Box Score
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Freshman Justin Weaver rushed for 66 yards and a touchdown for Tufts
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BRUNSWICK, ME - Led by 137 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Zach Donnarumma, the Bowdoin College football team picked up its first victory of the 2012 season with a 17-10 win over Tufts on Saturday.
The Polar Bears, who accumulated 215 yards on the ground as a team, improve to 1-2 this fall. The Jumbos, who got 10 tackles apiece from sophomore LB Tommy Meade (Wakefield, MA) and senior Sam Diss (Ridgewood, NJ), fall to 0-3 this season. Diss also intercepted a pass and broke up two others.
Greg Pierce also contributed 73 yards on the ground for Bowdoin while Thomas Romero went 13 for 25 with 131 yards passing. Bowdoin limited Tufts' passing attack, holding senior QB John Dodds (Mount Pleasant, SC) to 124 yards passing despite completing 21 of 36 passes. Junior Pat Nee (Essex Junction, VT) caught six passes for 56 yards while freshman RB Justin Weaver (Salt Lake City, UT) gained 66 yards on the ground for the Jumbos.
Tufts attempted to catch Bowdoin off guard on the first play from scrimmage, running a reverse wide-receiver option pass, but Matt Johnson's (Hanover, MA) toss was intercepted by Beau Breton giving the Polar Bears great field position. The Polar Bears couldn't cash in, however, as the Tufts defense forced a three-and-out. Senior Curtis Yancy (St. Louis, MO) had a sack on third down for the Jumbos.
The teams traded possessions until late in the opening quarter, when Bowdoin marched 51 yards in 14 plays to set up a 41-yard field goal from Jimmy Garvey. Tufts responded with a 10-play, 54-yard drive, capped by a 22-yard field goal from Connor McDavitt (Holden, MA) to even the score early in the second quarter.
Bowdoin took the ensuing kickoff and, after a bad snap put them inside their own 10 on the very first play, went 93 yards over the next 12 plays, including a 21-yard touchdown scamper by Donnarumma that gave the hosts a 10-3 edge heading into halftime.
A fumble by Pierce to start the second half, which was recovered by Jumbo junior LB Sean Harrington (Chelmsford, MA), allowed Tufts to tie the contest right out of the break. Weaver carried the ball five times on a seven-play drive for the Jumbos, including a three-yard plunge up the middle to tie the game at 10 apiece.
Neither team could pull ahead until late in the fourth quarter when Bowdoin took over at their own 40 with 5:45 to play. A 17-yard pass from Romero to Matt Perlow put the Polar Bears at the Tufts 37 and Donnarumma and Pierce took over from there, carrying the ball seven consecutive times, ending in a five-yard dive to paydirt by Donnarumma with 2:36 to go.
Tufts took the next kickoff and drove to the Bowdoin 32 with under a minute to play. But a fourth-and-nine pass by Dodds was broken up by Jon Fraser to seal the victory for the Polar Bears.
Griffin Cardew made 14 tackles to lead Bowdoin.
The Polar Bears will travel to play at Hamilton next Saturday at noon. Tufts will return to action next Saturday at Trinity for a 1:30 pm start.
Game statistics
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Game recap courtesy of Bowdoin College
