Hartford, Conn. – Senior Darrien Myers (North Andover, Mass.) totaled 234 yards receiving and on kick returns and caught three touchdown passes to lead the Trinity College Bantams to their 21st consecutive season-opening win, 38-7, against the visiting Bates College Bobcats in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action this afternoon at Jessee/Miller Field. Bates suffers its 21st-straight loss to the Bantams.  Trinity, which has not lost to the Bobcats since 1979, will visit Williams next Saturday and Bates visits Tufts.

Trinity trailed, 7-0, after a three-yard touchdown run by Bates sophomore QB Sandy Plashkes (Del Mar, Calif.) 2:10 into the game.  Plashkes had broken free for a 57-yard scamper to the five-yard line to set up the score.  The Bantams got on the board with a 36-yard field goal by sophomore Eric Sachse (Jefferson, Mass.), as a Bobcat offsides penalty gave Sachse a second chance after a missed attempt from 41 yards away, with 6:32 left in the first quarter, and Trinity junior QB Sonny Puzzo (West Caldwell, N.J.) found Myers on throws from 20, five, and 30 yards away over a 15-minute span in the second and third frames to put the home team ahead, 24-7, with 7:49 left in the third quarter.  Bantam sophomore RB Lucas Golon (Carle Place, N.Y.) scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard run with 9:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, and added a 39-yard scoring sprint 1:14 later for the final points of the contest.  A third-down Trinity sack by junior LB Liam Kenneally (Reading, Mass.) pushed Bates back to its own19-yard line, setting the Bantams up for good field position on its next possession that resulted in the Sachse field goal.  Bates junior DL Alex Cormier (Swampscott, Mass.) recovered a fumbled Trinity snap at his own 29-yard line to end a Bantam threat in the early moments of the second quarter, but sophomore RB Max Chipouras (Longmeadow, Mass.) rushed for 41 yards on first down from his own three-yard line to open a 97-yard drive that closed with Myers' first touchdown catch 8:41 before the break and a 10-7 Trinity lead at halftime. 

Myers, who averaged over 20 yards per attempt on six punt returns, set his team up for its second touchdown with a 34-yard return to the Bates 37-yard line.  Puzzo hit Myers in the end zone from five yards away with 11:15 left in the third quarter and found him again with 7:49 on the clock on a 30-yard toss across the field from the left hash mark to the right pylon.  Trailing, 24-7, Bates answered by marching down the field from its own 30-yard line to the Trinity 11-yard line late in the third quarter.  Bantam senior co-captain Spencer Donahue (Naperville, Ill.) forced a fumble that was recovered by a Bobcat lineman, but intercepted Plashkes on the next play and returned the ball 88 yards to the Bates two-yard line.  Trinity did not capitalize, however, as Chipouras fumbled at the end line and Bates got the ball back on a touchback.  Golon finished off a nine-play, 70-yard Trinity drive with his first score of the afternoon, and Bantam sophomore LB Niles Easley (Norristown, Pa.) ripped the ball from Bates senior RB Ryan Spillane (Medfield, Mass.) for the second Trinity take-away of the second half to set up Golon for the game's final touchdown on the very next play.

 Trinity finished with 480 yards of total offense despite losing the time-of-possession battle by 18 seconds, and held Bates to 36 passing yards and just four third-down conversions in 20 tries.  Puzzo was 17-for-26 for 182 yards passing, while Myers had seven catches for 87 yards and senior Nick Gaynor (West Hartford, Conn.) and junior Bryan Vieira (Hull, Mass.) combined for eight catches and 89 receiving yards.  Chipouras gained 144 yards on 18 carries with Golon picking up 127 yards on 15 carries, as the Bantams averaged 6.4 yards per rush.  Plashkes completed four passes in nine tries and rushed 15 times for 54 yards, while sophomore RB Peyer Boyer (Dover, Maine) had 60 yards on 19 carries.  Defensively, Kenneally had 11 tackles (seven solo) and a sack, while senior LB Henderson Watkins (Montgomery, Texas) contributed 10 tackles, one for a loss, and sophomore LB Dago Picon-Roura (Roslindale, Mass.) added eight tackles and one tackle for loss.  Bates senior tri-captain LB Mark Upton (Winthrop, Mass.) made 10 of his 11 tackles on his own, forced a fumble, and had one sack, while sophomore DB Joe Frake (Windham, N.H.) recorded 11 tackles and a pass breakup, and senior tri-captain DB Trevor Lyons (South Hamilton, Mass.) finished with nine tackles.

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