HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College football team, which clinched at least a share of the 2022 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title with a 63-14 win at Bates over the weekend, will close the season with its annual local battle against the Wesleyan University Cardinals on Saturday, November 12 at noon on Jessee/Miller Field at Tansill Muldoon Stadium.  The Bantams are 8-0 and seeking their 14th undefeated season but a win on Saturday over the Cardinals will also give Trinity football its first-ever 9-0 campaign in the 136-year history of the program.  The Bantams sit one game ahead of Middlebury and will win the conference crown outright with a win Saturday or a Middlebury loss in its game at Tufts the same day.  Coached by Jeff Devanney (17th Season, 112-20), Trinity has previously won at least a share of the NESCAC Football Championship title in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and own previous undefeated years in 1911, 1915, 1934, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2016.  The Bantams, which hold a 63-54-1 record in the 137-year history of the Wesleyan rivalry, is ranked No. 2 and Wesleyan is No. 8 in the New England Football Writers Division III Poll: 1. Endicott (9-0), 2. TRINITY (8-0), 3. Mass.-Dartmouth (8-1), 4. Springfield (7-2), 5. Plymouth State (8-1), 6. Middlebury (7-1), 7. Western Connecticut (7-3), 8. Wesleyan (6-2), 9. Tufts (5-3), 10. Castleton (5-4).  Admission to Saturday's football game will be free.

In the rout at Bates, Trinity's Aidan Kennedy (East Longmeadow, Mass.) intercepted a Bobcat pass on the game's first play from scrimmage and returned the ball 51 yards to the Bobcat nine-yard line.  Trinity senior QB Spencer Fetter (Winter Park, Fla.) found sophomore WR Sean Clapp (Wyckoff, N.J.) for a 24-yard touchdown two plays later and the Bantams were off to the races.  Trinity first-year Tyler Jameson (Lawrence, N.J.) set up a 24-yard touchdown run by fellow rookie RB Tyler DiNapoli (West Haven, Conn.) and the Bantams added a third score on a one-yard plunge into the end zone by junior RB Cal Messina (Pittsfield, Mass.), his first career touchdown.  Trinity senior OLB Wigs Crowley (East Milton, Mass.) made Trinity's third interception of the first half and Fetter found TE Thomas Walsh (Pelham, N.Y.) for a 13-yard touchdown pass just before halftime. 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.  Trinity junior QB Zander Zebrowski (Verone, N.J.) scored his first career touchdown on a seven-yard run in the fourth quarter.  Fetter finished 24-for-32 for 362 yards with three touchdowns and an interception and DiNapoli led all rushers with 17 carries for 125 yards.  Clapp caught seven passes for 125 yards and Reid added four catches for 97 yards.  Defensively, Brian Casagrande (Madison, Conn.) paced Trinity with six tackles, while both Kennedy and Crowley had four tackles to go with their interceptions.  

Trinity tops the NESCAC in scoring offense (33.8), scoring defense (10.5 ppg), total defense (228.5), rushing offense (173.5), rushing defense (49.1, 5th in nation), passing defense (179.4), pass efficiency defense (102.4), first downs allowed (90), third down conversions (50.9), opponent third down conversions (24.5), red zone offense (31-for-37 with 25 touchdowns), and time of possession (33:24 per game).  Fetter ranks second in the league in passing in terms of both yards (2,184) and efficiency (166.7), touchdown passes (19), and in total offense (275 ypg), while DiNapoli and juniors Colin McCabe (Madison, Conn.) and Will Kirby (Darien, Conn.) are fifth, eighth, and ninth in the conference with over 360 yards each despite all three only appearing in six games.  Clapp is fourth and Reid is ninth in the league with 687 on 45 catches (6th in NESCAC) and 491 receiving yards on 31 catches, respectively, and Reid is tied for third in the conference with eight touchdowns.  Trinity's offensive line, including senior captain Kyle Woodring (Norwalk, Conn.) at center, senior guard Ryan Wiley (Hagerstown, Md.), senior tackle Robert Mihaly (Trumbull, Conn.), junior guard Jaheim Scott (Bronx, N.Y.) and junior tackle Patrick Donovan-Jenkins (Bethesda, Md.), has helped Trinity runners average 4.4 yards per carry while also yielding a NESCAC-low eight sacks.

On defense, captain Noah Glantz (Scarsdale, N.Y) is the top pass rusher in the league with 8.5 sacks, while Crowley is tied for second in interceptions with three.  Bantam seniors Justin O'Neil-Riley (Dorchester, Mass.) and Darren Warren (West Haven, Conn.) are tied for second and fifth in the NESCAC with 10 and nine passes defensed, respectively.  Casagrande is eighth in the NESCAC in tackles with 58 (40 solo) and tied for ninth in tackles for loss with 7.5.  Crowley adds 29 tackles and Glantz has 28 hits.  Sophomore Matt Jumes tops the conference's kickers in scoring with 52 points on seven field goals in nine tries and 31 PATs, while junior Hampton Trout (Belmont, Mass.) has been the best punter in the NESCAC at 41.8 yards per attempt and the best kickoff specialist at 58.1 yards per attempt with 22 touchbacks.  

Wesleyan, under the direction of Head Coach Dan DiCenzo, is 6-2 but downed both Amherst and Williams the last two weeks to win the Little Three title.  The Cardinals have a lethal pass rush with 24 sacks as a squad including eight by senior DL Nick Hellbig.  The Cardinal defense has been stingy in the red zone with opponents scoring a league-low 57.7 percent of the time.  Danny Banks adds three picks for the Wesleyan secondary.  On offense, David Estevez has rushed for 372 yards and thrown for 1,141 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Nick Candido has tossed seven touchdown passes.  Logan Tomlinson is a top receiver with 62 catches for 867 yards and nine scores.