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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tufts wins big on Senior Day

2014-09-27-Tufts-Football-Homecoming-Game-71
Sophomore wide receiver Ben Berey attempts to evade a Bates defender during Tufts' 42-24 on Homecoming.

Saturday was senior day for the Jumbos, who managed to earn their most complete victory of the season despite playing the game in a heavy rain. The wind was blowing 20-30 miles per hour throughout the game, and the three-and-a-half quarters' worth of rain nearly flooded Ellis Oval. Despite the tricky conditions, the Jumbos scored first and never trailed in the game as they went on to defeat the Colby Mules 28-7.

Sophomore quarterback Alex Snyder earned the start as senior Jack Doll continued to rehab his upper body injury. The sophomore threw for 193 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in his first start of the season. 

“[Snyder] did a great job,” coach Jay Civetti said. "He took care of the football. He had to come in and replace a big guy’s shoes in Jack Doll. We wouldn’t be where we are without Jack Doll, and I’m really proud of Alex and how he stepped in there and made some big throws and really did a nice job managing the game."

Both offenses appeared sluggish throughout the first quarter as they attempted to adapt to the awful conditions. The game’s first seven drives all ended in punts, and neither team had a possession last longer than three minutes.

The tide finally turned on Tufts junior punter Vince Falk’s fourth punt of the first quarter. Backed up at his own 10, Falk’s 30-yard punt was muffed by Colby senior wide receiver Luke Duncklee. The Jumbos recovered the loose ball and had 1st and 10 and their own 39 yard line.

Snyder dropped back in the pocket and floated the ball deep down the middle of the field into single coverage where wide receiver Greg Lanzillo had beaten his man by two steps. The senior caught the ball in stride and waltzed into the end zone to give the home team a seven-point lead.

The Mules’ offensive struggles continued, and they were forced to punt on their fourth consecutive drive. Senior punter Louw Scheepers's kick was blocked by junior linebacker Matt McCormack, and senior linebacker Christian Proctor recovered the ball and returned the easy 24-yard touchdown.

The score remained 14-0 until midway through the second quarter when the Jumbos started a drive at their own 32. On 2nd and 9, Snyder hit senior wide receiver Harrison Kidd for a 29-yard pickup to bring Tufts into Colby's territory. The Mules defense was able to halt the Jumbos on three straight plays, which led to a 4th and 4 at the Colby 32. Tufts elected to go for it, and thanks to the home team’s staunch offensive line, Snyder had time to hit Lanzillo cutting across the middle of the field. The receiver broke multiple tackles and sprinted up the left sideline for his second score of the day, giving the Jumbos a 21-0 halftime lead.

Tufts was able to score again on its first possession of the second half. After hitting Kidd for two key completions, Snyder then found his favorite target, Lanzillo, wide open in the middle of the field. The senior found the end zone once again, this time from 27 yards out. Lanzillo finished the final home game of his career with three catches for 120 yards and three touchdowns.

“[For] my first touchdown, we [had] been running that play all week in practice and we’ve been hitting it well, it was all about the execution," Lanzillo said. "[For] the second one, Snyder had all day to throw... Two guys made key blocks -- [sophomore running back] Mike Rando and Harry [Kidd] really sprung me -- for a touchdown, which is huge. The third one, we ran the same play as my second touchdown, and we executed it exactly the way we wanted to, and I was able to get to the corner."

Aside from a two-yard touchdown run from Duncklee, the rest of the game was scoreless, as Tufts ran away with the 28-7 victory.

Tufts’ defense was a huge factor in the win, as it held Colby sophomore quarterback Gabe Harrington to just 10 completions and 84 yards on 33 attempts, and sophomore running back Jabari Hurdle-Price managed just 65 yards on 20 carries.

“The defense as a whole and coach Farr and the staff did an awesome job preparing for [Colby]," Civetti said. "I thought [senior defensive lineman] Jimmy Brao and the entire D-Line up front was a great force. [Senior Thomas] Meade ... held the linebacking crew and the front seven together, and [senior Patrick] Glose and [senior Michael] DeFeo in the back end through the middle of the defense just continued to execute and do a fantastic job,"

With this win Tufts football is now 4-3, which marks the first time the team has won four games in a season since 2008. Beating Colby also guaranteed a non-losing record for the Jumbos’ 2014 season, one in which the team managed to finish with an undefeated home record.

The game also served as the seniors’ final opportunity to play football in front of the Tufts faithful, and many of them stood out in the win. Lanzillo had three touchdowns, Proctor had his return touchdown, Kidd was second on the team in receiving, senior running back Zack Trause ran for 109 yards and the defense’s seniors also came up huge in the victory. Meade led the team in tackles with 11, Glose was third on the team with five, DeFeo added four and Brao had three, including one for a loss.

“Our senior class has been through a lot together," Lanzillo said. "We’ve always stuck together through it. We faced some tough times together, and our biggest thing is nobody cares who gets the credit -- everybody deserves what we’ve got [this season], and that’s what’s so special about it. I couldn’t ask for a greater group of guys. I love every single one of them. I’m never going to forget this."

Sadly, the offense’s leader, Doll, was unable to play in what would have been his final home game as a Jumbo, and center Landon Davis was injured in the second quarter, spending the second half of the game on the sideline. While this was a huge team win for Tufts, losing Davis and possibly not having Doll next week could hurt the team’s chances to come away with a win in the team’s regular season finale at Middlebury on Saturday.