HARTFORD — On fourth down, Wesleyan coach Dan DiCenzo didn’t think field goal. He thought of his players, the faith he had in them to make a play when all they had worked to gain was right in front of them.
He played for the win, went for it to seal the precious victory at Trinity. His senior quarterback Niko Candido looked cornered, looked nearly in the grasp of the defenders, but he escaped and threw the ball as he was falling into a very narrow opening. Sophomore Blake Newcomb caught it for the touchdown it to clinch the Cardinals’ 27-17 victory.
“It didn’t feel real,” Newcomb said. “It didn’t feel real. It was a surreal moment. My teammates surrounded me. I knew we did it, and I said, ‘Where’s my ring at?’”
In the various celebratory huddles that followed the final gun, Athletic Director Michael Whalen promised the team the biggest rings they could get for winning the first New England Small College Athletic Conference championship in school history, for finishing 8-1, for getting the victory on the home turf of archrival Trinity, which has dominated the conference for a long time and won this rivalry game 58-6 at Wesleyan last season. This is their world championship; NESCAC schools don’t participate in the playoffs.
“We knew it was a new year, a new group,” said Luke LaSaracina, who caught what proved to be the winning touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter. “We put a chip on our shoulder and we stepped up.”
Big-time and near big-time college football has its appeal, and certainly has its rewards. But in a setting made for New England football, not quite hot chocolate weather, a few colorful leaves left on the trees surrounding the 5,000 or so fans at Jessee-Miller Field and the majestic buildings rising above the campus, this was a day for football the way it was conjured up in the 19th century. History and tradition? How many Division III schools were once coached by Woodrow Wilson? See Wesleyan’s 1888 roster.
“I’ve got a great job,” DiCenzo said. “I’m coaching a lot of great kids who want to get a good education here that’s going to pay off for 40 years of life and do amazing things here and when they’re done. … And fortunately, we’re really good at football.”
LaSaracina, from Colchester, came to Wesleyan to play baseball, and asked for a chance to join the football team. He started as a receiver, switched to defensive back, ended up back on offense. Whatever the team needed. Last week, he caught a TD pass from Candido with six seconds left to beat Williams and set up this winner-take-all duel for the conference title.
This is all about as pure, love-of-the-game small college football as it gets. His next planned stop is law school. Candido, economics major, came all the way from Studio City, Calif., played at Kent and bought into the New England vibe, too.
“This league is everything,” Candido said. “I’ve said it since I started here. Every game’s a playoff game, it’s such a special league with alumni. Everyone just cares and it’s awesome and I’d recommend it to anyone. Even though we’re not making (name-image-likeness) money, there’s love everywhere. There’s passion.”
The Wesleyan players lingered on the field a good long time. No one was in a hurry to take off their jerseys, especially the many seniors and grad students who will probably never suit up again. They wore the jerseys together like brothers, wore the 58-6 loss at home for a year, and now they’ll be wearing championship rings.
“Couldn’t ask for a better way to go out,” LaSarcina said. “Pretty awesome. Can’t put it into words. It’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever had.”
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Nothing was left on the turf when it was done. For Trinity (7-2), quarterback Zander Zebrowski, who had fabulous, efficient numbers all season after waiting since 2020 for his chance to start at quarterback, was sacked five times, hit countless other times. He, too, made a gritty play and an off-balance throw for 27 yards and a touchdown to Nolan O’Brien late in the first half to give the Bantams a 17-14 lead, but Zebrowski hobbled off the field, trying to walk off a leg or ankle issue. He wasn’t about to leave this fight, but couldn’t get Trinity in the end zone again.
Wesleyan controlled both sides of the ball in the second half and it was Candido’s day. He was 11 for 22 for 190 yards and three touchdowns passing, 20 carries for 90 yards rushing.
Wesleyan knocks off Williams in final seconds to set up winner-take-all meeting with Trinity
“It’s so special, it started out freshman year,” Candido said. “We knew as seniors we had to do it, we had a great senior class. We put it together and we did it. To beat Trinity, that makes it all, that makes it so much more special, especially after what happened last year. All I could think of was that game last year and to get it back, it means the world as a senior.”
LaSaracina broke open through the middle and Candido found him, hitting him from 23 yards out to give Wesleyan a 20-17 lead with 6:10 left. With Trinity trying desperately to get the ball back, freshman Matt Diaz broke free for 52 yards to the Bantams’ 10-yard line. With 4th-and-goal at the 15 and 1:27 left, Dicenzo eschewed a short field goal and trusted his quarterback to make a play.
“He’s the most dynamic, he’s the best quarterback in the league,” LaSaracina said. “So there’s always confidence in him, no matter what.
Candido, also sacked five times and hit hard throughout the game, rewarded the faith of his coach, and was rewarded by the faith his teammates have had in him. This moment belonged Wesleyan.
“It matters if you trust your players,” Candido said. “I knew that they’d get open, I’d just have to stay in there a little longer. It’s just a about trust at the end of the day, trust in everyone around you.”
