Teams: Football: Schedule & Results

JUMBOS DEFEAT TRINITY TO REMAIN NESCAC'S ONLY UNBEATEN

COLLEGE FOOTBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 16, Trinity (CT) 10

At Somerville, MA
Saturday, October 13, 2007

Game Statistics

Andy Henke led Tufts with eight tackles and came up with a key fumble recovery

SOMERVILLE -- In a battle of undefeated football teams at Ellis Oval/Zimman Field on Saturday, the Tufts Jumbos improved to 4-0 with a 16-10 victory over Trinity College. Coupled with a 30-22 Middlebury College loss to Williams College, the Jumbos are now the only undefeated team in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).

The Tufts defense continued to make big plays against Trinity, which came into the day leading the conference in scoring with 36 points per game. The Jumbos recovered two fumbles, intercepted a pass and made the Bantams turn the ball over on downs four times in the second half. Tufts senior quarterback Matt Russo (Longmeadow, MA) connected on touchdown passes of five yards to senior co-captain Kevin Gleason (Holden, MA) and nine yards to junior wide receiver David Halas (Southbury, CT), and the hosts did not turn the ball over.

The win was the first for Tufts over Trinity since 2001. The Bantams had won 37 of their last 38 games, and had not been beaten by a team other than Williams since November 3, 2001 when they were defeated by Amherst College. Tufts was able to hold Bantam junior quarterback Eric McGrath (Lynn, MA), the most efficient passer in the league entering the game, to 16 completions in 37 attempts for 180 yards. They did so without sophomore safety Tom Tassinari (Andover, MA), last week's NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week, who did not play due to a shoulder injury.

A 45-yard punt by Tufts junior Stephen Black (San Diego, CA) that pinned the Bantams on their own five-yard line helped get the Jumbos on the scoreboard first. On the first play of their drive, Trinity was whistled for a holding penalty in the end zone that gave the Jumbos a safety with 5:00 left in the first quarter.

After Tufts was stopped following the free kick, the Bantam offense was quick to respond. They went 73 yards in five plays to take a 7-2 lead on a 17-yard pass from McGrath to senior wide receiver Joe Clark (Agawam, MA) with 17 seconds remaining in the first. McGrath and junior Connor Wells (Haddam, CT) combined on a 54-yard pass play to key the drive.

Trinity added a 25-yard field goal by junior Adam Cox (Garden City, NY) at 10:21 of the second quarter to take a 10-2 lead. The defense had helped set up the score by pushing the Jumbos back five yards to their own 25 on the previous possession. Wells returned a short punt 14 yards to the Tufts 39 and soon the Bantams added to their lead.

Trinity was driving again on its next possession, but Tufts junior safety Andy Henke (Barrington, IL) forced and recovered a fumble by workhorse tailback Jordan Quinones (Pottstown, PA) at the Tufts 28. The Jumbo offense turned that into seven points with an 11-play, 72-yard drive that culminated with the Russo to Gleason TD pass that made it 10-9 at 1:43 of the second period. Black had a 19-yard reception on third and three early in the drive and Gleason caught passes for 14 and 16 yards prior to the touchdown.

On the ensuing possession, the Bantams were in Tufts territory again when Jumbo junior linebacker Ryan Crisco (Madison, CT) intercepted a pass at the 25-yard line and the game would go to halftime with Trinity leading by one.

Early in the third quarter, Black had a 63-yard punt from deep in his own territory that gave Trinity the ball at its own 35. The Tufts defense forced Trinity into a three-and-out that set up the eventual game-winning touchdown for the Jumbos. Taking over at their own 32, Russo passed to Halas for 20 yards to midfield, and then that same pair combined for 34 yards to the Trinity 10. The duo fittingly capped the drive with a nine-yard TD at 6:54 of the third quarter to put Tufts in front 16-10.

The Tufts defense and special teams locked down the win by stopping Trinity on fourth down four times in the final 20 minutes. Late in the third, the Bantams failed on a fourth and two from the Jumbo 39-yard line. Early in the fourth quarter when Trinity was looking to add a 35-yard field goal, the snap was mishandled and Jumbo sophomore Will Miller (West Chester, PA) made a sack on a pass attempt in the aftermath. The next Trinity possession ended when Jumbo junior linebacker Tyson Reynoso (Bellevue, ND) broke up a pass on fourth and eight from the Tufts 21. The Jumbos would secure the win with another fourth-down stop that allowed the offense to run out the clock.

Henke led Tufts with seven tackles, while senior DE Stephen Albertine (Coral Springs, FL) had eight tackles including a nine-yard sack. Junior defensive lineman Jeremiah Lechleiter (Gloucester, MA) and sophomore safety Alex Perry (Danvers, MA) each had seven tackles. Senior running back Chris Guild (Wellesley, MA) finished the game with 83 yards on 17 carries, while junior Will Forde (Hyde Park, MA) carried 18 times for 53 yards. Russo was 15 for 28 for 145 yards, with Gleason catching four balls for 44 yards and Halas finishing with three receptions for 63 yards.

Quinones ran tough for the Bantams all day and finished with 120 yards on 25 rushes. McGrath completed passes to seven different receivers, with Wells gaining 61 yards on two catches. Senior Nile Lundgren (Brooklyn, NY) paced the Bantam defense with 10 tackles, including 1.5 for losses. Junior linebacker Tyler Berry (East Lyme, CT) finished with nine tackles, as did sophomore backer Kyle Williams (Bethesda, MD). Senior Jeff Carpenter (Pottstown, PA) had three tackles for losses.

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