The Cardinals roll into Week 2 undefeated for the fifth straight season, after defeating Bates last Friday night, 28-17, in Lewiston. The passing game, led by reigning NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week QB Niko Candido '25, was firing on all cylinders, and the defense held the Bobcats without a touchdown until late in the third quarter while Bates mustered only 218 total yards of offense. In Week 2, Wesleyan meets the Middlebury Panthers, a team that the Cardinals have a long and eventful history with on the gridiron. The team will match up for a 53^rd time, with Wesleyan holding a thin lead in the series history (26-24-2).
 
The rivalry has been in full effect over the past few seasons, with matchups frequently holding big implications. Back in 2019, the two teams met in Week 6 with everything on the line. They both came in undefeated at 5-0 with dreams of an undefeated season in reach. The Panthers came in and beat the Cardinals by a score of 45-21, ending Wesleyan's undefeated campaign. The Panthers would end the season undefeated, holding a perfect 9-0 record and earning the NESCAC Championship. Meanwhile, the Cardinals finished the campaign with three straight wins, falling just one win shy of a title at 8-1.
 
The two sides met again two years later in 2021, where the Cardinals seeded revenge. Many Wesleyan players were on that team that feel short in 2021 and those Cardinals came through with a one of the best single-game performances in quite some time. Wesleyan got out to an early lead and never looked back, taking home a 24-0 victory to improve to 6-0 that season, holding the Panthers scoreless for the first time since 1975.
 
Last season's meeting was a 24-10 triumph for Middlebury, as the Panther defense held a high-flying Cardinal offense to a season-low 10 points including just three points in the second half. Three interceptions thrown by the Cardinals proved costly and the Wesleyan ground attack posted just 55 yards on 25 carries as a stout Middlebury defensive effort was enough to carry the Panthers to a home win.
 
Wesleyan has fared much better at home in the all-time series against Middlebury, sporting a mark of 16-9-1 in games played against the Panthers in Middletown compared to 10-15-1 in Vermont. The Cardinals have won two straight and three of the last four and six of the last eight contests between the two sides from Corwin Stadium.
 
Week 1 Recap | WES 28, BATES 17 | Box Score
 
Behind a monster performance from Candido, Wesleyan held off a late comeback bid from Bates to defeat the Bobcats 28-17 under the lights last Friday in Lewiston. With the win, Wesleyan improved to 37-4 all-time against Bates, having won 17 consecutive meetings.
 
After splitting duties under center last season, Candido took every snap at QB and showed he was ready for primetime as the junior signal caller threw for a career-high 341 yards on 28-for-37 passing (75.7%) with 3 TD and 0 INT. He becomes the first Wesleyan QB to threw for 300+ yards since Ashton Scott '22 hit the mark against Trinity in 2019 while the 341 yards is the most for a Cardinal since Mark Piccirillo '19 threw for 388 against Bates in 2017.
 
Candido spread the ball around, completing passes to eight different receivers in the game, but his primary target was WR Thomas Elkhoury '24 who popped off with 12 catches for 147 yards, both easily setting new career-highs. The last time a Cardinal had more than 12 catches in a game was Mike Breuler '18 catching 13 passes against Tufts in 2017. WR Chase Wilson '25 had added five receptions for 66 yards with 1 TD while WR Liam Kennedy '25 tallied three catches for 36 yards.
 
On the defensive side, the Cardinal pass defense did an incredible job limiting Bates QB Colton Bosselait to just 128 yards on 10-for-27 passing. The Bobcats' single-season TD record holder was held in-check throughout as his 37% completion rate is a new career-low. Wesleyan held Bates scoreless for the first 29:20 of the game and the Bobcats didn't score a touchdown until there was just over six minutes left in the third quarter.
 
LB Jake Edwards '24 led the Cardinals with eight tackles (seven solo) while DL Mike Rowan '25 stuffed the stat sheet with six tackles (three solo), 2.0 tackles for loss, and one sack. DB Wesley Abraham '25 had two pass breakups while LB Kade Doverspike '24 blocked a punt in the first quarter that led to the Cardinals' first TD drive of the game.
 
A Look at Middlebury (1-0)
 
After going 7-2 last season, suffering defeats to Trinity and Tufts, Middlebury showed they're back in a big way last Saturday as the Panthers earned a 21-7 home win over Amherst. The Panther defense thoroughly dominated the proceedings, racking up a single-game team record nine sacks while holding the Mammoths scoreless for the opening three quarters.
 
DL Tomas Kenary (4.5) and DL Dave Filias (3.5) each tallied career-high sack totals during the win, as the duo combined for eight of the nine Middlebury sacks in the win.
 
Middlebury's offense didn't dominate the game, gaining just 247 yards on 59 plays for an average of 4.2 yards per play. QB Cole Kennon finished 11-for-22 for 135 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT while the Panther rushing attack totaled 112 yards on 37 carries (3.0 yards per rush). WR Patrick Jamin had the big play of the game, a 53-yard TD catch on just the second offensive play of the game for Middlebury to put the Panthers ahead 7-0 just 1:54 into the game.
 
The Panthers have been the class of the NESCAC for more than two decades running, having sported a non-losing record in 15 of the last 16 seasons and in 21 of the past 23 overall dating back to 1999. Longtime Middlebury Head Coach Bob Ritter (112-61 all-time record in 22 seasons) retired at the end of the 2022 season. In his first career game as head coach, Doug Mandigo led the Panthers to the 21-7 win over Amherst in Week 1. Mandigo spent the previous 11 seasons as the Panthers' defensive coordinator and linebacker's coach.