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Football

Williams Football Defeats Trinity Despite Late Bantam Rally

Williamstown, Mass. – Senior QB Patrick Moffitt (Turnersville, N.J.) threw touchdown passes of 83, 89, and, 25 yards to sophomore Darren Hartwell (North Reading, Mass.) to lead the Williams College Ephs to a 29-21 win over the visiting Trinity College Bantams in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action this afternoon at Weston Field. Trinity falls to 1-1 overall and in the NESCAC, while Williams stays undefeated at 2-0 overall and in the league with its first win over Trinity since 2006.  Williams survived a furious late rally by the Bantams, who scored three touchdowns in the last 20 minutes and had a chance to tie from the Williams 20-yard line with two seconds left in the contest.

Neither team could get much going in the first quarter that included three punts and a missed field goal by Eph freshman Luke Faust (Wellesley, Mass.) with 2:22 on the clock.  Williams gave Trinity an opportunity in the opening seconds of the second quarter, when Williams RB Ryan Lupo fumbled on an option play and Trinity sophomore S Julian Brown (Philadelphia, Pa.) jumped on the ball at the Williams 42-yard line.  The Eph defense forced yet another punt, however, as Trinity senior TE Chris Hunt (Westford, Mass.) failed to haul in a pass by senior QB Craig Drusbosky (Orange, Conn.) to extend the drive on 3rd-and-8.  The Bantams blocked a Williams punt deep in the Eph end minutes later, but the Williams defense again held Trinity without a first down, and Bantam junior K Tim Costello (Solana Beach, Calif.) booted the ball high but wide right on the 31-yard field goal try.

After Trinity unsuccessfully tried to down a bouncing Costello punt at the Williams one-yard line, the Ephs capitalized with an 83-yard bomb for a down the left sideline for a touchdown from Moffitt to Hartwell with 7:36 left before the break.  A missed PAT made the score, 6-0, in favor of the home team.  Moffitt and Hartwell completed an almost identical touchdown play 1:14 later for 87 yards, but failed on a two-point conversion try to take a 12-0 lead.  On Trinity's ensuing possession, Williams intercepted a Drusbosky pass at the Bantam 39-yard line, and Eph junior K Chris Cleary (Winchester, Mass.) kicked a 34-yard field goal to give the Ephs a 15-0 advantage with 3:01 on the clock.  A similar pick on a Drusbosky pass to the his left by junior Dan O'Mara (Allison Park, Pa.) gave Williams the ball on the Trinity 33-yard line with just over two minutes remaining in the first half, but Trinity senior CB Harry Melendez (Holyoke, Mass.) returned the favor with an interception in his end zone to keep the Bantams within two scores at intermission.

The third quarter featured Trinity interceptions by sophomore Rae Haynes (Hartford, Conn.) and Melendez, a lost Bantam fumble by freshman RB Ben Crick (Middlebury, Conn.), and a blocked punt by Trinity senior Conor Garvie (Naples, Fla.), but none resulted in any scoring.  Trinity got on the scoreboard with a 10-play, 81-yard drive, including a 28-yard catch by junior RB Nana Appah-Sampong (Lake Mary, Fla.), that was completed by a two-yard plunge into the end zone by senior captain safety and short-yardage running specialist Ben Sherry (Wayland, Mass.).  Williams answered with a 25-yard scoring pass from Moffitt to Hartwell, set up by a two-yard Moffit pass to senior WR Bryce Bennett (Jonesboro, Ark.) that put the ball in Trinity territory, to give the Ephs a 22-7 lead with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.  A fumble in the backfield by Drusbosky less than a minute later was recovered by Williams senior LB Dylan Schultz (Lanesboro, Mass.) at the Bantam 35-yard line, and the Ephs scored their fourth touchdown at 14:26 of the fourth frame on a five-yard pass by Moffit to senior Bennett.

Drusbosky found Hunt on a 20-yard touchdown pass at the 11:15 mark of the fourth quarter, and marched the Bantams 90 yards down the field for another score with 3:27 remaining.  Sherry kept that drive going with a three-yard run as the quarterback   on 4th-and-2 from the Eph 27-yard line, and Drusbosky completed a 19-yard pass to senior WR Michael Galligan (Shoreham, N.Y.) to advance the ball inside the Williams five-yard line.  Hunt caught his second touchdown pass of the game on the next play to bring the Bantams within eight points at 29-21.  Trinity's defense stopped the Ephs on 4th-and-6 deep in its end end, and got the ball back with 56 seconds on the clock.  Drusbocky quickly brought the Bantams into Williams territory with three straight passes to Hunt, and back-to-back pass interference and defensive holding calls gave Trinity the ball at the Eph 18-yard line with two seconds left.  Drusbosky rolled left and threw into the left back corner of the end zone, but the ball fell to the ground and gave Williams the win.

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Players Mentioned

Julian Brown

#21 Julian Brown

S
Junior
Rae Haynes

#15 Rae Haynes

S
Junior
Ben Crick

#20 Ben Crick

RB
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Julian Brown

#21 Julian Brown

Junior
S
Rae Haynes

#15 Rae Haynes

Junior
S
Ben Crick

#20 Ben Crick

Sophomore
RB