HARTFORD, Conn. – The Trinity College football squad rolled past visiting Tufts University, 44-19, in their New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opener at Jessee/Miller Field Saturday afternoon. The Bantams open the season with a 1-0 record, while Tufts drops to 0-1 overall.

After the Trinity defense held the Jumbos to one-yard on their opening possession, the Bantams offense stormed down the field, going 79 yards in five plays. Graduate quarterback Spencer Fetter (Winter Park, Fla.) connected with junior receiver Sean Clapp (Wyckoff, N.J.) on a 35-yard strike to set up the Bantams at the Jumbos six-yard line. Sophomore Tyler DiNapoli (West Haven, Conn.) pounded the ball into the endzone on the next play to hand Trinity a 7-0 lead with 11:25 remaining in the first quarter.

With 6:39 left in the first quarter, the Bantams executed an 11-play, 54-yard drive to extend their lead. Starting at their 46-yard line, Fetter found Clapp on three straight completions to move the Bantams within the Jumbos 10-yard line. Three plays later, Fetter spotted senior Max Roche (Scituate, Mass.) in the corner of the endzone for the touchdown, pushing the advantage to 14-0 with 3:20 on the clock.

On the first play of the second quarter, Fetter found Clapp along the sideline on a 41-yard strike to put the Bantams at the Jumbos 27-yard line. On the following play, senior Nicholas Zalanskas (Andover, Mass.) hauled in a 27-yard strike from Fetter to extend the gap to 21-0.

The Bantams capitalized on a Jumbos special teams miscue when a punt sailed over the punter's head, giving Trinity possession at the Tufts 13-yard line. Following a 10-yard pass to junior Matt Laughlin (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), Trinity senior Colin McCabe (Madison, Conn.) rumbled into the endzone from six yards out to put Trinity up 28-0 with 5:43 left in the first half. The Bantams maintained their 28-0 lead into halftime.

The Jumbos kicked off the scoring in the second half as junior quarterback Michael Berluti (Westwood, Mass.) launched an 82-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Jaden Richardson (San Mateo, Calif.) to trim the gap to 28-7 with 9:45 left in the third quarter. The Bantams responded with a nine-play, 41-yard drive, capped off by a three-yard touchdown scamper by McCabe, his second of the game, to regain a 35-7 advantage.

With 12:46 on the clock, the Jumbos were forced to punt, but the kick slid through the hands of sophomore returner Nolan O'Brien (Boston, Mass.), and the Jumbos recovered the loose ball at the Trinity 24-yard line. Two plays later, Berluti connected with Richardson in the corner of the endzone, to make it a 35-13 game. On the ensuing extra point attempt, Trinity graduate Wigs Crowley (Milton, Mass.) blocked the kick, scooped the loose ball and returned the ball 80 yards to the endzone, awarding the Bantams two points, putting the score 37-13 with 12:11 remaining.

McCabe found pay dirt for the third time in the game with 5:48 remaining in the game to increase the Bantam lead to 44-13. The Jumbos notched their final score of the game as Richardson hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass over a Trinity defender making it a final score of 44-19.

"I was very proud of the way we played in that first half in all three phases," said Trinity Head Coach Jeff Devanney. "The guys did exactly what we practiced. The offensive execution in the passing game against man coverage was really, really good. Defensively, we were able to keep their quarterback in the pocket and play some aggresive coverage on the backend. Honestly, I thought today was going be a lot harder, so I was really impressed with how well we played. Next is Colby, they are a well-coached, physical team. so we are going to really see what we are made of next weekend."

Fetter lead all passers with a game-high 313 yards, completing 20-of—38 passes, with two touchdowns. Clapp led all receivers with a game-high 172 yards on nine receptions, while Laughlin added four catches for 41 yards. McCabe registered three touchdowns on 12 carries. DiNapoli netted 66 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown in the win.

Defensively, graduate linebacker Cade Klarides-Ditria (Seymour, Conn.) led the Bantams with a team-high five tackles, including one for a loss. Graduates Hunter Tully (Taunton, Mass.) and Michael Masse (Dedham, Mass.), and seniors Sean Ryan (Hingham, Mass.) and Kevin Clark (Hebron, Conn.) each tallied four tackles in the win. Graduate Darren Warren (West Haven, Conn.) notched his first interception of the season.

As a team, the Bantams logged 490 total yards, with 324 yard coming through the air and 166 yards on the ground. Trinity registered 26 first downs and went 5-for-5 in redzone scoring opportunities.

Tufts offensive was led by Berluti with a game-high 343 yards passing with three touchdowns and an interception. Richardson totaled a team-high 146 yards on six receptions, while junior Cade Moore (The Woodlands, Texas) added six catches for 103 yards. Jumbos senior EJ Comerford (Parsippany, N.J.) piled up a game-high 13 tackles in the loss. Tufts totaled 420 total yards during the contest, passing for 344 yards and rushing for 76 yards.

Trinity will return to action with a NESCAC road trip to Colby College Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. Tufts will host Bates in NESCAC action Saturday at 6:30 p.m.