Football dines Continental

The Tufts football team opened its season with a shutout of Hamilton 20-0 at home on Saturday. Senior Evan Zupancic and junior Jorge Rodriguez each had two interceptions, as the Tufts defense controlled the line of scrimmage all afternoon and made several key stops inside its own redzone.

Zupancic, who with his two picks, tied the Jumbo career interception record with 15.

The offense scored all of its points in the first half behind the steady running of senior halfback Chuck McGraw who gained 67 yards on 17 carries. Accurate passing from quarterback Scott Treacy, who finished the day 11-17 for 164 yards and two touchdowns also helped further the Jumbos' offensive onslaught.

The team was happy with the results of the game, but members still say there is room to improve. "I thought we moved the ball well in the first half," senior offensive lineman Andy Dickerson said. "The running backs ran really hard. We're happy with the win.

Zupancic agreed. "You can't ever complain with a shutout," Zupancic said. "It's always tough to win. We're still working on a lot of stuff, we'll only get stronger."

The game began on a strong note as Hamilton went three and out on the game's first possession, the Jumbos blocked the ensuing punt to set up a first and goal. On Tufts' second offensive play, Treacy found junior tight end Ryan Papi in the endzone for an early seven to nothing lead.

After Hamilton again went three and out, Treacy and McGraw led the Jumbos down the field in a time consuming drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal by junior kicker Marcellus Rolle and a 10-0 Jumbo lead.

Hamilton's third drive again saw the Continentals come up empty-handed. Tufts took over the ball and put together its most impressive drive of the game. After an offensive pass interference call took away what would have been a touchdown, Chuck McGraw took a pitch from Treacy and ran right for 26 yards _ his longest sprint of the day. On second down, Treacy threw a bullet pass for another 26-yard gain. During the next play, Treacy found Papi again, who made a fine leaping catch in the endzone for a 17-0 lead.

As the first half wound down that the defense had its finest moment. On a third down play, a lapse in the Jumbo defensive secondary allowed a Hamilton receiver to catch a short pass over the middle and gallop for a 48 yard gain. Only a sliding tackle from behind by speedy cornerback Mark Tilki saved a touchdown. But on a 4th and inches inside the Jumbo five-yard line, the defense stuffed Hamilton quarterback Greg LiVigne, who attempted to sneak through for a first down.

"I don't know what happened on their big gain," coach Bill Samko said. "Somebody blew something but the defense really came up big after the lapse."

"That was a big stop," Zupancic said. "Those types of plays set the tone."

Rolle's second field goal of the day rounded out the scoring for the Jumbos midway through the second quarter, and the kicker barely missed a 38 yarder as time expired in the first half.

Late in the second half, Zupancic picked off what would have been his third ball of the day and streaked down the sideline for a touchdown, but the play was brought back due to a defensive pass interference call.

"I just tried to read the quarterback's shoulders and eyes." Zupancic said. "On both picks I saw him open up right towards me, I caught him eyeing his receiver the whole time and I just broke towards the ball. I'm just happy we were able to come out and win the game."

Tufts never approached the endzone in the second half, and appeared terribly out of sink offensively. Luckily for Tufts, the defense was relentless and Hamilton never threatened to get back in the game.

"We'll keep getting better," Dickerson said. "I don't think the sloppy second half was any lack of concentration _ we just have room for improvement."



"We're happy with the win," Samko said. "But we could have won that game by 50 points."

Next week's challenge will be a tougher one, as Bates visits Medford next Saturday. The offense will need to find consistency, and the defense also has room to improve.

"Anytime they (the opponent) doesn't score, you're happy," junior defensive end Reid Palmer said. "But we have to build on this, we can't be satisfied with one win. We need to sure up on our tackling and fix some communication problems."

"Bates is a good team every year," Zupancic said. "Anyone can beat anyone in this league."

"Bates plays hard," Dickerson said. "We have to be ready.