Box Score CLINTON, N.Y. – Senior QB Ryan McDonald tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns and the Jumbo defense was dominant as the Tufts football team opened 2018 with a 29-2 victory at Hamilton College on Saturday.
In an opener that went about as well as the Jumbos could have hoped, the 27-point margin of victory is the largest for Tufts in their series against Hamilton. The Jumbos scored on three of their first four possessions while the defense allowed just one yard on the Continentals' first four drives. Tufts took a 15-0 lead into halftime, then added two more McDonald scores in the second half to run away with it.
McDonald becomes the sixth Jumbo to rush for four touchdowns in a game. He scored from 18, 8, 32 and 9 yards out, and finished the day with 98 yards rushing on 15 carries. Tufts totaled 207 yards on the ground overall, including 68 on nine rushes by sophomore Mike Pedrini.
Defensively, Tufts finished the game with six sacks and three interceptions. Junior linebacker Greg Holt led the way with eight tackles including two sacks. Tim Preston, Tylor Scales and Alex LaPiana had the picks. The Jumbos allowed just 163 total yards, including a net of -11 on the ground.
Hamilton scored its only points when Alex Ganter sacked McDonald in the end zone with 10:34 on the third-quarter clock. Will Budington led the Continentals offensively with six receptions for 117 yards.
On Hamilton's first possession of the game, a 13-yard sack by Tufts junior linebacker Stephen Timmins forced a Continental punt from the one-yard line. Preston returned it 18 yards to the 25. A Hamilton penalty on fourth down at the 20 gave the Jumbos a first down, and they turned that into a 33-yard field goal by sophomore Matt Alswanger for the first points of the season and a 3-0 lead.
Tufts got great field position again while punting on their next possession, as junior Mark Mastrog caused a fumble on the return and recovered it at the Hamilton 21. On the ensuing drive, McDonald ran 18 yards on third and seven for a touchdown and a 9-0 lead after the extra point was missed.
The Jumbos continued their early roll by forcing a three-and-out on Hamilton's next possession. McDonald completed a 30-yard pass to senior Frank Roche to bring Tufts to the Continental 34. The Jumbos moved down to the Hamilton 14 as the quarter turned, then converted a fourth and two with a six-yard pass from McDonald to senior fullback Pierce Lukas on the first play of the second period. Soon after, an eight-yard McDonald run put it in the end zone for a 15-0 Tufts advantage as the point-after was missed again.
The Continental's first sign of life came with a 54-yard completion from QB Kenny Gray to Will Budington on third and 21 from their own 1-yard line halfway through the second quarter. That put the ball in Tufts territory. However, the Jumbo defense stiffened and forced another punt.
Hamilton's defense also showed improvement as the second quarter wore on, including a six-yard tackle for loss of McDonald by James Ball. The Continentals forced punts on Tufts' final three possessions of the first half, helping keep the difference within two possessions.
Scales and Preston both had their interceptions for Tufts late in the first half, capping a great 30 minutes for the defense. They allowed just three first downs and 59 total yards.
McDonald had 61 yards rushing and the two touchdowns on 11 carries in the opening half.
Hamilton took possession in the second half and had an early 27-yard completion to Budington from Gray to the Jumbo 40. However, LaPiana picked off Gray and the visitors took over at their own five-yard line. The Continentals continued to play good defense though, and would get their first and only points of the game that way. The 10-yard sack of McDonald by Ganter closed the margin to 15-2.
Getting the ball back after the safety and showing some momentum, Hamilton went for it on fourth down and six from the Jumbo 29 and completed a seven-yard pass from Gray to Joe Schmidt. However, they couldn't put the ball in the end zone as Tufts' Holt recorded a sack on a third down play and then Gray threw an incomplete pass.
Pedrini's 28-yard run to start the next Tufts drive and a nine-yard completion from McDonald to OJ Armstrong set Tufts up at the Hamilton 35. Two plays later, McDonald rushed for his third touchdown of the game from 32 yards out and the Jumbos took a 22-2 advantage with a good PAT at the four-minute mark of the third.
A Nmesoma Nwafor sack at 1:08 of the third quarter for a 10-yard loss pinned the hosts at their own five-yard line. Tufts took over after a punt at the Hamilton 40, and shortly after the game went to the fourth quarter McDonald rushed for his fourth touchdown of the game from nine yards out and Tufts led 29-2.
All that was left from that point was for the defense to close it down without allowing an offensive point to the hosts, and that's what they did. In addition to Holt, sophomore Jack Walton in his first collegiate start had six stops for Tufts. Junior Kevin Quisumbing had two tackles for losses, including an 11-yard sack.
McDonald also completed 15 of 26 passes for 99 yards, including four balls each to Roche (42 yards) and Amstrong (26 yards). LaPiana punted well, averaging 39.3 yards and putting three inside the 20.
Five different players had seven tackles for Hamilton, including Ganter who finished with two TFLs.
The Jumbos hassled Gray all day as he finished 18 of 42 for 158 yards. Continental punter Billy Wagner averaged 42.2 yards on nine boots.
