Flying high with two wins to kick start the season, the Wesleyan football team is back at home in Week 3 for a 1 PM kickoff against Hamilton. The Cardinals followed up their season-opening 28-17 road win at Bates with a 24-21 victory over Middlebury from Andrus Field last week in a well-played game throughout. Wesleyan is 32-18-1 all-time against the Continentals, winning three straight meetings including a 49-14 drubbing in Clinton last season, but the Cardinals need not fall into a trap as Hamilton landed an upset win in Middletown just a few seasons ago, defeating Wesleyan 33-29 at Andrus in 2018.
 
Through two games, Wesleyan is one of three remaining unbeaten teams in the NESCAC, joining annual power Trinity and an upstart Bowdoin squad who landed a 20-0 shutout win over Williams in Week 2. The Cardinal offense ranks third in the NESCAC in scoring (26 points per game) and yardage (409.5/game) coming into Week 3 while the defense is allowing only 271 yards per game (3^rd-best in the NESCAC).
 
Wesleyan's preferred offensive style of dominating time of possession has paid dividends as the Cardinals average 34:05 minutes with the ball on offense per game while Wesleyan is converting third downs on a 48.4 percent clip, both stats rank 2nd-best in the NESCAC.
 
The offensive line has established themselves as one of the top pass-protecting units in the NESCAC, having allowed just two sacks through two games for the league's second-best passing offense (301.5 yards per game). QB Niko Candido '25 has shined behind the protection, earning NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors in Week 1 while coming into Week 3 with 603 yards, 5 TD, and a 58.2 completion percentage in two games. WR Thomas Elkhoury '24 has the most catches of anyone in the NESCAC thus far, posting 19 receptions in two games for 218 yards and 1 TD. WR Chase Wilson '25 has 11 catches for 143 yards and 1 TD, making Wesleyan the only team in the NESCAC with multiple players sporting double-digit catch totals through two games.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, there are individual standouts at every level with DL Mike Rowan '25 dominating at the line of scrimmage, LBs Jake Edwards '24 and Ben Carbeau '25 stuffing the stat sheet with tackles, and DBs Wesley Abraham '25, Jack Nally '24, and Sean Walker '25 making plays in the secondary. Rowan has 14 tackles, 3 TFL, and 1.5 sacks in two games. Edwards is third in the NESCAC with 19 tackles (14 solo) while Carbeau has 14 stops. Abraham leads the NESCAC with five pass breakups while Nally and Walker are both Top 5 in the NESCAC with three each.
 
Week 2 Recap | WES 24, MIDD 21
 
It was a back-and-forth battle all afternoon long between two of the premier NESCAC programs that came down to the final minute until a Mike Rowan '25 strip sack sealed a 24-21 win for the Wesleyan football team in its home opener. d
 
The game-defining play came with 1:15 remaining as Middlebury had a 2^nd-and-1 play from their own 26-yard-line, trying to march down the field to send the game into overtime. As the Panther QB Cole Kennon stepped up in the pocket, he did not sense Rowan's pressure behind him as the All-NESCAC defensive lineman stripped the ball away where it was recovered by Corin Canada-Hunt '26, unleashing a ruckus of cheers from the home fans.
 
That was one of four takeaways for the Cardinal defense on the day as Wesleyan intercepted Kennon three times including a pick-six from Wesley Abraham '25 in the second quarter. Jack Nally '24 had the other two interceptions, good enough for the second multi-INT game of his career, with the first also coming against Middlebury at Corwin Stadium back in 2021.
 
Big plays also benefitted the offense as Liam Kennedy '25 caught a deep 66-yard bomb from Niko Candido '25 on what was a 3^rd-and-9 play on the Cardinals' first drive of the game that made it 7-0 Wesleyan early. Then early in the fourth quarter, Candido unleashed a deep throw to the back of the end zone on a 3^rd-and-24 play, finding Thomas Elkhoury '24 open to make it 24-14 Cardinals with 14:45 remaining.
 
The reigning NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week Candido finished the game with 262 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT but the all-important stat was the junior signal caller was sacked just once one week removed from Middlebury setting a single-game team record with nine sacks in a week 1 win over Amherst. Candido also rushed for a career-high 73 yards on eight carries, averaging 9.1 yards per carry.
 
Three Cardinal receivers went for 70+ receiving yards including Kennedy who tallied three catches for a career-high 93 yards and 1 TD. Chase Wilson '25 finished with six catches for 77 yards. Elkhoury went for seven catches for 71 yards and 1 TD.
 
On the defensive end, LB Jake Edwards '24 led the team with 11 tackles (seven solo) as this marked his third career double-digit tackle performance. Incredibly, all three 10+ tackle performances for Edwards have come in games against Middlebury. LB Ben Carbeau '25 supplied 10 tackles (four solo), finishing just one shy of his career-high. Abraham had a big day, recording his first career interception while breaking up two passes. The Cardinal defense swallowed up the Panther ground game, holding Middlebury to 93 yards on 34 carries (2.7 average) while the Panthers didn't record a single carry that went for double-digit yardage for the game.
 
A Look at Hamilton (0-2)
 
The Continentals come into their second straight road game having lost their first two games of the season to Bowdoin (26-12) at home and at Amherst (17-14) last week. Hamilton's offense sits sixth in the NESCAC in terms of yardage (298.5) while the defense ranks seventh in yardage allowed (357).
 
Behind first-year RB Nate Wildman, the Hamilton ground game is second-best in the NESCAC, averaging 167 yards per game. Wildman ran for 119 yards and 2 TD on 35 attempts in Week 2 at Amherst and figured to be heavily involved again in Week 3.
 
Hamilton's passing attack sits last in the NESCAC in yards per game, averaging a mere 131.5 through two games while the passing defense also ranks worst in the NESCAC, allowing 252 yards per game.
 
LB Cole Rivell and LB Nick Hoff form a solid duo in the middle of the Hamilton defense, as both sit tied for fourth in the NESCAC in tackles per game (9.0) while DL Chase White and DL Aidan Held each have 1.5 sacks on the season. DB Kyle Bratcher and DB Hayden Zeller each have one interception while DB Joe Cairns leads the team with three pass breakups.