It is often said that good football teams find a way to win. Unfortunately for the Tufts Jumbos, right now they seem to be finding ways to lose. Despite dominating most of the second half, the team lost by a single point, 10-9, to Williams on Saturday. The past 19 times the two team have met, Williams has won 17 and tied twice. The loss, Tufts' third straight, drops the Jumbos to 1-4. Williams moves to 4-1.
In front of a large Parent's Weekend crowd, the two teams played to a scoreless first quarter. Late in the second, Williams took a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard field goal by Matt Gustafson. The score would stay that way until half time.
Williams struck again on the first possession of the third quarter, driving 80 yards for a touchdown on a one-yard run by Timothy Crawley to extend the lead to 10-0. It was the last time Williams would score during the day, as Tufts put forth a strong defensive effort, led by senior Chris Lawrence and sophomore Chris Decembrele. Each recorded 12 tackles on the day.
"Defensively, we played pretty well," sophomore safety Brett Holm said. "We obviously had a couple of letdowns, but that happens against good teams and we're just going to have to come back and play harder."
Tufts answered the Williams score less than four minutes later, when senior quarterback Casey D'Annolfo found the end zone for his own one-yard score.
D'Annolfo, making his first start of the season, had two big completions on the drive, which covered 56 yards on seven plays. He found sophomore Steve Menty over the middle for 32 yards to take the Jumbos to the Williams 19-yard line. Later he hit senior Kevin Holland for 12 yards to the 2-yard line. Two plays later D'Annolfo leapt over the line for the touchdown. Junior kicker Phil Scialdoni missed the extra point, however, leaving the score at 10-6. The miss would prove costly for the Jumbos.
Late in the third quarter Tufts got the ball on the Williams 25-yard line after a weak punt and a penalty but was unable to score. After losing six yards on a sack, the Jumbos were forced to punt.
In the fourth quarter, Tufts again received great field position when senior defensive end Josh Harris picked off a tipped pass by Williams quarterback Scott Gleeson. The Jumbos capitalized on the turnover, scoring on a 39-yard field goal by Scialdoni to make the score 10-9. The kick was Scialdoni's longest of the year.
Tufts had another chance with less than seven minutes to go in the fourth, but penalties eventually put the Jumbos in a 3rd and 30 situation and they were forced to punt. Williams was able to run out the clock, converting on a fourth and inches with 3:19 to go.
D'Annolfo finished 11 of 17 for 80 yards, and added 23 rushing yards. Sophomore Brian Cammuso gained 63 yards on 16 carries and Holland caught 4 passes for 36 yards. Crawley gained 143 yards on 38 carries for Williams.
"We showed improvement from last week," sophomore defensive tackle John Chappell said. "But we made a lot of mistakes and it's tough to come so close and not pull out the win."
The loss keeps the Jumbos in the basement of the NESCAC standings, and their season only gets more difficult this weekend when the team takes on 5-0 Amherst away on Saturday.
"We're looking forward to getting out there and playing again," Holm said. "We just have to get back out there and give ourselves a better chance to win."
