SOMERVILLE, MA (November 1, 2025) -- The Tufts University football squad saw its two-game win streak come to an end Saturday afternoon at Ellis Oval, falling on Senior Day to visiting Colby College 33-6 in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play.
The Jumbos (4-4) struggled to stop the rushing attack of visiting Colby (5-3) Saturday afternoon, as the Mules rushed for 266 yards on 35 carries including two long touchdown runs which ended up being the difference in the contest.
Tufts and Colby traded punts in the early going of the game, but the Mules blocked a punt deep in the Jumbos' end to set up Colby with the ball at the Jumbos 13-yard line. The Tufts defense would hold the Mules to just a 23-yard field goal on the short field to make it 3-0 in favor of the visitors. Tufts was moving the ball fairly well through the first quarter, but a solid drive would stall at the Colby 34 to force another punt for Tufts.
The Mules would find the end zone on its next march, as Antone Moreis broke a 44-yard touchdown rush just 17 seconds into the second quarter to make it 10-0. Tufts once again moved into Colby's territory on the next drive but was unable to get on the board as
Andrew Leight knocked his punt out at the Colby 7-yard line. Three plays later, Moreis hit another huge play as he sprinted 84 yards for a touchdown to make it 16-0 after a failed extra point attempt.
Colby would take on another field goal late in the half, and a late push by the Jumbos in the half was derailed by an interception to make it 19-0 at the break.
Tufts didn't go away early in the third quarter, as the defense forced a punt and the Jumbos got on the board at the 7:55 mark of the third on a two-yard touchdown run from
Christian Shapiro to finish a 11-play, 59-yard touchdown drive.
The Jumbos defense continued to hold the Mules until early on in the fourth quarter, as Colby used an interception to get the ball in Jumbo territory and a 38-yard touchdown grab by Moreis from Sean Trinder made it 26-6 with just under 13 minutes to play.
Colby added another score late in the game to finish off the win, the first in the series for the Mules since 2013.
Shapiro finished with 51 yards on 13 attempts Saturday, scoring a touchdown for the seventh straight contest for Tufts. Senior
Khallid Calhoun rushed for 44 yards on five carries as well.
Sophomore
Hudson Weidman was 18-for-39 for 271 yards and two interceptions on Saturday, while junior
Matt Rios had a career-high 114 yards on five grabs. Fifth-year
Henry Fleckner added three catches for 60 yards, and
Matt Greco pulled down three balls for 30 yards as well. Senior
Aidan MacLean made his first appearance under center for the Jumbos completing one pass for four yards.
Defensively,
Johnny Ferrelli had six tackles, while
Ryan Saccu had the team's lone sack on Saturday. Senior
Jeff Xu and classmate
Suleiman Abuaqel each had five stops as well.
Moreis had 172 yards on the ground for the Mules, scoring twice, while Patrick Miller was 8-for-16 for 90 yards through the air.
Tufts will look to post its fourth straight season above .500 next Saturday at Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT in the 2025 season finale.
--JUMBOS--
