Box
Score
HARTFORD, CT
– As is expected of the famed Trinity-Williams football
rivalry, this afternoon's contest on Jessee/Miller Field was a
tightly-matched, nail-biting event that came down to the very last
minute of play. Unfortunately, the Ephs came out on the short end
of this year's thriller, as Bantam quarterback Craig Drusbosky
drove his team 60 yards down the field in under 90 seconds for the
game-winning touchdown, an 11-yard pass to fellow junior Michael
Galligan that gave Trinity the lead 26-21 with 14 seconds left in
regulation.
This drive came after the Ephs
prevented the Bantams from tying the game at 21 on a 2-point
conversion preceded by a separate Drusbosky-Galligan touchdown
reception, that one for 16 yards. With 1:48 to go, it looked as if
Williams was going to break Trinity's 31-game home winning streak
and take a 2-0 record into their home opener next week, but a
fumbled onside kick allowed the Bantams to regain possession on
their own 40-yard line. The ensuing Trinity touchdown and the drive
before that one compiled a combine 15 plays for 106 yards, despite
gaining just 143 combine yards on the nine drives before that.
“We competed very well today,
and the effort and the desire was definitely there,” said Eph
head coach Mike Whalen, “but the execution was lacking in the
last fifteen minutes.... You can't just knock a champion like
Trinity down. You've gotta knock them out. We didn't play at the
level we needed to for the full sixty minutes and that's what
allowed them to take that victory from us.”
The Ephs came right out of the
locker room with an intensity and an urgency that was noticeably
absent from their game in last week's matchup with Colby. Sophomore
returner Bryce Bennett, who had a nice day in last week's game,
received the opening kickoff and broke off a 47-yard return into
Bantam territory. The advantageous field position set up a 31-yard
touchdown catch by senior wide-out Nick Caro, Eph junior
quarterback Pat Moffitt's favorite target, giving Williams an early
7-0 lead. The momentum of the quick score carried over to the
defensive side of the ball for Williams, as they stymied the Bantam
offense on their first two drives, giving up just 9 total yards.
“Defensively, we held them in
check for three quarters,” remarked Whalen, “and we
played well and did some good things on both sides of the football
for the majority of this game. We had the one turnover on offense,
but I feel we rebound nicely from that.”
This turnover came after a 59-yard
drive by the Bantams late in the opening quarter that resulted in a
field goal by sophomore Tim Costello. On the ensuing Williams
possession, junior cornerback Harry Melendez stepped in front of a
Moffitt pass attempt and ran it into the Eph endzone for a 47-yard
defensive touchdown that put Trinity in front, 10-7.
The Ephs would respond midway
through the second quarter, as Caro capped off another Williams
drive that began in Bantam territory with his second touchdown
reception of the afternoon. This six-point strike was delivered
from 24 yards out by sophomore quarterback Matt Coyne, who had the
game-winning touchdown run in the season opener. The defenses of
both teams tightened up after that score, allowing a combine total
of just 48 yards for the remainder of the half, and the Ephs
entered the locker rooms at halftime with a 14-10 edge.
Trintiy began the second half with
the ball near midfield, and the tandem ground attack of senior
tailback Oliver Starnes and sophomore rusher Nana Appah-Sampong
headed a 43-yard drive. Costello ended the offensive series with
another field goal, pulling Trinity within a point of Williams. But
once again, the Ephs responded in timely fashion, constructing a
12-play, 72-yard drive punctuated by Bennett's 6-yard touchdown
run. Junior running back Ryan Lupo gained 31 yards in that string
of plays, and Caro hauled in a second 31-yard reception to set up
the score. The tri-captain finshed with 99 receiving yards on 6
catches, while the first-year starter Lupo gained 128 yards on the
ground over 29 carries.
“Ryan Lupo struggled last week
in the first start of his career,” admitted Whalen. “We
really wanted to challenge him in this game to see how he would
respond, and he responded tremendously.... We knew he was capable
of this kind of performance and I'm very proud of the way he
competed today.”
With an 8-point advantage, the
Williams defense held their ground, forcing two turnovers on downs
and two punts over the next four Trinity offensive series. But at
2:43 in the final quarter, the tables began to turn in the Bantams'
favor. Drusbosky hooked up with Starnes for a 24-yard gain to the
Williams 22-yard line. On the next set of downs, Drusbosky found
Galligan in the endzone on a 4th-and-4 play to give
Trinity hope of an improbable upset, but a huge stop by Williams on
the subsequent 2-point conversion put a serious damper on the
crowd's excitement. The Ephs seemed to be in good shape for a 21-19
victory, as there was a mere 1:48 remaining in the contest.
The onside kick was the only option
for the Bantams, who had no timeouts left, and thanks to some
random stroke of luck or maybe a slippery football, Williams
botched the kick. Trinity scrambled to the ball and sophomore
Walter Fallas collapsed on it at the Bantams' 40-yard line. Working
from the no-huddle, Drusbosky marched Trinity towards the goal line
with a series of short, quick strikes to the sidelines, and
Galligan capped off the dramatic comeback with a game-winning
touchdown reception. With just 14 seconds left to play, Moffitt
could only heave up a pass into a swarm of Trinity defenders that
was picked off Melendez to end the game 26-21 in favor of the
Bantams.
“You can't even compare last
week's game and last week''s practice's to this week,”
commented Whalen. “Our preparation and our level of play were
significantly improved...and it would obviously be a different
story if we had come out here today and got beaten by 50 points.
Seventy-five players and ten coaches lost this game today....
“Obviously, it's a tough one
to put behind us, but we are going to have to because we have a lot
more football ahead of us and a lot more goals to accomplish this
season.”
The Ephs will host Bates College
next week for their home opener at Weston Field in Williamstown
Massachusetts. Kickoff is set for 1:00PM.
