Lewiston, Maine - Junior QB Craig Drusbosky (Orange Conn.) threw for 225 yards and a pair of touchdown passes with all 10 completions going to senior WR Winston Tuggle (Canton, Mass.) and junior WR Michael Galligan (Shoreham, N.Y.), as the visiting Trinity College Bantams earned a 35-14 win against the Bates College Bobcats in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football season opener for both teams this afternoon at Garcelon Field.  Trinity, the defending NESCAC Champions after an 8-0 2008 campaign and the No. 3-ranked ranked team in New England, wins its 11th consecutive game and its 13th straight season opener.  Bates loses its 16th in a row against the Bantams.

Leading, 14-7, with 1:03 remainign in the second quarter, after a nine-yard touchdown pass from Bobcat sophomore QB Ryan Katon (Durham, Conn.) to senior TE Sean Wirth (Barrington, R.I.), the Trinity defense held Bates to -15 yards on three in 42 seconds and got the ball back with 23 seconds left on a short punt.  Trinity senior OLB Kyle Williams and sophomore DE Matt Walker (Middlebury, Conn.) had made a key sack of Katon to push Bates deeper into its own territory.  On 3rd-and-10, Drusbosky completed a 24-yard pass to Tuggle and a late hit by Bates pushed the ball to the Bobcat 10-yard line, before a 10-yard scoring pass to Galligan on another third-down play with 13 seconds left gave Trinity a 21-7 lead at the break.  The Bantams kept the momentum in the third quarter, as Drusbosky connected with Tuggle on a 22-yard pass to the six-yard line, but the pair failed to connect on a reverse hand-off two plays later resulting in Trinity's fifth lost fumble of the day.  Trinity's defense continued its stalwart play, and the Bantam went ahead, 28-7, on a one-yard touchdown run by senior RB Robert Jackson (Atlanta, Ga.).  Bates pulled back within two scores on a one-yard run on a direct snap to senior tri-captain WR Tom Beaton (West Newbury, Mass.) early in the fourth quarter, but Trinity answered immediately, as junior tri-captain Ben Sherry (Wayland, Mass.) took the short snap on a fake punt and ran the ball 37 yards for the game's final touchdown and a 35-14 Bantam advantage.

"I was happy with the way we played today against a good Bates team with alot of experience," said Trinity Head Coach Jeff Devanney.  "We competed hard in some adversity.  We definitely have some things we need to work on, but we had quite a few first-time starters on he field today. I think Drusbosky played very well in his first career start.  He made some big throws for us and ran the ball effectively and at the right times."

Trinity fumbled twice in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Trinity's defense held Bates without a first down on each ensuing drive, and Drusbosky threw an early interception that was nullified by a roughing the passer penalty by the Bobcats.  Trinity settled down and scored its first touchdown of the season on an eight-yard scamper by senior tri-captain RB Oliver Starnes (Ledgewood, N.J.) with 3:00 left in the first quarter.  The score was set up by a pair of Drusbosky scrambles, as the Bantam signal caller rushed by 51 yards in the game.  Trinity scored again when Drusbosky hit Tuggle for a 71-yard scoring strike early in the second stanza.  Bates nearly got on the board midway through the second quarter, but Trinity senior S John Marinelli (New Canaan, Conn.) recovered a fumble at the Bantam one-yard line by Beaton.  Bantam junior CB Harry Melendez (Holyoke, Mass.) stymied another second quarter Bates series with an interception, but the Bobcats finally broke through when Katon found Wirth in the back of the end zone from nine yards away.

Tuggle finished with a game-high 117 receiving yards on three catches and Galligan led all pass catchers with seven snares for 93 yards, while Starnes paced the Bantam rushing attack with 73 yards.  Bantam sophomore ILB Walter Fallas (Everett, Mass.) recorded a game- and career-high 18 tackles (seven solo), while junior ILB Francois Auzerais (New Canaan, Conn.) added 13 hits, and senior OLB Kyle Williams (Bethesda, Md.) collected eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Katon was 25-for-43 for 203 yards but was sacked four times and threw two interceptions.  Beaton caught seven passes for 87 yards and Wirth had eight catches for 62 yards, but the Bobcats were held to just 30 yards on 29 carries running the ball.  Brett McAllister (Exeter, N.H.) and Rich McNeil (Lawrence, Mass.) each had 10 tackles for the Bobcat defense.

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