Williamstown, Mass. - Junior RB Oliver Starnes (Ledgewood, N.J.)
rushed 24 times for 111 yards and had touchdown runs of one yard
and 30 yards to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a
20-17 win over the Williams College Ephs in New England Small
College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action this afternoon
at Weston Field. Trinity, ranked No. 6 in ,New England,
improves to 2-0, while Williams, ranked No. 4 in New England, falls
to 1-1 with its first loss in eight games and its first home loss
since 2004. Trinity handed Williams its last home loss on
October 2, 2004 by a score of 30-12 and the Ephs won their next 16
home games until this afternoon.
The game opened with a 40-yard kickoff return into Trinity
territory by Williams senior Elijah Weeks (Bronx, N.Y.), but the
momentum quickly shifted when Bantam senior tri-captain S Conor
Quinn (Milford, Mass.) picked off Williams sophomore QB Patrick
Moffitt (Turnersville, N.J.) on the first Eph play from
scrimmage. The Bantams gave the ball back to Williams,
however, on a fumble late in the first quarter. The Ephs
finally broke the scoring drought, converting on a 39-yard field
goal by junior Scott Sobolewski (Clifton Park, N.Y.) with 3:36 left
in the opening stanza.
Trinity answered immediately when junior RB Robert Jackson
(Atlanta, Ga.) broke a run off-tackle to the outside and scampered
38 yards to the Eph 27-yard line. Bantam senior tri-captain
QB Eric McGrath (Lynn, Mass.) found sophomore WR Michael Galligan
(Shoreham, N.Y.) down the left sideline for the game's first
touchdown on the next play for a 7-3 Trinity lead.
Williams answered on its next drive, which ended with a one-yard
plunge by senior RB Brian Morrissey (Winchester, Mass.) with 13:11
left in the half, and the Ephs went ahead, 17-7, later in the
second quarter on a 38-yard pass from Moffitt to senior WR Stewart
Buck (Amherst, Mass.), who had broken wide open down the left
sideline. Trinity pulled within a field goal with a text
book, two-minute drill during which McGrath carved up the Williams
secondary for six passes for 94 yards including a 29-yard pass to
senior WR Connor Wells (Haddam, Conn.) to the Williams one-yard
line. After a spike of the ball on first down and an
incomplete pass, McGrath handed the ball to Starnes who used a
strong second effort to cross the end zone.
In the second half, Quinn intercepted Moffitt for the second
time, grabbing a deflected ball out of the air and returning it 17
yards to the Williams 34-yard line. The Bantams shifted
McGrath out wide and used Starnes as a running quarterback out of
the shot gun on the ensuing Bantam possession. Starnes broke
free on second down for a 30-yard touchdown run with 11:35 left in
the third quarter. Heavy Williams pressure forced Bantam
senior kicker Adam Cox (Garden City, N.Y.) to pull the kick wide
left on the extra-point try to make the score, 20-17, in Trinity's
favor.
The Bantam defense stopped Williams on a pair of fourth-down
tries in the third and fourth quarters, and the Ephs defense was
equally stingy the rest of the way as neither team could put points
on the board the rest of the way. Williams had the ball for a
last time in the final five minutes but were pushed way back into
their own territory with a series of penalties and a Bantam
tackle-for-loss by sophomore LB Ben Sherry (Wayland, Mass.).
Sherry led all tacklers with 13 hits and 11 solo tackles and
added three tackles for loss and a sack. Trinity senior
tri-captain ILB Tyler Berry (East Lyme, Conn.) added seven tackles,
while Williams junior DB Ikenna Iheoma (Holland, Pa.) had a
team-high nine tackles. Trinity held Williams to 3.2 yards
per carry on the ground and forced the Eph quarterbacks into 17
incompletions.
Jackson complemented Starnes in the Trinity backfield with 51
rushing yards, while McGrath finished with 17 completions in 29
attempts for 204 yards, two scores and two picks. Galligan
caught eight passes for 93 yards and Wells made seven snares for 96
yards. Moffitt finished 15-for-30 passing for 155 yards,
including four completions to junior WR Nick Caro (Amherst, Mass.)
for 76 yards. Morrissey rushed 24 times for 79 yards to lead
the Eph running game.
box score
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