Box Score Box Score
MEDFORD, MA - For the first time since 1986, the Ephs (3-2) were
defeated by the Tufts University Jumbos (3-2), 17-7. Tufts
last victory also came in Medford; after that the Ephs went 18-0-2
against the Jumbos, and had won the last 15 meetings before today.
The Ephs' Brian Morrissey inched closer to passing Jamall
Pollock '96 for fourth on the Ephs' all-time rushing list with a
107 yard performance on 22 carries. His was the only
highlight of the day for the Ephs however, as after their offensive
explosion of a week ago the Ephs were stymied by the Jumbos for
just 227 yards of total offense, less than half of their last
game's total. Said Eph Coach Mike Whalen:
"It was really odd, you know, offensively we just never got into
a flow. You really couldn't just point to one area; the run game
was very inconsistent, we had some opportunities to make some pass
plays that we dropped, and then we had other times when guys were
open and we didn't get the ball to them."
NESCAC leading rusher Will Forde had another big day for Tufts,
registering 130 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. The
Jumbo pass attack was barely better than the Ephs though, as QB
Anthony Fucillo threw for just one more yard (108) than Eph
signal-caller Pat Moffitt. After giving up 45 points last
weekend in a victory over Middlebury, Coach Whalen was pleased with
how the defense responded:
"Defensively, realistically they gave up 7 points all day
long. The rest of it was us making some mistakes and giving
them a short field. I was happy with the way the defense
responded after last week, and now the offense has to try to do
what the defense did."
The Jumbos scored twice after Eph fumbles, the second instance
resulting in a 6 yard touchdown pass to David Halas to give Tufts a
10-7 lead. With Williams in an offensive quagmire it would
prove to be all they needed.
"We looked kind of lethargic, we looked a little slow out
there," said Whalen, "we never got in sync, never seemed to get
things going. I give Tufts a lot of credit, they had two
back-to-back losses and they came back wanting to take out their
frustration and they played hard. Their kids really came
after us, we had guys offensively coming back with bumps and
bruises. They played with a lot of emotion, they were
physical. Defensively we answered that, offensively we
didn't."
Williams will lick their wounds and try to regroup offensively
in preparation for another away game at Hamilton next
Saturday. Game time is set for 1:00 pm.
