Hartford, Conn. – The visiting Amherst College Lord Jeffs eked out a 7-6 victory against the Trinity College Bantams in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action this afternoon on Jessee/Miller Field. Trinity, ranked No. 6 in New England, loses by a single point to the Lord Jeffs for the second season in a row, while the Lord Jeffs, ranked No. 1 in New England, remain undefeated at 7-0 and maintain a one-game lead over 6-1 Wesleyan with just one game left to play. Trinity, which lost at home for the second straight weekend after winning its previous 53 home contests, closes its season at Wesleyan next weekend, while Amherst can clinch an outright league title with a win next weekend at home against Williams. Trinity suffered a 17-16 loss at Amherst in last year's contest that ended the Bantam hopes of repeating as NESCAC Champions.
Trinity got on the board first, taking advantage an Amherst fumble by Jaymie Spears (Haverhill, Mass.) on a punt return, as sophomore DL Nathaniel Hitchcock (North Andover, Mass.) forced the ball out of Spears' hands and pounced on it at the Lord Jeff 11-yard line. Trinity junior QB Hayden Jardine (Rye, N.Y.) scrambled nine yards to the one-yard line on second down and rookie QB Spencer Aukamp (North Haledon, N.J.) plunged into the end zone from that spot on 4th-and-goal. A missed PAT by sophomore Ben Rosenblatt (Newton Center, Mass.) resulted in a 6-0 score that lasted until the fourth quarter.
Amherst scored its only touchdown of the game after its fourth takeaway when Chris Tamasi (Canton, Mass.) recovered a fumble by Aukamp at the Bantam 39-yard line with 4:31 left in the contest. Amherst senior QB Max Lippe (Los Altos, Calif.) completed a 17-yard pass to Gene Garay (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) two plays later, and hit Jackson McGonagle (New York, N.Y.) from 20 yards away on 3rd-and-10 to tie the score at 6-6. Phillip Nwosu (Derwood, Md.) made the extra-point to give the Lord Jeffs their first lead of the game. The teams traded punts before Trinity mounted a heroic drive from their own 45-yard line to the Amherst six-yard line without throwing a single pass. Trinity ran the ball 10 times, including a four for 40 yards by sophomore Darrien Myers (North Andover, Mass.) on wide receiver sweeps, but Tamasi stopped Aukamp on 3rd-and-2 from his own six-yard line to force a field goal attempt. Rosenblatt's try sailed wide right, and Amherst kneeled once before time expired.
Amherst never threatened in the first half, but nearly cut Trinity's lead in half when Nwosu missed a 36-yard field goal with 7:41 left in the third quarter. The Lord Jeffs got the ball back immediately on a fumble recovery by Jim Fairfield-Sonn (Old Lyme, Conn.) at the Bantam 20-yard line, but Trinity's defense forced a punt thanks largely to a nine-yard tackle for loss by senior tri-captain OLB Mike Weatherby (Atlantic City, N.J.). Amherst had excellent field position again late in the third quarter, after a pick by Chris Gow (Houston, Texas) at the Trinity 46-yard line, but Bantam senior OLB Tom Szymanski (Dracut, Mass.) returned the favor with an interception of Lippe's pass inside the Trinity 10-yard line. Trinity drove from their own three-yard line to their 39-yard line on eight straight rushes before Tamasi's game-changing fumble recovery.
In a steady rain throughout, the teams combined for just 389 yards of total offense and six turnovers. Trinity finished with 234 rushing yards and held the ball for 32:35 of the game, but completed only two passes for 10 yards. Myers gained a team-high 87 yards on the ground, while senior RB Chudi Iregbulem (Torrance, Calif.) ran 29 times for 64 yards, and Aukamp finished with 53 yards on 13 attempts. Nick Kelly (Westport, Conn.) paced Amherst with 51 rushing yards on 21 carries, while Lippe was 9-for-25 through the air for 102 yards including seven tosses to Garay for a game-high 74 yards. Bantam senior ILB Rob Gau (Westport, Conn.) had 11 tackles (seven solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, and a pass breakup, while Szymanski added eight hits and 1.5 tackles for loss, and senior S Casey Tanner (Wellesley, Mass.) contributed six tackles and two breakups. Thomas Kleyn (Concord, Mass.) had 11 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss for Amherst, while Spears notched nine tackles and one interception. Trinity junior P Kyle Pulek (Cheshire, Conn.) averaged 40.7 yards on nine attempts with a long of 55 and two dropped inside the Amherst 20-yard line.