WILLIAMSTOWN -- Teams in the New England Small College Athletic Conference don't get to play in a postseason playoff. Some teams don't get to wrap their season up with a traditional rival. Williams College gets to do both.
The Ephs begin their Little Three season today when they travel to Wesleyan for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The traditional rivalry with Amherst follows. This year, it means a lot more because Williams also has a chance to win a share of its fourth NESCAC football title.
Williams enters the game tied for second with Trinity at 5-1. Amherst currently leads the conference with a 6-0 record.
"It's a little bit different, especially this year," said Williams wide receiver Bryce Bennett. "In my career, we've never been position where we control our own destiny. If we win out, we win the league. We can be seen as the best team in the NESCAC."
Williams hasn't won a NESCAC football title since going 8-0 in 2006. Williams shared the title with Trinity in 2002 and won it outright in 2001.
Trinity has five conference titles and would need to win out to claim a share of its sixth title.
Wesleyan, meanwhile, enters the fray at 3-3 and coming off a big 43-39 come-from-behind victory at Bowdoin last weekend.
"We can't look past this game or take [Wesleyan] easy," said Williams quarterback Pat Moffitt. "Especially this year, because they're a lot better team than they were last year.
"We have to get in the film
"We always look at this as our second season. If we go down there and don't play well, I'll be extremely disappointed," said Williams coach Mike Whalen, a Wesleyan graduate. "I think our kids are pretty focused."
The Ephs have come a long way since giving up a pair of touchdowns to Trinity in the final minute and a half back in September.
"For me at least, for a couple of days, it was hard to think about anything else," said Bennett. "It was the toughest loss I've ever had as a player, hands down."
That was a loss that could have sent a season spiraling out of control. That didn't happen with Williams.
"It just shows that we were down after the one game, but it didn't keep us down the rest of the season," said Moffitt. "We knew we'd need help to get back in the race for the conference [title]. We got a little help and we kept on winning. We're in position where we can still get a share of the title."
In order to win a share of the NESCAC title, Williams will have to beat a Wesleyan team that is much improved from last year's 1-7 team.
"No question," said Whalen. "Their offensive line is much improved. They can run the ball, they haven't run it recently, but they can run it. Their quarterback is playing well, they have some good skill kids and defensively, they're well coached. They're very aggressive, they run around and make plays."
On offense, head coach Frank Hauser's team is led by quarterback Blake DuBois. DuBois, a sophomore from Santa Ynez, Calif., is seventh in the conference in total offense and sixth in passing. He has thrown six touchdown passes and has been picked off eight times.
DuBois' top target is Pete Modera, who has caught 22 passes while Paulie Lowther has caught 13 passes for a 20.1 yard average.
Defensively, linebacker Justin Freres leads the team. Freres was the NESCAC co-defensive player of last week, making 12 tackles and getting an interception in the win over Bowdoin. He recovered a fumble on a Polar Bear two-point conversion and returned it 92 yards for two points.
Williams enters the game as NESCAC's top scoring offense (30.7 points per game), top rushing offense (172.7 yards per game) and tops in total defense (243.5 yards per game).
The Williams coach said his team is as healthy now as it has been all season. Linebacker Dan Johnson saw his first extensive action last week and will play a lot this week. Whalen said that with all the healthy linebackers, he could go to three lineman, four linebacker sets.
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