SOMERVILLE, MA (November 9, 2024) -- The Tufts University defensive unit allowed just 94 passing yards against visiting Middlebury College Saturday, intercepting two passes as well as the Jumbo football squad finished the 2024 season with a 17-7 victory inside Ellis Oval on Senior Day.
The Jumbos earn the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) runner-up title with the victory, as Tufts finished the season 7-2 marking only the second runner-up finish in program history (2016). The Jumbos finsihed tied with Trinity College at 7-2, and despite Tuft's loss to the Bantams earlier in the season, the NESCAC does not break standings' ties making both Trinity and Tufts runners-up in the conference.
The story of the game was Tufts ability to hold off Middlebury through the air, as Middlebury came into the game as the league's third-best passing attack with over 230 yards per game. Saturday was a different story though, as the Jumbos forced Brian Moran to go 11-for-30 for 94 yards and two interceptions.
Another key point in the game came late in the fourth quarter, as senior
Luke Leongas stepped in for injured classmate
Michael Berluti on third down with Tufts leading 10-7. Leongas took his first passing attempt of the season on 3rd and 13 from his own 32-yard line and hit
CJ Burton for a 23-yard connection to give the Jumbos a first down. Tufts would continue to move the ball down the field with Leongas under center, before he connected with
Cade Moore from seven yards out to put the Jumbos up two scores with a little over seven minutes to play.
The insurance score for Tufts let the defensive unit start to look pass, and it was able to force Middlebury to punt two straight possessions. Late in the contest the Panthers got the ball back with 2:14 to play, but
Javier Rios started the drive with a sack and three plays later Tufts stopped Middlebury on 4th and 15 to clinch the victory.
After a first quarter that featured only a missed field goal by Middlebury, Tufts got on the board first as Berluti connected with first-year
Keller Rogers for his first career touchdown from 34 yards out at 11:49 of the second quarter to make it 7-0. Moments later, sophomore
Ty Richardson stopped a Panther drive with his sixth pick of the 2024 season, returning the interception 59 yards to the Middlebury 17. Four plays later, junior
Vaughn Seelicke nailed a 26-yard field goal to make it 10-0. The make was Seelicke's 14th of the season, which tied the NESCAC record for field goal makes in a single year.
Once again on the next drive Middlebury had the run game working, but Moran was intercepted in the back of the end zone for his fourth pick of the year to thwart another Panther drive. Just before halftime, Middlebury worked the ball down to the Tufts 26 with six seconds left, but the Panther field goal was short to end the half.
After another scoreless quarter in the third, Middlebury finally got on the scoreboard on a 30-yard touchdown run by Connor McClellan four seconds into the quarter. That would be as close as the Panther would get though, as Tufts won its seventh game of the year, just the fifth time since 1986 Tufts has posted seven wins in a year. Also, Tufts finished the 2024 season on a five-game winning streak, while head coach
Jay Civetti upped his career mark to over .500 with a 56-55 mark at Tufts.
Berluti finished his storied career in the Brown and Blue with another gutty performance, going 16-for-24 for 151 yards and a touchdown. He finished just shy of becoming the NESCAC all-time leader in passing yardage, but he still is will be in the Jumbo record book with 10 records, while posting four NESCAC single-season and career records during his tenure at Tufts. Leongas came in to go 2-for-3 in his final game at Tufts, throwing for 30 yards while adding 13 yards on three carries.
Sophomore
Christian Shapiro had to work hard for his 59 yards on the ground, needing 21 carries, as he finished the season as the NESCAC's second-leading rusher with 672 yards on the ground. Shapiro also pulled in three passes for 22 yards.
Moore finished her Tufts career with another stellar day, as he pulled in seven balls for 59 yards and a score. His touchdown catch was the 13th of his career, which moved him into fourth all-time.
Henry Fleckner and
Matt Greco each had two catches as well.
Defensively, senior
Jameer Alves was fantastic with nine tackles and two pass break-ups while being strong in run support. Graduate student
Javier Rios played his final game as a Jumbo and had a great one, finishing with a season-high eight tackles to go with two sacks.
Henry Ferrelli and
Jeff Xu each had seven tackles, and
Johnny Ferrelli had five tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Dom DeCrescenzo also had four tackles in the win for his final contest as a Jumbo.
Tufts held a slight edge in total offense at 274-266, while also posting a 31:59-28:01 advantage in time of possession.
McClellan led all rushers with 121 yards on 19 carries, tallying Middlebury's lone score, while Patrick Jamin had six grabs for 53 yards through the air.
--JUMBOS--
