Tufts and Williams appear to be football teams going in different directions heading into tomorrow's match up in Medford. The Jumbos, losers of two straight games, hope to get their season on the right track with a victory over the 3-1 Ephs. Tufts coach Bill Samko is confident that the team can play with Williams.
"They're a good team, but in my opinion everybody in our league can be beat," Samko said. "I think we have to play well, but we don't have to play over our head."
Tufts will face the added difficulty of overcoming several personnel issues. Senior running back Steve Cincotta will not play after injuring his ankle on his first carry last week against Trinity. In his absence freshman Brendan Georges, sophomore Brian Cammuso, and junior Scott Lombardi will split time and carries.
"I love Steve," Samko said. "He's a tough, hard-nosed player. Losing him obviously makes things a little more difficult for us. But I think the other guys did a good job last week after he went down. We just have to close ranks and march on."
Additionally, senior Jason Casey will most likely not start at quarterback against Williams, although he will play. Junior Casey D'Annolfo will start, and the two will split time. Casey, after two of the most productive games of his career against Bates and Bowdoin, failed to complete a pass in four attempts against Trinity.
"They're definitely both going to play," Samko said. "They split reps in practice all the time, because we're always concerned about an injury or something happening. Things really weren't much different this week, and I don't think they'll be in the game."
Williams plays a similar style of football to Trinity, relying on their defense and an explosive running game. The Ephs lack Trinity's depth and overall athleticism, but they have an effective running back in senior Timothy Crawley. Crawley is averaging over 100 yards a game and racked up 119 against Trinity's stingy defense.
Tufts will attempt to shut down Crawley and the Ephs' rushing attack and put pressure on sophomore quarterback Sean Gleeson, who has completed fewer than 40 percent of his passes this year.
"[Gleeson] has struggled, but he's a young quarterback," Samko said. "He's really talented. Hopefully this isn't the game he explodes."
Despite the Jumbos struggles up this point in the season, and the game's importance to the team's season, Samko was reluctant to place too much emphasis on it.
"I look at it as no different than any other game," Samko said. "Honestly, and some people might think I'm crazy, but I like this team. They compete - they could've packed it in at half time last week and they didn't. And they won't. Nobody's hanging their head, nobody's quitting. We've got a few guys down, but so what? You can make a billion excuses, but there's one thing I know for sure, at 1:30 on Saturday they're going to kick the ball the off and it counts. So we've got to line up and play."
Tufts will have some extra incentive to show off their stuff this weekend as all the Jumbo faithful will be in Medford for Parents Weekend. The athletes from the 1979 undefeated football squad will also be in attendance at the game. Game time is set for tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 p.m.
