SOMERVILLE, MA (October 5, 2024) -- The Tufts University football team led 16-14 at the half against unbeaten Trinity College, but the visiting Bantams scored on all four of their second-half possessions to post a 42-24 win over the Jumbos on a sunny day at Ellis Oval in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play.
Trinity moved to 4-0 on the season with the win, remaining as the lone unbeaten team in the NESCAC, while Tufts dropped to 2-2 on the season.
The Bantams wasted no time taking the lead in the opening quarter, as Trinity went 75 yards over 10 plays before Tyler Dinapoli pushed in from two yards out to make it 7-0 just 5:19 into the contest. Tufts responded with a scoring drive of its own on its first possession, as it drove down to the Trinity 4 before having to settle for a
Vaughn Seelicke 20-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
The Jumbos would force a 3-and-out on their next possession, and moved the ball to the Trinity 20 early in the second quarter but a sack pushed the Jumbos out of field goal range to end the drive.
On the next possession, Tufts got a much needed turnover as
Jaylen Callender forced a fumble and
Jeff Xu jumped on the ball at the Trinity 34 to set up the hosts in great field position. It would take just one play for Tufts to take the lead, as senior quarterback
Michael Berluti connected with
Cade Moore from 34 yards out for his first of two touchdowns on the day to make it 10-7 Jumbos.
Late in the second quarter, Trinity regained the lead as Nolan O'Brien turned a broken play into a seven-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left in the half to make it 14-10. The was enough time though for the Jumbos to answer, as Berluti was clinical on the two-minute drill going 4-for-5 for 75 yards on the drive connecting with
Cade Moore three times including plays of 33 yards and 30 yards. The last catch of the drive for Moore was the biggest, as he connected with Berluti for a five-yard touchdown strike with nine seconds to play in the half to make it 16-14 Tufts at the break.
Berluti was 17-20 for 210 yards and two scores in the first half for the Jumbos.
In the third quarter, Tufts had its first drive of the half stall and Trinity blocked the ensuing punt to take over at the Jumbo 42 yard line. Two plays later, Zander Zebrowski hit O'Brien for a 36-yard touchdown reception to make it 21-16. Once again the Jumbos fought back, as they put together a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive finished by a 21-yard touchdown catch from senior tight end
Jack Elliott followed by a successful two-point conversion to make it 24-21 Tufts with 8:14 left in the third quarter.
That would be the final points of the day for the Jumbos though, as Trinity tallied the final 21 points unanswered to pull away for the win.
Berluti finished 21-for-33 for 278 yards and three touchdowns passing, adding 10 yards on the ground as well.
Christian Shapiro led Tufts with 47 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Moore finished with six receptions for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
CJ Burton pulled in a career-high six catches for 51 yards, and Elliott and
Henry Fleckner each had three grabs apiece.
Xu had a strong game defensively for the Jumbos, as the linebacker had a career-high 10 tackles to go with a half-sack and fumble recovery.
Henry Ferrelli and
Jameer Alves each had nine tackles as well, while
Johnny Ferrelli recorded eight stops.
Tufts finished with 354 yards of total offense, but struggled on third downs with just a 2-for-9 conversion rate.
Trinity posted 438 yards on offense, as Zebrowski was 24-for-28 for 294 yards and two touchdowns in addition to his 67 yards rushing. Dinapoli had two touchdowns and 75 yards rushing, while O'Brien had five catches for 95 yards. Sean Clapp also posted five catches for 59 yards, and Matt Laughlin finished with 62 yards receiving on four catches in the win.
Trinity was 5-for-5 in the red zone on Saturday, and went 8-of-10 on third downs while posting a 35:52-24:08 time of possession lead.
Tufts will be back in action next Saturday, October 12 at Bates College for a 6 p.m. kick-off in Lewiston, Maine.
--JUMBOS--
