MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Trinity College Football team stormed past host Wesleyan University, 58-6, in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tilt at Corrigan Field Saturday afternoon. The Bantams improved to 7-1 on the season and 7-1 in conference play, while the Cardinals dipped to 6-3 in the NESCAC and 6-3 overall.

Just over three minutes into the game, the Bantams defense made the first of five interceptions on the day as graduate Hunter Tully (Taunton, Mass.) picked off Wesleyan quarterback Nico Candido on a third down pass at the Cardinal 35-yard line and returned it to the Wesleyan 15-yard line to set up Trinity's first scoring drive. Three plays later, sophomore Tyler DiNapoli (West Haven, Conn.) pulled down a 9-yard pass from graduate Spencer Fetter (Winter Park, Fla.) and ran into the endzone to give the Bantams a 7-0 lead.

The Cardinals looked to respond with a 13-play drive that moved the ball to the Trinity 7-yard line, but on a third-and-seven pass, Bantam graduate Darren Warren (West Haven, Conn.) made a heads up play, peeling off his receiver in the endzone and undercutting a pass to an open player nearby to halt the Wesleyan drive at the 6:50 mark.

On their ensuing possession, the Bantams marched 80 yards on 15 plays, eating up nearly seven minutes off the clock. On second-and-1 from the Cardinals 1-yard line, senior Colin McCabe (Madison, Conn.) slipped into the endzone untouched to extend the lead to 14-0 with 14:55 to play in the 2^nd quarter.

The Bantams defense struck again as graduate Cooper Mandel (Ramsey, N.J.) forced a fumble that was recovered by senior Sean Ryan (Hingham, Mass.) at the Wesleyan 29-yard line. One play later, junior Sean Clapp (Wyckoff, N.J.) elevated over a defender to pull down his first of four touchdown receptions on the day, pushing Trinity ahead 21-0. After forcing a three-and-out for Wesleyan, Trinity moved 60 yards in six plays, capped off by a 12-yard connection from Fetter to Clapp in the endzone to pad the Bantams lead to 28-0.

On a Cardinal third-and-16 play, Bantam Alec Medwar (Darien, Conn.) intercepted a pass near midfield and brought the ball down to the Wesleyan 30-yard line. Trinity moved the ball to the Wesleyan 14-yard line and junior Matthew Jumes (Franklin, Mass.) knocked through a 30-yard field goal to the set score at 30-0 with 7:24 remaining in the first half.

The Cardinals cracked the scoreboard in the final minutes of the first half as Candido found Rickey Eng on a 7-yard pass to trim the gap to 30-6. Wesleyan looked to add more points with 45 second on the clock, but a long pass from Candido was intercepted by graduate Tyler Jameson (Lawrence, N.J.) to keep the score at 30-6 heading into halftime
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At the 10:54 mark of the third quarter, the Bantams moved down to the Cardinal 37-yard line, and then Fetter hit Clapp on a 37-yard strike in the endzone for his third touchdown catch of the day, pushing Trinity ahead 37-6. On their first play of the following drive, Tully recovered a fumble by Cardinal running back Tyler Flynn to set up the Bantams at the Cardinal 41-yard line. One play later, Fetter and Clapp hooked up for the fourth time, hitting on a 41-yard touchdown connection to make it 44-6.

The Trinity defense grabbed their fourth interception of the day as junior R.J. Martini (Morristown, N.J.) cut off a pass to the endzone. On the following drive, Fetter completed five passes for 80 yards, capped off with a 10-yard touchdown pass to junior Matt Laughlin (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), extending the lead to 51-6. The Bantams final blow came with 14:54 remaining in the game as a 4-yard touchdown run from McCabe punctuated a seven-play, 74-yard drive to seal the 58-6 victory.

Offensively, the Bantams generated 499 yards on offense, including 353 yards passing, while holding the Cardinals to 278 yards. Fetter completed 21-of-28 passes for 311 yards and matched a Trinity single-game record with six passing touchdowns. Clapp registered the third-most receiving yards in a game in program history with 179 yards on 10 receptions, and matched a program single-game high with four touchdown receptions. Laughlin added five receptions for 84 yards and score, while McCabe logged a pair of rushing touchdowns on 10 carries with 67 yards.

The Bantams will wrap up the 2023 season with a NESCAC road trip to Bowdoin College Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon.