Saturday, November 9, 2002
TRINITY FOOTBALL BEATS WESLEYAN TO
TIE FOR NESCAC CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE
Middletown, Conn.- Senior quarterback Greg Ward (Avon, Conn.) threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 26-10 win over the Wesleyan University Cardinals in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football season finale for both teams this afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 7 in New England, finishes with a 7-1 record and ties Williams College for the NESCAC Championship title. Trinity won its last six games to post its best record since 1996, while Wesleyan, ranked No. 8 in New England, finishes at 5-3.
Trinity raced out to a 13-0 lead at the half and senior strong safety Gavin O’Reilly (Cheshire, Conn.) stole the ball from a Cardinal receiver and raced 58 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach late in the third quarter. Bantam junior receiver Joe Wahl (Riverside, R.I.) got Trinity on the board with 4:01left in the first quarter on a fake field goal. Setting up to hold for Trinity senior kicker Skip Sullivan (Milton, Mass.), Wahl took the snap and run off the left tackle into the end zone.
The Bantams went ahead, 13-0, on a six-yard pass from Ward to sophomore receiver Sean Clare (Bridgewater, N.J.) for his first career touchdown catch with 9:09 to play in the first half. After the Cardinals cut the lead to three points on a 32-yard interception return by junior back Dave Laferriere (Meriden, Conn.) and a 30-yard field goal by junior Vin Balsamo (Wallingford, Conn.), O’Reilly gave Trinity a nine point advantage. Wahl added an insurance score for Wesleyan in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ward, who shook off a shoulder injury to lead Trinity in his final game.
Wahl caught five passes for 55 yards and Clare finished with a career-high 73 receiving yards on four catches. Bantam senior captain running back Brian Fabrizio (Norwell, Mass.) paced the Trinity running game with 55 yards on 18 carries. Defensively, Bantam junior end Jamie Creed (Valley Forge, Pa.) had nine tackles with two sacks and forced one of three fumbles by the Cardinals. Bantam senior linebacker Curtis Tubbs (Rochester, Mass.) had a team-high 10 hits.
|
Teams |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
|
Trinity, Conn. (7-1) |
6 |
7 |
6 |
7 |
26 |
|
Wesleyan (5-3) |
0 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
SCORING SUMMARY
1. 4:01 TC- Joe Wahl 15 run (kick
blocked) TC6-0
2. 9:09 TC – Sean Clare six pass from Greg Ward (Skip Sullivan kick) TC13-0
3. 14:29 W- Dave Laferriere 32 interception return (Vin Balsamo kick) TC13-7
3. 67:34 W- Balsamo 30-yard FG TC13-10
3. 2:26 TC- Gavin O’Reilly 58 fumble return (kick blocked) TC19-10
4. 12:42 TC- Wahl 20 pass from Ward (Sullivan kick) TC26-10
TEAM STATS
|
Trinity |
Statistic |
Wesleyan |
|
14 |
First Downs |
15 |
|
39-111 |
Rushes-yards |
28-57
|
|
14-31-1-183 |
Passing (comp.-att.-int.-yds.) |
20-41-1-170 |
|
92 |
Return Yards |
74 |
|
0-0 |
Fumbles –lost |
3-3 |
|
5-47 |
Penalties –yards |
8-90 |
|
6-32.2 |
Punts- avg. |
7-32.9 |
|
32:30 |
Possession Time |
27:30 |
|
4-16 |
Third Down Conversions |
5-16 |
|
2-4 |
Fourth Down Conversions |
0-2 |
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing
TC- Brian Fabrizio 18-57, Tom Pierandri 15-32, Joe Wahl 1-15, Greg Ward 5-9.
W- Young Douglass 7-49, Pat Curran 9-11, Brennan Carney 12-(-3).
Passing
TC- Greg Ward 14-31-1-183.
W- Brennan Carney 20-41-1-170.
Receiving
TC- Sean Clare 4-73, Joe Wahl 5-55, Jake Sexton 1-26, Patrick Straub 1-13, Bradley Soules 1-10, Kevin Waters 1-6, Sam Fletcher 3-22, Dan Long 3-21, Young Douglas 4-20, James Wallace 1-6.