In Saturday's season opener against the Hamilton Continentals, the Tufts defense bent, but did not break.
In the first series of the game, Hamilton sophomore quarterback Ben Saccomano marched his offense down the field using an effective no-huddle approach. It appeared the Jumbos would be down 7-0 early after Saccomano ran for a first down to the Tufts two yard line on fourth and short.
But senior safety Bryan McDavitt then came up with back-to-back big plays, first wrestling down junior running back Claudius Zorokong in the backfield and then sacking Saccomano.
After a pass break-up from junior cornerback Nathan Scott on third down, followed by an illegal procedure penalty against the Continentals, Hamilton junior kicker Kurtis Magee sent a field goal attempt wide right, allowing Tufts to escape without an early deficit.
"It was big for us to get out of that without giving up any points," said McDavitt, who also had an interception later in the game before leaving with an ankle injury. "They tried to come into our house and punch us in the mouth, but our defense just out-toughed them on the goal line."
This early momentum-swinging series allowed Tufts to settle down in its first game and eventually shoot down Hamilton, 17-0. The long bus ride back to Clinton, N.Y., must have seemed like an eternity to Saccomano, who threw five interceptions to five different Jumbos.
"It was a true team effort," McDavitt said. "[Senior quad-captain] Brett [Holm] made a great play on his interception, and the others were just [Saccomano] trying to throw into double-coverage and us taking advantage."
The five picks represented more than half of the interceptions Tufts had during its entire 2005 campaign. The Jumbos' first score, a 46-yard pass from senior quarterback Matt Russo to junior receiver David Halas, came just one play after Saccomano threw his second pick of the day to junior safety Jourdan Cancienne. Also getting in on the pick parade were Scott and freshman Alex Perry, who replaced McDavitt when he went down in the second
quarter.
