After the Tufts football team started off the 2009 season with two consecutive matchups on the road, Saturday's Homecoming game against the Bowdoin College Polar Bears could not have come at a more appropriate time. The two teams battled back and forth in a contest that featured six lead changes and provided an audience of 5,100 fans with one of the most exciting Tufts football games in recent history.
The dramatic ending to Tufts' 25-22 win gave sophomore kicker Adam Auerbach the chance to play the hero not once, but twice. Auerbach delivered clutch clicks at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime, remaining calm under the immense pressure to nail the 35-yard field goal to cap the Tufts victory.
After Auerbach had forced overtime with a last-minute field goal in regulation, the Bowdoin offense received the ball first in the extra period and looked like it was heading for the endzone after collecting a quick first down. However, Tufts' defense stepped up in the red zone and forced Bowdoin to attempt a 28-yard field goal, which kicker Bill Donahue pushed wide left.
Following Donahue's miss, the Tufts offense, needing only a field goal to win the game, took over possession of the ball. After three consecutive carries by Bailey, Auerbach trotted back onto the field to attempt his third kick of the day. As he did at the end of the fourth quarter, Auerbach calmly sent the kick through the uprights despite being "iced" by Bowdoin after a timeout.
From the outset, the game seemed destined for overtime, with neither team controlling the pace for an extended period of time.
After the defense surrendered a touchdown on Bowdoin's first possession of the game, the Jumbos responded right back with a 68-yard drive of their own. Led by senior quarterback Tom McManama and a rotation of running backs, the Tufts offense marched down the field and was able to score on third and goal from the Bowdoin five-yard line when McManama connected on a throw to senior fullback Noah Hatfield-Biondo. The touchdown reception — which was the senior's first career collegiate catch — marked the first time this year that Hatfield-Biondo has touched the football, but the fullback was not done for the day.
"It feels great to be able to contribute to the offense and get a score on the board for your team," said Hatfield-Biondo regarding his first career touchdown. "To be honest, though, the energy level was so high at that point in the game that I wasn't even thinking about my individual performance."
Tufts' next three possessions ended in punts, but with 5:13 left in the second quarter the Jumbos took over at their own 31-yard line and put together their second scoring drive of the game. With time winding down in the first half, Tufts faced a fourth and 12 on its own 41-yard line. The Jumbos lined up in the punt formation, but a low snap forced senior wide receiver and punter Tim Puopolo to take off running. Puopolo stretched the play to the right sideline and rushed 28 yards to the Bowdoin 31, giving Tufts a key first down and keeping the scoring drive alive.
"In practice we go over a ton of different situations and when there are bad snaps or miscues we don't just stop the play, we let it run out and try to make the best of it," Puopolo said. "On Saturday it was a low snap, and after I picked it up I thought about rugby kicking it but saw green grass and decided to try and run for it instead."
Puopolo, who is the epitome of a utility player, participated in many facets of Saturday's game. Although his heads-up play on the low snap was his most noticeable contribution, Puopolo carried the ball three other times during the game and punted five times for 158 net yards.
"It's fun, and it provides something new every day," said Puopolo, who embraces his diverse role on the team. "We ask a lot of guys on the team to do different things, and it's something that we wanted to make a big part of our offense this year."
After Puopolo's 28-yard improvised run, McManama hit junior wide receiver Billy Mahler downfield for 24 yards, setting up a first and goal from the Bowdoin seven-yard line.
With just over 30 seconds left in the half, Hatfield-Biondo struck again. He picked up the ball on a well-designed "fumblerooski" play and hit pay dirt for the second time in as many touches. The carry was Hatfield-Biondo's first career rushing attempt and gave Tufts a 13-7 lead heading into halftime.
"It was just a little gadget play that we put in this week," Hatfield-Biondo said. "It's kind of a tricky play that is designed to throw off the defense. Thankfully it worked perfectly today."
In the second half Bowdoin's passing attack caught fire, as sophomore wide receiver Patrick Noone hauled in two touchdown passes from senior quarterback Oliver Kell. Noone's first touchdown came with 6:35 left in the third quarter and gave Bowdoin a 14-13 lead.
However, as they had all day long, the resilient Jumbos fought right back and were able to regain the lead early in the fourth quarter when McManama found junior running back Patrick Bailey for a 16-yard score.
The seesaw game continued on the very next drive as Kell and Noone connected on a number of passes, including a 20-yard score on second and 10. Kell then ran in the two point conversion and gave Bowdoin a 22-19 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in regulation.
Tufts regained possession of the ball and had just crossed midfield when McManama made his first mistake of the game. Facing a third and 16, the quarterback tried to take a shot downfield and was intercepted by Bowdoin defensive back Michael Blouin at the 29-yard line.
But McManama got an opportunity to redeem himself after the Tufts defense forced a Bowdoin punt with less than three minutes left in the game. He led the offense down the field but could not connect on three consecutive pass attempts, and the Jumbos stalled at the Bowdoin 20-yard line. Rather than trying to convert a fourth and 10, head coach Bill Samko decided to send Auerbach out onto the field to attempt a 37-yard field goal.
Auerbach, who missed a 47-yard try at the beginning of the third quarter, drilled his second attempt of the day, tying the game at 22-22 to force overtime and set the scene for his grand finale.
Next week Tufts will try to lift its record to 3-1 when it hosts the Trinity Bantams, who are currently 3-0 and coming off a 38-8 drubbing of Hamilton College. Trinity has traditionally been the powerhouse team in the NESCAC, and beating the Bantams will be no easy task.
"We have to continue to play smart football and keep eliminating mental miscues and penalties," said Hatfield-Biondo. "We want to keep the energy level high, like it was on Saturday, because we realize that the next couple games are going to be huge tests for our football team."
