Hartford, Conn. – Junior QB Jordan Vazzano (Trumbull, Conn.) threw for 353 yards and five touchdowns and ran for a sixth score to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 59-16 victory over the visiting Bates College Bobcats in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action this afternoon at Jessee/Miller Field. Two-time defending NESCAC Champion Trinity, playing in its home opener, improves to 2-0 with its 23rd win in a row over the Bobcats and its 17th consecutive home-opening win. Bates, which has not beaten Trinity since 1979, falls to 0-2. The Bantams will visit Williams next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and the Bobcats play at Tufts on the same day at the same time. The Trinity defense held Bates to 102 yards and just five first downs in the game, while Trinity finished with total 563 yards and 29 first downs.
Trinity racked up 332 yards of total offense in the first half, but led just, 14-9, with 4:30 remaining after a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown by Bobcat sophomore Anthony Costa (West Springfield, Mass.). Trinity senior tri-captain Sameir Madden (Norristown, Pa.) blocked the extra point, and the Bantam offense erupted for two touchdowns in the final 1:37 before the break. Vazzano had found junior WR Koby Schofer (Northbridge, Mass.) for a 33-yard score and sophomore WR Jonathan Girard (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) for a 20-yard touchdown catch in the opening three minutes of the game, and connected with Schofer for a 27-yarder and Girard with a 30-yard scoring strike to close the second quarter with Trinity ahead, 28-9. Bates senior Justin Foley (Lynnfield, Mass.) accounted for the remaining three points of the first half with a 36-yard field goal with 6:40 remaining before the break. Vazzano, playing in his second game as a Bantam after transferring to Trinity from Rhode Island in the spring, finished the first half with 257 passing yards and four touchdown tosses.
Trinity sophomore Colin Beaulieu (Bethany, Conn.) returned the opening kickoff of the second half 36 yards to the Bantam 46-yard line, and the home team needed just four plays from there to score its fifth touchdown on a 29-yard pass from Vazzano to Schofer. Trinity senior K Eric Sachse (Jefferson, Mass.) drilled the longest field goal in school history from 50 yards out to tie the Bantam record for career field goals with 23. Bantam senior tri-captain DE Nick Rose (Arlington, Mass.) recovered a Bobcat fumble at the Bates 19-yard line on the next play after the long field goal, and Trinity capitalized with a seven-yard touchdown run for Vazzano's first touchdown with the team that gave Trinity a 45-9 lead after three quarters. Rookie RB Spencer Lockwood (Killingly, Conn.) scored twice on short runs, and Bates freshman Caleb Bolden (Dover, N.H.) scored on a four-yard run after a bad Bantam punt snap gave the visitors the ball at the three-yard line to account for the fourth-quarter scoring.
Vazzano completed 20 of 36 passes, including 10 for 187 yards to Schofer and eight for 160 yards to Girard. Lockwood paced Trinity on the ground with 104 yards on 12 carries, while senior tri-captain RB Max Chipouras (Longmeadow, Mass.) added 86 rushing yards on 23 attempts. Bates sophomore WB Brendan Costa (Westport, Mass.) finished 14-for-26 for 71 yards passing, but the Bobcats rushed for just 31 yards as a team on 33 attempts. Foley punted 10 times for 384 yards with a long of 54. Defensively, senior LB Dago Picon-Roura (Roslindale, Mass.) made a team-high five tackles, while classmate Jacob Martilotti (Wayne, Pa.) and sophomore R.J. Guardia (Somerville, Mass.) had four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss apiece, and junior DB Matt Patry (Medfield, Mass.) added three tackles and three pass breakups for the Bantams. Bobcat junior DB Jon Lindgren (Plainville, Conn.) led all tacklers with 12. Anthony Costa made seven tackles and broke up two passes in addition to his interception, and senior DL Tyler Harrington (White River Junction, Vt.) contributed six tackles and a tackle for loss for Bates.