The football season is halfway over, and the Jumbos are halfway to the unthinkable - a NESCAC championship.
Thanks to a thrilling 16-10 win over perennial conference power Trinity at Zimman Field Saturday, Tufts is now the only undefeated team left standing in NESCAC play. The Jumbos improved to 4-0 with the win, the Bantams sunk to 3-1, and Middlebury lost just minutes later, falling to 3-1 with a loss to Williams.
Senior quarterback Matt Russo completed two touchdown passes, one to senior tri-captain Kevin Gleason and the second to junior wideout David Halas, to put the Jumbos on top, and the Tufts defense put forth a stellar performance to hold the lead. Junior Andy Henke and senior Stephen Albertine made eight tackles each to lead the way, and the explosive Bantams were kept scoreless in seven second-half drives.
"The kids played great," coach Bill Samko said. "I'm happy for them. It's a big win for this program, and it's especially a big win for those players."
"This is a huge boost to our confidence," added Russo, whose nine-yard bullet to Halas in the third quarter gave Tufts the lead for good. "It's been a while since we've beaten Trinity, and they're regarded as one of the best teams in New England. When you go out and beat them, it means you can play with anybody - and that you can beat anybody."
It's tough to find a more impressive win than one over Trinity, a dynastic presence in Div. III football in New England. The Bantams won 31 consecutive games between 2002 and 2006, the longest such streak in any NCAA division at the time, and heading into Medford Saturday morning, they had won 40 of their last 41. Saturday's game also brought Trinity its first loss in six years to a school not named Williams.
If that's not enough, Saturday was the first time in three years that the Jumbos scored a point against Trinity. The 2006 matchup in Hartford ended in a 17-0 Bantams win, and the Jumbos fell 7-0 at home the year before. This time, the Tufts offense set the pace early, as junior tailback Will Forde had a monster first half for the second consecutive week.
"We wanted to try to smash them early," Samko said. "We tried to set a tone physically because they're really good defensively. And I thought we did that, but then at halftime we made a conscious decision that we would throw the ball more."
Early on, it was a low-scoring struggle as both teams jockeyed for field position. Forde picked up 26 yards on six carries in the Jumbos' second drive, and a punt from junior Stephen Black put Trinity on its own 30. Tufts junior Tyson Reynoso then forced a fumble three plays into the Bantams' next drive, and while the Jumbo offense went three-and-out after taking over, the damage would still be done.
Black bobbled the snap on his next punt and barely got one off. But when he did, it was a beauty, rolling it out of bounds untouched at the Trinity 5. One play later, the Bantams were whistled for a holding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a safety and putting the Jumbos on top 2-0.
Trinity junior Eric McGrath, arguably the NESCAC's best quarterback this season, would soon come to life. Toward the end of the first quarter, he hit junior wideout Connor Wells with a 54-yard bomb down the right side, and two plays later, he found senior Joe Clark for 17 yards and the touchdown, Clark's seventh of the year.
"I'm not that sure that you can ever stop him," Samko said of McGrath. "He's a talented kid, and he's got some weapons too. But I think [defensive coordinator John Walsh] did a great job of mixing it up, and we came at him a few times."
Down 10-2 just before halftime, the Tufts offense responded. After keeping the offense on the ground early on, the Jumbos took to the air in the second quarter. Russo hit Gleason with three passes late in one second quarter drive, picking up first 14 yards, then 16, and then five for a touchdown, bringing the score to 10-9.
Then with nine minutes left in the third quarter, Russo and Halas connected for three huge passes to give Tufts the lead. After a 20-yarder put the Jumbos in Bantam territory, Russo heaved one down the right side to the Trinity 10, and Halas bobbled it, secured it as he fell out of bounds, and put the Jumbos in the red zone with a 34-yard catch.
Two plays later, Russo found Halas in the end zone and secured the lead for good. The aggression in the Jumbos' passing offense paid off in the second half, in stark contrast to the conservative running game that characterized the Jumbos' first quarter.
"We did what we wanted to do in the first half, which was run the ball a little bit," Russo said. "We were trying to get them to get extra guy down in the box, to stuff the run, and then take advantage of that and get guys open downfield. Then Gleason got open, and David got open, so that's what we did."
From there, defense coordinator John Walsh's defense held down the fort. With the 16-10 lead secure, Tufts shut down the Bantams on all of their seven second-half drives. Four of the last five ended in turnovers on downs, as the Bantams got desperate in the fourth quarter and McGrath got erratic. The junior finished just 16 for 37 with one interception, an errant fling to Tufts junior Ryan Crisco.
"Our defense is unbelievable, week in, week out," Russo said. "Coach Walsh really gets those guys going. It seems like the closer an opposing team gets to the end zone, the more we just clamp down even tighter. It's almost impossible to score on our defense."
Tufts has far and away been the NESCAC's best team in red zone situations. While the offense has been perfect, scoring nine touchdowns in nine red zone drives this season, the defense has also been impressive. The Jumbos have allowed just three TDs in eight opposing red zone drives.
"Anytime we're up, I feel like we've got a great chance to win because our defense is so good," Russo said. "If we're winning, our defense protects that lead, and we go home with the W."
That was the case Saturday, and with the 4-0 Jumbos heading to Williams next weekend to defend first place against the 2-2 Ephs, they're hoping to ride the momentum from this win. And right now, morale on this Tufts squad is at an all-time high.
"This feels unbelievable," Russo said. "We've played four games, we've won them all, and that's where we want to be. That leaves our fate in our own hands, and if we take care of business, then we do what we set out to do."
