When the football team upset NESCAC titan Trinity at home on Parents' Weekend last fall, the difference in the game was one touchdown. A third quarter TD pass to then-junior David Halas gave the Jumbos a 16-10 lead, putting them ahead for good.
This time, the difference was one extra point in favor of the Bantams.
The Jumbos led for most of the way in Saturday's game in Hartford, Conn., but a Trinity score with 25 seconds to play tied the game at 21, and Tufts faltered in overtime. Both teams scored in the extra session, but a botched snap on the Jumbos' extra point made the difference in the 28-27 loss. With the win, Trinity improved to 4-0 and is clearly the team to beat in the NESCAC this season, while Tufts fell to 2-2 following its second narrow loss in as many weeks.
"If you look at our last two losses, we've lost by a total of three points," senior tri-captain Tyson Reynoso said. "We could easily be a 4-0 team right now. We let the Bowdoin game [last weekend] get away from us. We're going to work hard for the rest of the season because I know everyone on the team wants to win badly."
Tufts took possession of the ball first in overtime and scored a touchdown on a pass from junior quarterback Anthony Fucillo to senior fullback Kevin Anderson. Freshman kicker Adam Auerbach then took the field to attempt the extra point, but the long-snapping unit botched the transition and Auerbach never had a chance to attempt the kick. The Jumbos' 27-21 lead was not enough.
It was then that senior tri-captain Eric McGrath put the exclamation point on a spectacular day under center for the Bantams. McGrath had already passed for 452 yards on the day -- obliterating the Trinity program's single-game record of 400 set by former NFL quarterback Joe Shield ('85) -- when he took the field at the start of overtime, and he added 18 more. The final six came on a pass to sophomore Michael Galligan, tying the game at 27 and setting up a game-winning extra point for senior Adam Cox, who nailed it for the win.
"I'll give a lot of credit to McGrath," said Reynoso, who had nine tackles in the losing effort. "He's a three-year starter and a great quarterback."
The game started off slowly, as neither team mustered a point in the first quarter. Tufts' offense wasted no time getting on the board in the second period though, as senior running back Will Forde scored on a five-yard run less than two minutes into the quarter.
Tufts' 7-0 lead was not safe for long. Minutes after Forde's tally, McGrath connected with junior Oliver Starnes on a 57-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. McGrath finished the game 34-for-57 with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
The score was tied 7-7 at halftime before the Tufts offense put together an efficient drive to start the second half. Aided by two 20-plus-yard completions from Fucillo to senior wide receiver Asmerom Adhanom as well as a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag against Trinity, the Tufts offense marched downfield and once again found itself inside Trinity's 10-yard line.
On Tufts' first play inside the Trinity 10, Forde struck pay dirt again -- this time scoring on a four-yard touchdown run, his fifth of the season, matching his total from last year. Trinity struck right back after Forde's score though, as McGrath hooked up with tight end Michael Paladino for a two-yard touchdown on Trinity's next possession.
The fourth quarter brought on more seesaw action, as both teams once again exchanged touchdown drives. Tufts jumped out to a seven-point lead with a touchdown pass from Fucillo to senior tight end Max Cassidy with 4:36 left.
Tufts' defense came up huge on Trinity's next possession when freshman defensive end Donnie Simmons fell on top of a fumble by Trinity senior Connor Wells.
But Tufts' offense failed to capitalize, leaving the door wide open for McGrath. The Trinity senior marched his offense downfield and found Galligan for the first of his two touchdowns, setting up the Cox extra point that tied the game at 21.
"I think our team played incredibly well," Fucillo said. "Looking back, it was a disappointing loss, but there's nothing we can really do about it. We have to bury this one and bounce back next week."
Next week the Jumbos host Williams, a team two years removed from a league title that piled up 50 points on defending champion Middlebury Oct. 4. The Ephs are 3-1 and desperately need a win to keep pace with Trinity in the NESCAC title hunt.
