WATERVILLE — The Colby College defense had trouble stopping Williams wide receiver Frank Stola Saturday afternoon. In defense of the Mules, nobody else in the New England Small College Athletic Conference has figured out how to slow Stola down, either.
A junior, Stola opens everything in the Ephs offense, and that certainly was the case Saturday at Alfond Stadium. Particularly in the first half, when Williams scored on each of its first three drives on the way to a 17-0 win.
Stola had six catches, all in the first half, for 115 yards. His touchdown, a NESCAC-leading eighth receiving score, came minutes into the game, a five-yard fade from quarterback Bobby Maimaron to the back right corner of the end zone. Stola went up between a pair of Colby defenders to make the catch, showing that even when you think he’s covered, Stola may not be covered enough.
Stola entered the game fourth in all of Division III in receiving yards per game. He’s not just the primary option in the Ephs passing game, but as pretty much the only one. Stola’s first quarter touchdown Saturday was his eighth of the season. No other Williams player has one. In its first three games, Williams threw for a combined 585 yards. Stola had 453 yards receiving in those three games, approximately 77 percent of the Ephs yards in the air.
At Colby, Stola was an even larger piece of the Williams air attack. He had 115 of the Ephs 125 receiving yards — 92 percent. Running back Joel Nicholas had two catches for 10 yards to account for the only receiving yards gained by another Williams player.
For most of the game, Colby defended Stola with corner Brett Holmes getting help from a deep safety. Even with Stola in double coverage, he found ways to get open. On Williams’ first drive, the Ephs faced third down and 9, when Stola lined up on the right and cut hard towards the middle of the field. With linebackers in coverage, Maimaron found Stola for a 26 yard gain. On the next play, Stola ran a short route, taking a step towards the middle of the field before cutting hard back towards the sideline. Maimaron found him for a 13 yard gain.
Colby did keep Stola from catcing a pass in the second half, with Holmes and Will Nipon each breaking up a throw intended for Stola. With a 17-point halftime lead, the Ephs were content to run most of the second half, playing to their strength.
With Stola demanding attention, Williams was able to once again run the ball effectively. The Ephs gained 227 yards on the ground on 37 carries, averaging 6.1 yards per rush.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
