Trinity Football Visits Winless Tufts Saturday
Trinity Defense Receives National Recognition
Hartford, Conn., Oct. 12, 2011 – The Trinity College football team, which won, 35-0, against Hamilton last weekend to remain unbeaten and tied with Amherst for first place in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) at 3-0, will visit the winless Tufts University Jumbos on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1:30 p.m. The Bantams, coached by Jeff Devanney (5th Season, 37-6), have a nine-game winning streak, and have won three straight games against the Jumbos including a 27-7 victory last fall in Hartford. Tufts is 0-3 after a 27-6 loss to Bowdoin last weekend. Trinity, which leads the all-time series against Tufts, 35-18-1, is ranked No. 2 in the New England Division III Poll. This week's New England Division III Poll: 1. Endicott (6-0), 2. Trinity (Conn.) (3-0), 3. Amherst (3-0), 4. Western New England (5-1), T5. Springfield (3-2), T5. Worcester State 5-1), 7. Maine Maritime (4-1), 8. Framingham State (4-2), 9. Bates (2-1), 10. Plymouth State (4-2).
Sophomores Evan Bunker (Topsfield, Mass.) and Ben Crick (Middlebury, Conn.) combined for 189 rushing yards and three scores against Hamilton, as Trinity won its 41st consecutive triumph at home to remain tied with Mount Union for the longest home winning streak in the nation. The Bantams have never lost a home game on turf. Crick opened the game with a 54-yard kickoff return to the Hamilton 36-yard line, and Bunker took the handoff on second down and scampered 32 yards for the game's first touchdown. Midway through the first quarter, Crick ran for a 43-yard touchdown, and sophomore QB Hedley Jennings (Charlotte, N.C.) tossed a 51-yard touchdown pass to sophomore WR A.J. Jones (Freetown, Sierra Leone). Bunker also scored on a seven-yard touchdown run, and junior QB Ryan Burgess (Dracut, Mass.) connected with freshman WR Will Herbert (Winchester, Mass.) on a 48-yard scoring pass that was also Herbert's first career catch. The Bantam defense held the Continentals to four first downs, 11 rushing yards on 32 carries, 76 passing yards, and 87 yards in total offense for the game. Bunker finished with 108 rushing yards on 16 carries, and Crick ran 10 times for 81 yards, while Jennings found Jones on all three of his pass completions for a total of 68 yards. Junior S Rae Haynes (Hartford, Conn.) made a team-high seven tackles (five solo), while senior DE Gary Williams (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.) added four tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. The Trinity defense was selected as the BSN (Beyond Sports Network) National Defense of the Week for its tremendous play against Hamilton.
Trinity leads the NESCAC in rushing defense (38.0 ypg), scoring defense (7.7 ppg), and total defense (208.7 ypg), while Brito tops the conference with 4.5 sacks. The Bantams are also the most efficient passing team in the league with a 157.9 rating, while Jennings is 10th in total offense with 119.7 ypg. Bunker and Crick are third and eighth, respectively, in the NESCAC in rushing with 301 yards on 61 carries (4.7 per carry) and 180 yards on 28 carries (6.4 per carry), and Jones ranks ninth in the conference with 145 receiving yards on seven catches. Jennings is 13-for-28 for 288 yards with four touchdown passes and one interception this fall. Brito leads Trinity in tackles with 20 (15 solo), including seven tackles for loss, while senior co-captain ILB Walter Fallas (Everett, Mass.) and sophomore OLB Steve Goniprow (Barrington, R.I.) have 16 tackles apiece, and senior CB Matt Paskalides (Scarsdale, N.Y.) adds a team-high four pass breakups.
Tufts, coached on an interim basis by former Bantam offensive lineman Jay Civetti'01, lost road games at Hamilton and Bates the first two weeks before Saturday's home-opening defeat against previously-winless Bowdoin. Senior QB John Lundquist (Highland Park, Ill.), ranks second in the NESCAC in passing yards with 214.3 ypg and in total offense with 234 ypg, but has six interceptions. Junior WR Dylan Haas (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) is fifth in the league in receiving yards with 197 on 16 catches (7th in NESCAC), while senior LB Zack Skarzynski (Hinsdale, Ill.) is the second-leading tackler in the conference with 39 (25 solo).
