MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The cardiac Cardinals strike again, this time the reward is a third straight Little Three Championship. Trailing by six with under 10 seconds remaining, Luke LaSaracina '25 secured a 14-yard touchdown pass before Gage Hammond '27 knocked in the go-ahead extra point as Wesleyan defeated Williams 25-24 in another instant classic between storied rivals from Andrus Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
After a muffed punt and roughing the kicker penalty cost the Cardinals the lead early in the fourth quarter, Wesleyan drove down the field into the red zone, only to see Holden Gering intercept QB Niko Candido '25 in the end zone to hand the ball back to the Ephs with 5:58 remaining.
 
Two first downs put Williams deep into Wesleyan territory and even though the Cardinal defense held steady, Ivan Shuran knocked in a 44-yard field goal to make it 24-18 Williams with 1:43 left.
 
Taking over at their own 7-yard line needing a touchdown, Wesleyan got a much-needed big play to start the drive, with Candido hitting WR Blake Newcomb '27 down the right sideline for a 43-yard gain on 1^st down. On a 3^rd-and-4 play, Candido rolled to his right and found WR Devin Hardy '25 open along the sideline for a 7-yard pitch and catch.
 
After another Candido-Hardy connection, this time for 12 yards, an incompletion and intentional grounding penalty made it 2^nd-and-25 for Wesleyan with under 50 seconds to play. Once again needing some magic, Candido scrambled out of the pocket to gain 16 yards on the ground before completing a 10-yard pass to Newcomb on the near sideline to pick up the first down.
 
With the clock winding under 10 seconds to play, Candido and the Cardinal offense took advantage of a one-on-one matchup. LaSaracina, a defensive back turned wide receiver, beat his defender on a post route and Candido's pass was on time for LaSaracina who made a diving catch in the end zone, which was met with a roaring cheer from the 7000+ on-hand for Wesleyan's Homecoming Weekend.

NEVER IN DOUBT ??

But seriously...does it get any better than this

Niko Candido ?? Luke LaSaracina ??@Wes_Football are Little 3? Champions for the THIRD straight season ?? pic.twitter.com/7aVi6WD0Nr

— Wesleyan Athletics (@wes_athletics) November 2, 2024

 
LaSaracina's first career touchdown made it a tie game at 24-24 and Hammond came through with the go-ahead extra point for a raucous Cardinal bench.
 
Williams' Owen McHugh took off running on the final play and after two laterals, the Cardinal defense put the game away as Wesleyan won yet another wild contest in a season defined by this team's ability to come through in the clutch time and time again.
 
Wesleyan's victory over the Ephs marks the 10^th time the Cardinals have defeated Williams in the past 11 meetings. More importantly, this victory secures a third straight Little Three Championship for the Cardinals, something that hasn't happened for Wesleyan since 1946-48.
 
A slow start to this one saw four straight drives ending in punts before Wesleyan's league-leading defense came up with a big play. McHugh dropped back to pass on a 3^rd-and-14 play and was strip sacked by DL Mike Rowan '25 and recovered by LB Ben Carbeau '25 inside the Ephs' 5-yard line. Needing just two plays, Candido came through with a 1-yard QB sneak to score the game's first touchdown.
 
Williams responded before the end of the first quarter, taking advantage of prime field position, needing just three plays to score on a drive that started at Wesleyan's 32-yard line. McHugh called his own number, running one in from 18 yards out to tie the score.
 
Defense dominated the second quarter with the only score being a 21-yard field goal from Hammond as Candido connected with WR Chase Wilson '25 for a 47-yard pickup that set Wesleyan up in the red zone on the first play of the drive.
 
The Ephs took their first lead of the game on their first possession of the second half, seeing Owen Johansen take a direct snap and hit the hole for a 46-yard score to make it 14-10 Williams.
 
A big sequence followed a few minutes later as DB Dylan Connors '26 intercepted McHugh and ran in the interception 41 yards for a score. Then on the ensuing extra point, the snap was mishandled by QB Chase Vaughan '27 secured the loose ball and rolled to his left before hitting TE Will Rao '27 in the back of the end zone for a critical two-point conversion.
 
Five straight punts followed before the final 12:56 of this one featured a pair of lead changes with the game ultimately coming down to the LaSaracina score with six seconds left on the clock.
 
Wesleyan outgained Williams 394-253 in this one including a seismic 224-22 disparity in passing yards as the Ephs attempted just five passes in the game. The Ephs finished 1-for-12 on third downs while the Cardinals overcame 62 penalty yards to claim the win.
 
Candido finished with 224 passing yards while he picked up 62 on the ground in this one. RB James McHugh '26 (nine carries for 56 yards) and RB Matt Diaz '28 (11 carries for 52 yards) combined for over 100 rushing yards while Wesleyan gained 170 yards on the ground as a team.
 
Wilson finished with six catches for 94 yards as he did all his damage across the first three quarters of play.
 
Defensively, DB Nick Donatio G'25 led the team with a season-high 12 tackles (five solo) while Carbeau was all over the field, racking up 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and the fumble recovery on the Rowan strip sack.
 
The Cardinals (7-1) shift their focus to next Saturday where they will take on Trinity (7-1) on the road in what is a de-facto NESCAC Championship game. The winning team in that contest will be the outright NESCAC Champion as the lone team in the league sitting at 8-1.