Bantam QB McGrath Sets Trinity,
NESCAC Passing Record
Middletown, Conn. - Senior tri-captain QB Eric
McGrath (Lynn, Mass.) set new Trinity and NESCAC
single-season passing records, completing 26-for-42 attempts for
376 yards to finish with 2,206 yards for the season, as the Trinity
College Bantams downed the Wesleyan University Cardinals, 38-14, in
the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football
season finale this afternoon on Corwin Field. Trinity, which
had clinched its fifth NESCAC title in the last seven years last
weekend in a 30-13 win over Amherst, completes its 11th
perfect season at 8-0 with its 10th consecutive
victory. The Bantams were also most recently undefeated in
2003, 2004, and 2005.
Trinity raced to a 31-0 lead at the half en route to its eight
consecutive win over the Cardinals, after Bantam senior S John
Marinelli (New Canaan, Conn.) thwarted a Wesleyan scoring drive
with an interception at his own three-yard line with the game still
scoreless in the first quarter. Bantam senior PK Adam Cox
(Garden City, N.Y.) opened the scoring with a 22-yard field goal
with 4:52 left in the opening stanza, and, after a Cardinal punt,
McGrath hit sophomore WR Michael Galligan (Shoreham, N.Y.) on a
first-down, 61-yard scoring strike to give the Bantams a 10-0 lead.
Trinity completely dominated play in the second quarter, scoring
21 points and racking up 299 passing yards and over 100 yards on
the ground by halftime. Trinity junior RB Oliver Starnes
(Ledgewood, N.J.) scored once on a six-yard run and again on a
six-yard screen pass by McGrath, and the Bantams closed the half
with a half-back option pass back to McGrath by freshman RB Nana
Appah-Sampong (Lake Mary, Fla.) for a one-yard score with seven
seconds on the clock.
McGrath broke the Trinity record of 2,186 passing yards,
previously held by former Green Bay Packer Joe Shield'86, early in
the fourth quarter and exited the game shortly afterwards.
Wesleyan scored a pair of second-half touchdowns and Starnes added
his third score of the day to round out the scoring.
Trinity, which also set a new NESCAC record for yards in total
offense with 561 yards, lit up the stat sheet, as Starnes finished
with 120 rushing yards on 16 carries and Galligan added six catches
for 130 yards, senior WR Connor Wells had seven catches for 90
yards, and senior TE Andrew McDowell (Bethesda, Md.) added five
catches for 61 yards. Bantam senior tri-captain ILB Tyler
Berry (East Lyme, Conn.) paced the defense with 14 tackles and two
sacks, while junior DE Kyle Williams (Bethesda, Md.) recorded seven
hits a pair of sacks.
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