The Tripod

After a game in which the Trinity College Football team positively demolished the Hamilton College Continentals, 42-7, on Saturday, Oct. 6, the Tufts University Jumbos separated themselves from the pack in the NESCAC with a 16-10 win over the visiting Bantams on Saturday, Oct. 13. Tufts (4-0) remains the lone undefeated team in the conference, while Trinity drops to 3-1. The Jumbos now stand alone in first place thanks to Williams College, who handed previously unbeaten Middlebury College their first loss of the year, 30-22.

"This was a total team loss," said senior co-captain Matt Rettig, an anchor for the Bantam defense at outside linebacker. "The defense along with the offense did not play our best games, and it really hurt us Saturday. The blame is placed equally on both of us."

The Bantams started the game offensively on their own five-yard line following a 45-yard Tufts punt. On the first play, Trinity was called for a holding penalty in the end zone which awarded the Jumbos a safety and the early first quarter lead.

The Bantam offense stormed 73 yards back, including a 54-yard pass by junior quarterback Eric McGrath to classmate wide receiver Connor Wells. A 17-yard touchdown catch by senior wide receiver Joe Clark gave Trinity the lead, 7-2. They extended their lead in the second quarter on a 25-yard field goal by junior kicker Adam Cox which made the score 10-2 - the final score for the visiting Bantams.

"A lot of the people are looking to blame the offense, but we had the lead at halftime," stated Rettig. "If the defense didn't let them score, we would have won."

Trinity fumbled on the next possession, and the Jumbos converted on the turnover, driving 72 yards for the score. The extra point pulled the home team within one at 10-9 with 1:43 remaining in the first half.

The following possession for the Bantams resulted in another turnover, this time on an interception by Tufts junior Ryan Crisco. Tufts was unable to score, however, and the Bantams entered the locker room with a one-point advantage.

Following a Trinity three-and-out possession to start the second half, Tufts junior David Halas hauled in a nine-yard catch to end the scoring in the game at 16-10. The Bantams were unable to score during the remaining 20 minutes, as the Jumbos stopped Trinity on fourth down conversion attempts four times in that span.

"We didn't underestimate them, we just had a couple breakdowns on both sides of the ball and got a couple bad bounces," Rettig said. "Some games you get breaks and some games you don't.

"We expected everything we saw," he continued. "Not to take anything away from Tufts - they played hard - but we beat ourselves. We lost the game as a team."

Senior running back Jordan Quinones carried 25 times for a season-high 120 yards. Trinity was forced to throw more down the stretch as they battled the clock, however, which resulted in six straight incomplete passes from McGrath and one sack. McGrath finished the game with 180 yards on 18 of 37 passing.

Senior inside linebacker Nile Lundgren led the Bantams with 10 tackles (1.5 for losses), while junior inside linebacker Tyler Berry and sophomore defensive end Kyle Williams finished with nine apiece. Senior defensive lineman Jeff Carpenter recorded three tackles for losses.

The Tufts victory was its first over Trinity since 2001, while the Bantams - winners of 37 of 38 - took their first loss to a team other than Williams since November 3, 2001 against Amherst College.

"We need to practice harder and play together," said Rettig. "We are going to be fine and still have a great shot at reaching our goal, and that's winning the NESCAC title. Yeah, this loss hurt, but we have a lot of senior leadership and will win out and hopefully reach our goal."

Trinity will face the Bowdoin College Polar Bears next Saturday at 1 p.m. at home.

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