MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – In a thoroughly dominating display, the Wesleyan football team handled the move from Andrus to Citrin Field quite well as the Cardinals dispatched Hamilton 35-14 on Saturday. Wesleyan (3-0) joins Trinity as the lone remaining undefeated teams in the NESCAC while the Continentals (0-3) are at the bottom of the league standings.

With the multiple days of rain forcing the Cardinals to play on turf at Citrin Field for just the second time in team history, Wesleyan looked none the worse for wear as an all-around dominating display saw the Cardinals outgain Hamilton 466-162. Wesleyan was +93 in rushing yards (124-31) and +211 in passing yards (342-131) when comparing totals.
 
QB Niko Candido '25 hit big plays down the field all afternoon, finishing with 339 yards and 5 TD with 0 INT while he went 24-for-39 on his attempts for the game. His primary target throughout was WR Chase Wilson '25 who had himself a career day, establishing new career-highs across the board with 10 catches for 158 yards and 4 TD. The four receiving touchdowns for Wilson is the most since Matt Perceval '00 set the NCAA Division III record with seven in a win at Middlebury in 1998.
 
An impressive display on all three levels of the field was turned in by the Wesleyan defense, with the Cardinals totaling four sacks, seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and two interceptions throughout the course of play. DB Wesley Abraham '25 recorded both interceptions, giving him three in the last two games, while he also forced a fumble. DL Jake Karmin '27 posted 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble while LB Ben Carbeau '25 led the team with nine tackles.
 
After forcing Hamilton to punt on their first offensive series, Wesleyan had a tone-setting TD drive that only required three plays before finding the end zone. RB Ezra Jenifer '23 rushed for a career-long 26 yards to the Hamilton 30-yard line and on the next play, Candido hit Wilson on a quick hook route and the junior receiver spun out of a tackle and ran down the far sideline for a score just 3:09 into play.
 
Hamilton followed with a big play of their own on the next possession, with Luke Kurzum finding Joseph Campanella open for a 42-yard touchdown on a 3^rd-and-9 play as the lead was cut to 7-6. Hamilton attempted a two-point conversion following the Campanella touchdown and came up one yard short.
 
Neither side got much going for the majority of the first quarter, before Candido unleashed a perfectly placed bomb down the field to Wilson who got past two defenders and still had to make a diving catch to his left to haul in the 46-yard reception. On the next play, Wilson ran a slant route and Candido found him for a pitch-and-catch TD as Wesleyan led 14-6 after one.
 
The second quarter featured no real scoring chances for either team, with both defenses dominating, until the final minute when the Cardinals took over from their own 23-yard line. Two completions for 21 combined yards was followed by a quick 10-yard completion to WR Luis Sanchez '24 and a spike as just six seconds remained with the ball on the Hamilton 46-yard line. With one timeout remaining, Wesleyan had the chance to set up a field goal, but an opportunity presented itself as Candido escaped pressure and hurled a deep ball into the back left corner of the end zone where WR Thomas Elkhoury '24 took advantage of a Hamilton coverage mistake and scored on a hail mary attempt to make it 21-6 heading into halftime.
 
The play to end the first half looked large as Wesleyan's offense failed to get much going in the second quarter, but the Elkhoury TD was followed by an 11-play, 75-yard TD scoring drive to kick off the second half. Candido hit Wilson for 25 yards on a 3^rd-and-10 play from near midfield and on a 3^rd-and-5 from the Hamilton 7-yard line, Candido once again found Wilson for a third TD of the day.
 
Wesleyan put the game to bed as Abraham intercepted Matt Banbury on the first play of the Continentals' next drive. Another methodical drive followed with 11 plays going for 58 yards and over five minutes of game clock expired before Wilson again scored, this time from six yards out as the Cardinals led 35-6 with 4:59 left in the third.
 
The last scoring play came on a blocked punt midway through the fourth quarter as Chester Boynton broke through the line, blocked the Gage Hammond '27 punt attempt, scooped the ball, and run 36 yards in for a touchdown.
 
After two straight home games, the Cardinals hit the road for two straight as Wesleyan is back in action on Saturday for a Week 4 tilt at Colby.