The football team wrapped up its season last Saturday with a 10-6 loss to Middlebury. With the loss, the team finished the year with a 2-6 record. Despite the way the season turned out, coach Bill Samko was not unhappy with his players.
"The record is disappointing," Samko said. "But I'm not disappointed in the people. They always played hard. There were only a few games that we were really out of."
It was an up and down season for the Jumbos. The team lost three games by four points or less, but also had one of the biggest wins in the school's recent history with an Oct. 30 upset of Amherst.
"We're capable of competing with most teams in this league," Samko said. "When you lose by one, two, and four it's pretty frustrating. I can point to four plays that could have made our record 5-3. But you have to make those plays."
Coming off of a 5-3 record last year, the coaches were optimistic coming into this season. Unfortunately, Tufts was plagued by injuries all year, and ultimately had 12 players who required surgery.
"You can't lose as many players as we did and expect not to be affected by it," Samko said. "I thought the offensive line would be the strength of the team this year, but we ended up losing three players on the line. The injuries put us in a situation of having to practice with just 64 guys at times, and that hurts you too."
Senior offensive lineman Rich Aronson, who Samko described as a potential All-American, and freshman Kevin Anderson, the team's projected starting fullback, were both lost early in the year.
That the Jumbos were able to remain competitive with so many players missing time is a testament to the leadership of the coaching staff, and especially the team's captains, seniors Donovan Brown, Jason Casey, Dave Hatch, and Chris Lawrence.
"Those guys were awesome," Samko said of his captains. "After the [Middlebury] game, I thanked each one of them for the job they did. Hatch played extremely well game in and game out. Chris Lawrence is as good as anybody we've ever had here. Donovan Brown was always upbeat and had a good year. [Jason] Casey was in and out of the lineup, and he handled it very well. He was always supportive of [junior] Casey D'Annolfo and never let individual concerns cloud his role as a captain of this team."
"Those guys held the group together," the coach continued. "They did exactly what was necessary to fill the role of captains."
The Jumbos were led offensively this season by senior Steve Cincotta, who battled through injuries for the second straight year to gain 424 rushing yards. Casey and D'Annolfo, splitting time at quarterback, threw for over 1,100 yards. Senior Kevin Holland had a productive year at wide receiver, gaining 592 yards on 57 catches.
Brown led the defense with three interceptions, and sophomore Chris Decembrele and Lawrence had 73 and 72 tackles, respectively. The duo also combined for 17 tackles for loss and six-and-a-half sacks.
"I still think this was a good team," Samko said. "They took care of each other and motivated each other. They did a terrific job dealing with outside influences."
"It was a frustrating season, and it's going to be a long winter for me, but we'll be better next year, mark my words. I really respect this team though - there are a whole bunch of individuals that I have good, strong positive feelings about."
