WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Down but never out, the Wesleyan football team trailed for well over 50 minutes against their archrival Williams on Saturday, until a late flurry saw the Cardinals score 22 unanswered points in a span of 7:15 to surge past the Ephs, earning a 30-22 victory from Farley-Lamb Field. The thrilling win secured a third straight victory for the Cardinals (6-2) as well as back-to-back Little Three Championships, marking the first time the team has secured consecutive outright Little Three titles since 1969-70.
 
Trailing 22-8 at the half, the Cardinals faced the 14-point deficit until Williams' Homecoming and Senior Day crowd saw the game start to flip on a 68-yard scoring drive for the Cardinals, capped by QB Niko Candido '25 tossing a dart to WR Thomas Elkhoury '24 in the back of the end zone for a 28-yard score on a 3^rd-and-10 play. Candido then found WR Chase Wilson '25 on a slant play for the two-point conversion, making it 22-16 Ephs with 9:22 left.
 
Williams seemed well on their way to milking out the clock, picking up 33 yards in six rushing play on the ensuing drive, but deciding to pass on a 1^st-and-10 play proved very costly for the Ephs as LB Joe Schaefer '24 broke through the line and strip sacked Williams QB Owen McHugh. The loose ball was recovered by the Cardinal defense at the Williams 35-yard line, giving the Wesleyan offense a short field in the closing minutes.
   
Even with momentum tilting heavily in favor of the Cardinals, three straight incompletions set up a 4^th-and-10 play wherein Candido threw towards the left where Elkhoury drew a pass interference call to keep the drive alive. On the next play, Candido rolled to his right and lofted a pass to TE Matt Luttenberger '24 in the end zone who made a great move to navigate around the Ephs' defensive back, hauling in a 20-yard touchdown that tied the score at 22-22. Coming on for his first PAT attempt of the game, Daniel Yoon '24 connected, giving the Cardinals their first lead of the game with 5:04 left.
 
It then went from bad to worse for the Ephs who again found some success early in a drive, until LB Jason Villano '25 broke through the line of scrimmage, hitting McHugh in the backfield and forcing a fumble that was recovered by Schaefer.
 
Starting from the Williams 35-yard line for the second straight possession, Wesleyan pounced on the opportunity as Candido found Wilson open deep for a 32-yard competition, setting the Cardinals up at the Ephs' 1-yard line. Two plays later, Candido took it in himself, scoring from three yards out and after Yoon hit the extra point, it was 30-22 Cardinals with 2:07 remaining.
 
Hope was not lost for Williams in the one-possession game as the Ephs marched 10 plays down the field all the way to the Cardinals' 8-yard line, having the ball 1^st-and-goal with just over a minute left. On the 11^th straight pass play of the drive, McHugh missed his target over the middle on a slant play and the overthrow was intercepted by CB Wesley Abraham '25 who's NESCAC-leading fifth INT of the season sealed a dramatic win for the Cardinals.
 
The furious fourth quarter comeback capped a game dominated by both defenses as the two sides combined for 13 sacks and eight takeaways while the Ephs blocked a punt. Williams outgained Wesleyan by 148 yards on the ground in the contest while Candido threw for a career-high 365 yards compared to just 190 for the Ephs.
 
With the fourth quarter going about perfectly for Wesleyan, the first quarter was anything but, as the Ephs had run 24 plays compared to just one for the Cardinals in the opening 11 minutes. Williams scored first on a safety as Ryan Levrault tackled TB Ezra Jenifer '24 in the end zone on the first Wesleyan play from scrimmage.
 
Then Williams took the ball on offense and drove 62 yards down the field in 13 plays but couldn't finish with a touchdown as the Cardinal defense held strong with the Ephs having the ball 1^st-and-goal from the 6-yard line, ultimately settling for a field goal.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, Elkhoury was stripped on the return, recovered by the Ephs who started back up on the Cardinals' 7-yard line with a 1^st-and-goal.
 
Despite the setback, Wesleyan's defense came up huge again, holding Williams out of the end zone as it was only 8-0 Ephs despite two trips in the red zone.
 
Wesleyan found their footing in this one on a 3^rd-and-16 play early in the second quarter as Candido fired a bomb down the field for WR Jared Lindstrom '27 who jumped up over multiple Eph defenders, coming down with a 52-yard reception. On the next play, Candido found Lindstrom again, this time for the rookie's first career touchdown from 5 yards out. Candido then rushed in the two-point conversion, tying the score at 8-8.
 
The Ephs went on to dominate the remainder of the first half, sacking Candido four times in the rest of the second quarter, while scoring twice to make it 22-8 at the half. McHugh found Brady Stahelski for a 47-yard score and after a blocked punt set the Ephs up with a 1^st-and-goal from the Wesleyan 8-yard line, McHugh found Paul Harshbarger for a touchdown just one play later.
 
No points were scored in the third quarter but it certainly wasn't without drama as Candido was picked off by Holden Gering in the red zone on the first Wesleyan possession of the second half. On the next Cardinal possession, Wesleyan drove 67 yards down the field but the drive stalled out at the Williams 23-yard line.
 
Then later in the quarter, Candido was strip sacked but Williams couldn't cash in as just one play into the ensuing possession, DB Jack Nally '24 intercepted McHugh to keep it a two-possession game.
 
The frustration continued for the Cardinal offense who again drove deep into Williams territory, having a 1^st-and-10 from the Ephs' 11-yard line, but three plays later, Candido was strip sacked once again, ending another productive Wesleyan drive with no points.
 
Even with all the setbacks up until that point, the Cardinal defense kept the team in the game as the Ephs again were forced into a three-and-out as Wesleyan started their game-ending 22-0 scoring run on the next possession.
 
Candido was excellent as the junior quarterback dealt with heavy pressure all game and still finished with a career-high 365 yards on 24-for-48 throwing with 3 TD and 1 INT. The signal caller took a beating as he was sacked eight times and pressured on many others, but still hung in the pocket long enough to find his receivers who had a big day.
 
Elkhoury and Wilson both posted monster days, as the pair combined for 13 catches for 255 yards. Elkhoury totaled seven catches for 128 yards and 1 TD while also snagging a highlight-reel 37-yard catch wherein he dove full extension in the third quarter. Wilson finished with six catches for 127 yards including a season-long reception of 55 yards. In total, Candido connected with eight different receivers in the game.
 
On the defensive end, LB Ben Carbeau '25 and DB Dylan Connors '26 tied for the team-lead with seven tackles each. DL Declan Welch '26 tallied 1.5 sacks while Schaefer made two huge plays in the fourth quarter with his strip sack and fumble recovery. Abraham snagged his fifth interception of the season while Nally posted his third. Wesleyan's defense held Williams to a 3-of-15 showing on third downs in the game.
 
This Little Three Championship marks a major accomplishment for the Cardinals who have now won the Little Three title outright five times since 2013.
 
Wesleyan heads into the season finale next Saturday as the Cardinals welcome Trinity (6-1) to Corwin Stadium. The Cardinals are just 1-6 in their last seven meetings against Trinity and have beaten the Bantams just once at home since 2002.