Middletown, Conn. - Sophomore QB Ryan Burgess
(Dracut, Mass.) connected with senior captain WR Michael
Galligan (Shoreham, N.Y.) on his third touchdown pass of
the day with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter to give the visiting
Trinity College Bantams a 27-20 win over the Wesleyan University
Cardinals in the New England Small College Athletic Conference
(NESCAC) football season finale for both teams this afternoon on
Andrus Field. Trinity closes the year at 7-1 with its 10
consecutive win against the Cardinals, while Wesleyan ends its
season at 4-4. Despite six straight triumphs following
a 1-1 start, Trinity lost out on a share of the
2010 NESCAC title, when Williams College won at
Amherst, 31-16, to complete an undefeated season.
Burgess completed two passes to sophomore WR Drew Grombala
(Cincinnati, Ohio) and two to Galligan, including a 31-yarder
down the left sideline that Galligan pulled in with one hand over
the Wesleyan defender at the 15-yard line before running it
in, on the game-winning drive, as Trinity needed just 45
seconds to march 61 yards after the Cardinals had tied the score at
20-20 on a 31-yard field goal by freshman Sebastian Aguirre
(Denville, N.J.) at the 1:52 mark. The Trinity defense forced
three incompletions and senior captain ILB Francois
Auzerais (Westport, Conn.) made a four-yard sack on Wesleyan's
final possession.
The teams traded early touchdowns in the first quarter, as
Burgess opened the scoring on a 14-yard pass to senior TE Chris
Hunt (Westford, Mass.) and Wesleyan answered with a 25-yard scoring
strike from junior QB Matt Coyne (Bristol, Conn.) to freshman TE
Kevin Hughes (Boxboro, Mass.). Coyne found senior WR Pete
Modera (Piedmont, Calif.) wide open down the right sideline for a
70-yard touchdown in the second stanza to give the Cardinals a 14-7
lead. Trinity responded with a 28-yard field goal by
Costello, and stole the momentum and the leas just before break
when sophomore WR Nick Campbell (New
Albany, Ohio) blocked a punt deep in Wesleyan territory to set up
Burgess for a nine-yard touchdown toss to Grombala with 13 seconds
remaining in the second quarter.
Late in the third frame, an interception by Wesleyan senior DB
Jordan Greene (Titusville, Fla.) set up a game-tying, 34-yard field
goal by Aguirre at 13:04 of the fourth quarter. Campbell
returned the ensuing kickoff 34 yards to almost midfielder,
setting up a 27-yarder by Costello that gave Trinity the lead back
at the 8:22 mark. Wesleyan capitalized on 31-yard
kickoff return into Trinity territory by Modera, and advanced
inside the Bantam 10-yard line, but a seven-yard tackle for loss on
a screen pass by Trinity senior OLB Thomad Kilgore (San
Francisco, Calif.) was a pivotal play that forced the
Cardinals to settle for a game-tying kick.
Burgess finished 17-for-25 for 169 yards, while Galligan caught
five balls for 53 yards, and Grombala had five catches for 47
yards. Coyne was 16-for-21 for 170 yards and found freshman
WR Ernest Wingate (Englewood, N.J.) six times for 41 yards.
Trinity freshman RB Evan Bunker
(Topsfield, Mass.) rushed 24 times for a game-high 119 yards, while
Wesleyan senior RB Shea Dwyer (Marlborough, Mass.) was the first
opposing runner to eclipse 100 yards on the ground this fall
against Trinity with 114 yards on 27 tries. Junior ILB Walter Fallas
(Everett, Mass.) led all tacklers with 12 (eight solo) and added a
sack, while Kilgore finished with seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for
loss, and two sacks. Senior LB Cyprian Oyomba (Norwalk,
Conn.) paced Wesleyan with 11 tackles.
box score
Hartford Courant story
