HARTFORD, CONN. – In Trinity's week five New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) home match against the visiting Hamilton College Continentals, it took another strong second half to power the Bantams past Hamilton 31-7Like Trinity's week four matchup against the Tufts Jumbos, it was four consecutive scoring drives to start the second half that won the day for Trinity.

The offense had a quiet first quarter which included three short drives that left the defense on the field for the majority of the opening frame. This included an eighteen play, an almost eleven-minute drive by the Continentals in which they scored their only points of the day. This drive encompassed two gutsy fourth down conversion and showed the chip on Hamilton's shoulder that they had all day. Head coach Jeff Devanney praised the Continentals saying, "give Hamilton a lot of credit ... I thought their staff did some good things that we had to make adjustments to."

Despite not being able to respond quickly to the Continentals pressure, the Bantams special teams punt unit headed by junior punter Jack Sokol were able to keep Hamilton backed up and away from favorable field position. On top of having elite special teams' execution the defense stood staunch against consistent Hamilton pressure. After continuing to battle against the Continentals, the Bantams finally broke through on their fourth drive of the day. This drive was kickstarted by two quick strikes between graduate quarterback Zander Zebrowski and senior wide receiver Matt Laughlin for first downs that got the offense into a rhythm and was followed by a huge 31-yard connection between Zebrowski and senior wide receiver Sean Clapp. It was capped by a toe dragging 23-yard touchdown in the back of the endzone between Zebrowski and sophomore running back Jack Tosone. To end the half, this defensive prowess was put on full display with Hamilton deep in Trinity territory at the 11-yard line, it was sophomore defensive lineman Jordan Atkinson who came up with the sack and the ball to stop Hamilton in their tracks.

This game being another tale of two halves was highlighted by the scoring tear the Bantams went on to start the second half. Coach Devanney had this to say about the break as "we had to make adjustments to them, and we were able to do that at halftime … and then came out and played much much better." This improved play started with a quick three and out forced by the defense. This was highlighted by a pass breakup by senior Ma-Lyke Davis, one of two on the day as he leads the NESCAC with seven on the year.

Off the ensuing punt, the Bantams gained some momentum as Zebrowski spread the ball around down the field capped by a laser to the back of the endzone for a touchdown to graduate tight end Max Roche. Trinity got off the field quickly aided by multiple sideline to sideline tackles by sophomore linebacker Ethan Krauss who led the team with eight. Trinity gave their defense a sustained break on a journey of a field goal drive that spanned eleven plays and almost four minutes of game time.

After the long field goal drive that gave the defense time to re-energize it was junior safety Jason Irizarry that came away with the turnover on Hamilton's first offensive play back to give Trinity the ball close to the redzone. The Trinity drive that followed the turnover was capped by a six-yard pass from Zebrowski to junior receiver Nolan O'Brien.

On their ensuing offensive drive after a short-lived Hamilton drive, the Zebrowski to O'Brien connection struck again this time for a 59-yard explosion that sealed the game for Trinity. This was O'Brien's eighth touchdown of the year which puts him securely in first in scoring in the league with forty-eight points and Zebrowski in the league lead with fourteen touchdowns to zero interceptions. Coach Devanney also had great praise for his quarterback as "Zander was really efficient" and "we are going to be tough to beat if he's going to be that efficient."

Off this touchdown drive the put Trinity up 31-7 a desperate Hamilton was thwarted by another elite secondary player for Trinity as junior corner Alex Medwar intercepted Hamilton. The offense now commanded by Jake Robbins to end the game leaned heavily on the ground game and freshman running back Tate Hoffmeister.

The Bantams will return to the gridiron when they travel to Middlebury Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Hamilton travels to Tufts Saturday for a 1:00 p.m.