Saturday, October 19, 2002

TRINITY FOOTBALL WINS THIRD
IN A ROW WITH VICTORY AT BOWDOIN

        Brunswick, Maine – Senior captain running back Brian Fabrizio (Norwell, Mass.) ran for 105 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 35-14 win over the Bowdoin College Polar Bears in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action this afternoon at Whittier Field.  Trinity, ranked No. 8 in New England, improves to 4-1 for the season with its third consecutive victory, while the Polar Bears fall to 1-4.       

Bowdoin was the first team to threaten, advancing 50 yards on 14 plays to set up a 30-yard field goal attempt by sophomore John Rock (Waltham, Mass.).  Trinity junior cornerback Matt Glasz (North Haven, Conn.) blocked his second kick in two weeks, and the ball was recovered by Bantam junior linebacker Greg Tanner (Wellesley, Mass.), to spoil the Polar Bear drive.

            Trinity gave the ball back to Bowdoin on its ensuing drive, however, when a punt snap sailed over the head of Trinity junior Joe Wahl (Riverside, R.I.).  Wahl fell on the ball at the Trinity 10-yard line, and the Polar Bears capitalized with a one-yard scoring plunge by senior captain quarterback Justin Hardison (West Hartford, Conn.).

            After Trinity freshman nose tackle Mike Blair (Plymouth, N.H.) forced a Bowdoin fumble, which was pounced on by Tanner, Bantam junior running back Tom Pierandri (Ridgefield, Conn.) carried the ball the necessary 21 yards into the end zone in two carries.  With the game knotted at 7-7, Trinity marched 76 yards in nine plays, ending in the first of two five-yard scoring scampers by Fabrizio.

            The Bantams opened up a two-touchdown lead in the third quarter, when Wahl set up to hold for an apparent field goal attempt by Trinity senior kicker Skip Sullivan (Milton, Mass.).  Instead, Wahl took the snap and ran five yards into the end zone untouched for a 21-7 Trinity lead.

After a Polar Bear touchdown pass from Hardison to junior tight end Mark Drauschke (Melrose, Mass.) cut the lead to seven points with 8:13 remaining in the third quarter, Pierandri fumbled after catching a pass, and Bowdoin recovered in Trinity territory.  The Bantam defense pushed Bowdoin back four yards in its three plays and forced a punt.  With 7:06 left in the fourth frame, Trinity capped off an 87-yard, seven-play drive with a 15-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Greg Ward (Avon, Conn.) to sophomore wide out Drew Finkeldey (Essex, Conn.).

Fabrizio added a late touchdown to account for the final score of 35-14, as Trinity accumulated 314 yards in total offense.  Ward threw for 155 yards, completing 12 out of 21 passes, including three for 40 yards to Wahl.  Patchett paced the Polar Bears with 89 yards on 24 carries, and Hardison was 16-for-33 for 128 yards through the air.

Senior linebacker Curtis Tubbs (Rochester, Mass.) paced Trinity with nine tackles (seven solo), including 2.5 for loss, while senior captain nose tackle David Rooney (Spring Lake, N.J.) added 7.5 tackles (five solo) and 1.5 sacks, and senior safety Gavin O’Reilly (Cheshire, Conn.) made 7.5 tackles (six solo).

SCORING
1. 7:22             B- Justin Hardison one run (Jon Rock kick)                                 B7-0
2. 11:45           TC- Tom Piernadri five run (Skip Sullivan kick)                            7-7
    4:54             TC- Brian Fabrizio 13 run (Sullivan kick)                                     TC14-7
3. 11:49           TC- Joe Wahl four run (Sullivan kick)                                          TC21-7
    8:13             B- Mark Drauschke 12 pass from Hardison (Rock kick)              TC21-14
4. 7:06             TC- Drew Finkeldey 16 pass from Greg Ward (Sullivan kick)      TC28-14
    3:22             TC- Fabrizio five run (Sullivan kick)                                              TC35-14

TEAM STATS

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Rushing
TC- Brian Fabrizio 16-105, Tom Pierandri 15-69, Greg Ward 7-25, Joe Wahl 1-4, Brad Davis 3-4, Team 1-(-22).
B- Rob Patchett 24-89, Matt Boyd 13-31, Justin Hardison 13-(-24).
Passing
TC- Greg Ward 12-21-0-155.
B- Justin Hardison 16-22-0-128.
Receiving
TC- Joe Wahl 3-40, Drew Finkeldey 3-26, Patrick Straub 2-41, Bradley Soules 2-37, Tom Pierandri 2-11.
B- Brian Durant 4-38, Jason Rawlins 3-28, Rob Patchett 3-22, Jared Pritchard 2-14, Mark Drauschke 1-12, Matt Giffune 1-8, Brian Curry 1-3, Scott Brisson 1-3.