Trinity Football Hosts Bowdoin 
for Homecoming		 Trinity College

Hartford, Conn., Oct. 17 -- The Trinity College football team, which lost, 9-7, at Tufts University on Saturday, will host the Bowdoin College Polar Bears on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 1:30 p.m. The Bantams, coached by Chuck Priore, defeated Bowdoin, 21-11, last fall in Brunswick, Maine.

Trinity is in fifth place in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) at 2-2, while Bowdoin, coached by David Caputi, is 1-3 and tied with Colby and Middlebury for sixth place in the league at 1-3, after a 23-14 win against Hamilton last Saturday. Bowdoin, which won its first game since 1999 and its first under Caputi, rushed for 186 yards and received a fourth quarter 63-yard interception return from junior defensive back Sean Starke to put the game away.

 

 

Junior quarterback Greg Ward
Trinity junior quarterback Greg Ward (Avon, Conn.) almost led Trinity to a come-from-behind victory at Tufts, completing seven out of 11 passes to advance the Bantams from their own five-yard line to the Tufts 35-yard line. He was intercepted to end the drive, but finished with a season-high 231 passing yards. Ward connected with sophomore wide receiver Joe Wahl (Riverside, R.I.) seven times for 138 yards, both of which were career-highs for Wahl.

A well-balanced attack, the Trinity offense is averaging 158.5 rushing yards and 170.8 passing yards per game. Fabrizio has 359 yards on the ground on 90 carries and sophomore Tom Pierandri (Ridgefield, Conn.) has 231 yards on 53 carries. The duo is fifth and 10th in the NESCAC respectively. Ward has completed 47.7% of his passes (53-111) for 683 yards and three scores, and ranks fourth in the league in quarterback rating at 102.9. Wahl is sixth in the NESCAC in receiving with 15 catches for 222 yards, while freshman receiver Bradley Soules (Simsbury, Conn.) has nine catches for 162 yards (18.0 yards per reception).

The Trinity running game was dominant early in the first half, particularly on Trinity’s first two drives when junior running back Brian Fabrizio (Norwell, Mass.) carried 11 times for 47 yards including a one-yard touchdown. Tufts stymied the Bantam running game in the second half, holding Trinity to 100 rushing yards for the game. Fabrizio finished with 79 yards on 28 carries, but injured his leg early in the fourth quarter. He could play this week against Bowdoin.

Trinity senior captain free safety Steven Cella (Peabody, Mass.) helped the Bantam defense hold Tufts scoreless in the second half. In addition to his seven tackles, Cella forced and recovered a fumble and intercepted his third pass of the season to thwart two Tufts’ second half drives. The interception was the 17th in Cella’s career, tying him for all-time College record with Greg Schramm ’94. With 0.8 picks per game, Cella is tied for 15th in the nation. He tied for the national lead with (9) 1.1 per game as a sophomore in 1999.

On defense, the Bantams are yielding 149.8 rushing yards and 122.8 passing yards per game. Trinity sophomore inside linebacker Greg Tanner (Wellesley, Mass.) notched 12 tackles against Tufts to increase his team-leading season total to 35 with 5.5 tackles for losses.

Trinity has enjoyed excellent special teams play, including a 35.5 average on punts (fourth in the NESCAC) by Wahl, and a 9.2 per attempt average on 11 punt returns by Cella. Also, Soules and classmate Drew Finkeldey (Ivoryton, Conn.) are two of the best players in the league on kick coverage.

Bowdoin has been outscored in its first four games, 104-30, and is averaging almost 100 yards less per game than their opponents in total offense (209.5 - 308.8). Sophomore Kevin Bougie (Sanford, Maine) leads the Polar Bears with 236 rushing yards on 60 carries, followed by senior fullback Mike Taylor (Marblehead, Mass.) with 177 yards on 45 rushes. Junior quarterback Justin Hardison (West Hartford, Conn.) has completed 46.0% of his passes for 309 yards.

Defensively, senior linebacker Andrius Knassas (Dorchester, Mass.) leads Bowdoin in tackles with 35, including nine for losses, while classmate Leroy Gaines (Holyoke, Mass.) has seven tackles for losses and two sacks at defensive tackle. Senior Travis Cummings (Millinocket, Maine) is averaging 18.7 yards per kickoff return.

Trinity leads the all-time series, 23-5-2 and has won eight out of the last 10 meetings including the last two games. Last fall, Pierandri ran for 115 yards and Ward threw a pair of touchdown passes in the Bantam victory. Trinity junior captain inside linebacker David Midura (North Easton, Mass.) had a team-high 10 tackles on defense.

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