LEWISTON, MAINE - The Trinity College Bantams remained flawless and clinched at least a share of the 2022 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Football Championship crown with a 63-14 road win against the Bates College Bobcats this afternoon on Garcelon Field.  Trinity improves to 8-0 with just next week's season finale against Wesleyan remaining on the schedule.  The Bantams are one game ahead of Middlebury (7-1), whom they defeated in Vermont, 27-21, on October 15, and will claim sole possession of the league title with a win next week against the Cardinals or a loss by the Panthers on the road at Tufts next Saturday.

Trinity's Aidan Kennedy (East Longmeadow, Mass.) intercepted Bates QB Colton Bosselait on the game's first play from scrimmage and returned the ball to the Bobcat nine-yard line.  Trinity took a 15-yard loss on first down but senior QB Spencer Fetter (Winter Park, Fla.) found sophomore WR Sean Clapp (Wyckoff, N.J.) for a 24-yard touchdown on the next play.  Trinity first-year Tyler Jameson (Lawrence, N.J.) picked off Bosselait on the next Bates drive and the Bantams capitalized again on a 24-yard touchdown run by fellow rookie RB Tyler DiNapoli (West Haven, Conn.) to lead, 14-0, just 3:31 into the contest.  The Bantams added a third score on a one-yard plunge into the end zone on 3rd-and-goal by junior RB Cal Messina (Pittsfield, Mass.), his first career touchdown, with 3:10 left in the opening frame.  

In the second quarter, senior Wigs Crowley (East Milton, Mass.) made Trinity's third interception of the first half and the Bantams made it pay with a 13-yard scoring strike form Fetter to TE Thomas Walsh (Pelham, N.Y.) with 1:25 remaining before the break. The Bantams scored four touchdowns in the third quarter, two more on runs by DiNapoli, one on a 60-yard pass from Fetter to WR DeVante Reid (London, England), and the fourth on a three-yard scamper by Messina.  Bates got on the board when Bosselait connected with Christian Olivieri for a 71-yard touchdown.  Trinity junior QB Zander Zebrowski (Verone, N.J.) scored his first career touchdown on a seven-yard run in the fourth quarter and the Bobcats rounded out the scoring with a 28-yard connection from Bosselait to Olivieri in garbage time.

Fetter finished 24-for-32 for 362 yards with three touchdowns and an interception and Bosselait was 9-for-20 for 118 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.  DiNapoli led all rushers with 17 carries for 125 yards and Reza Badiee had a team-high 66 rushing yards for Bates.  Clapp caught seven passes for 125 yards and Reid added four catches for 97 yards, while Olivieri caught five balls for 113 yards.  Defensively, Brian Casagrande (Madison, Conn.) paced Trinity with six tackles, while both Kennedy and Crowley had four tackles to go with their interceptions.  Tony Hooks had 16 tackles and Thomas Formus added eight tackles and an interception for the Bobcats,