Hartford, Conn. – The Trinity College Bantams team took advantage of four Williams College turnovers to down the Ephs, 17-9, in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action this afternoon at Jessee/Miller Field. Trinity keeps pace with Amherst and Middlebury at the top of the league at 3-0, while the Ephs fall to 2-1 with their seventh setback against Trinity in a row. Trinity, the 2016 NESCAC Champions with an 8-0 record last fall, will host Hamilton next Saturday, while Williams entertains Bates next weekend.
Trinity took a 7-0 lead less than five minutes into the game, as senior DE Brandon Blaise (Morristown, N.J.) recovered a fumble by Williams senior RB Connor Harris (Memphis, Tenn.) at the Eph 12-yard line and junior RB Max Chipouras (Longmeadow, Mass.) scampered in from 14 yards away two plays later. Williams answered with the first scoring drive against the Trinity defense this season. The Ephs started on their own 47-yard line after a short Bantam punt and rookie QB Bobby Maimaron (Duxbury, Mass.) hit classmate Justin Nelson (Jackson, Miss.) on a pair of key passes for first downs to set up rookie K Min Kyu Park (Seoul, South Korea) for a 28-yard field goal eight seconds into the second quarter. A muffed Trinity punt set the Bantams up for their second touchdown less than two minutes later, as senior CB Dominique Seagears (Baltimore, Md.) recovered the ball at the Williams 15-yard line and Trinity senior tri-captain QB Sonny Puzzo (West Caldwell, N.J.) found sophomore WR Koby Schofer (Northbridge, Mass.) on a nine-yard scoring toss for a 14-3 Bantam lead with 13:03 on the clock. The teams punted back and forth six times over the next 11 minutes, but Williams threatened with a lone drive from their own seven-yard line right before the half. Maimaron hit Harris for an 11-yard pass for first down at the Trinity 18-yard line, but Bantam sophomore DB Matt Patry (Medfield, Mass.) picked off Maimaron in the end zone on the last play of the first half.
Williams opened the third quarter with an eight-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Maimaron to Harris 2:21 after the break but a bad snap on the PAT made the score, 14-9. Trinity answered with a career-long 46-yard field goal by Sachse with 2:06 left in the third quarter, set up by a 19-yard Williams punt, a 24-yard pass from Puzzo to freshman WR Jonathan Girard (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and an 18-yard run by Chipouras. Sachse came back on the field early in the fourth frame, but his attempt from 26 yards away caromed off the left upright for his first miss in 69 attempts for a PAT or field goal dating back to the fourth game of the 2015 season. The Trinity defense held Williams to 22 yards on the next two Eph drives, but Williams benefited from another short Trinity punt and started another drive at the Trinity 35-yard line with 3:29 on the clock. Trinity senior ILB Carty Campbell (Stamford, Conn.) stifled the threat quickly with an interception on first down and a 34-yard return into Eph territory. Trinity ran the clock nearly to zero and won by only single digits for the first time since the 2015 season finale against Wesleyan (17-13).
Trinity outgained Williams, 275-251, but the Ephs had nine first downs to just 10 for the Bantams. Chipouras led all rushers with 80 yards on 28 carries, while Harris ran 19 times for 76 yards. Puzzo was 14-for-22 passing for 163 yards and Maimaron was 16-for-35 for 164 yards. Nelson was the top receiver of the game with six catches for 59 yards, while junior WR John Spears (Boston, Mass.) had five catches for 38 yards and Schofer added four grabs for 46 yards for the home team. Campbell paced Trinity defensively with eight tackles (seven solo), a tackle for loss, and an interception, while junior LB Dago Picon-Roura (Roslindale, Mass.) also had eight tackles, senior tri-captain ILB Liam Kenneally (Reading, Mass.) contributed six tackles and a sack, and senior S John Medina (Pinecrest, Fla.) added five tackles and three pass breakups. Sophomore S Luke Apuzzi (Princeton, N.J.) and freshman LB T.J. Rothman (Norwell, Mass.) had 10 tackles apiece for the Ephs, while rookie LB Jarrett Wesner (Orange, Calif.) registered nine tackles and three tackles for loss, and junior DB Amyhr Barber (Baltimore, Md.) made three tackles and broke up three passes.