in the prior meetings against the Panthers.

Wesleyan will play their first road game of the season, a place where they went 3-1 back in 2021. They have faired decently when traveling to Middlebury, Vermont however the Cardinals have dropped the last two when they head up north including that 2019 matchup where the Panthers ended Wesleyan's undefeated season. The Cardinals look to end that two-game losing streak on Saturday at Alumni Stadium.

Week 1 Recap
The Cardinals head into week 2 after a dominating week 1 win over the Bates Bobcats, 41-10. Wesleyan dominated from the opening kick-off, finishing with nearly double Bates' yards (453-241) while forcing two Bates turnovers. After allowing Bates to drive down the field on the opening possession, the Wesleyan defense held forcing a fumble. From there, the offense took over producing five touchdowns and scoring the most points in a single game since 2019 (vs. Bates 48-12).

Both quarterbacks were on their games in the opener, combining for 292 yards and four touchdowns. Estevez produced the first of five touchdowns on the day for the Cards with a 30-yard connection to WR Logan Tomlinson '22 early in the 2^nd quarter. The combination of Estevez and Tomlinson wasn't done, finding the end zone again in the 3^rd quarter on a nine-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 20-3.

On the ground it was a group effort for the Cardinals, with five players with at least five carries. The running back by committee combined for 161 yards and a touchdown. Kellan Walker '25 led the way with six rushes for 44 yards. Walker found the end zone as well, scoring on a 33-yard run late in the 4^th for the 5^th and final touchdown of the day for the Cardinals.

The Wesleyan defense was also locked in, holding the Bates Bobcats to only 10 points with their only touchdown surrendered coming in the final minutes of 4^th quarter. This stout defensive unit was led by Nick Helbig '23 who had an impressive stat line to open up the 2022 season. The senior defensive tackle recorded a career-high three sacks to go along with two forced fumbles and seven tackles. The reigning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year lived up to his name and led Wesleyan to the opening week victory.
 
A Look at Middlebury (1-0)
The Panthers impressed in week 1 of their 2022 season as well, defeating the Amherst Mammoths 17-6. Middlebury looks to put a difficult 3-6 2021 season behind them and return to their 2019 form. They got off to a good start, taking down Amherst in a low-scoring battle on the road. They now return home and take down a Cardinals team that dominated them just a year ago, 24-0.

Middlebury and Amherst traded missed field goals to end the 1^st half, keeping the score deadlocked at zero heading into the break. The Panthers' defense was stellar throughout the contest, holding the Mammoths to 265 total yards while forcing two turnovers in the process. The Panthers would score on their first drive of the 2^nd half on the back of some pretty throws by Ben Tauber (21-33, 290 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), who connected with Donavan Wood for a 27-yard touchdown reception to cap off a 83-yard drive. Two drives later, Middlebury was able to find the end zone again. This time they did it on the ground. Alex Maldijian punched it in form three yards out for his first score of the season, he finished the game with 24 rushes for 56 yards and a touchdown.

The story of the game was the Middlebury defense, forcing multiple turnovers while holding the Mammoths under seven points in the opener. The driving force behind the stellar defensive effort was the trio of linebackers in Kieran Sheridan, John McCool, and Kwesi Adu-Diawuo which stifled the Mammoths all day. Sheridan and McCool held it down in the trenches, combining for 16 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a sack as the Panthers held the Mammoths to 35 yards rushing. Adu-Diawuo did his damage in the passing game, breaking up two passes and picking off another while also producing three tackles.