Jay Civetti wasn't thinking about playing his former school. Honestly.
On the opposite sideline as Tufts' interim head coach, Civetti and the football team stared down undefeated Trinity and nearly unseated Civetti's alma mater in a 9-0 loss Saturday.
From 1997 to 2000, Civetti was one of the NESCAC's best offensive linemen, starting all 32 games of his career and earning ECAC Rookie of the Year, All-ECAC, All-NESCAC and All-American honors. After graduating in 2001, Civetti embarked on the path that took him from the Bantams to the Jumbos.
"Other than my friends heckling me, the only reason I would ever think about it is because people would ask me," Civetti said, in his first season as Tufts head coach after serving as the offensive coordinator for three seasons. "Don't get me wrong, it's cool, it's great. I'm a Jumbo. There's Bantams somewhere in there, but Jumbo's a little bit bigger."
After the game, Civetti went up to Trinity junior offensive lineman Mac McGinty and commented on McGinty's jersey. McGinty wears No. 77, Civetti's old number.
"I just went up, shook his hand, and said, ‘Hey, that's a good number,'" Civetti said. "Kid has no idea that that was me."
Bantams find a way … again
Trinity scored its fewest points in six years. No matter. Not when the Bantams defense keeps recording shutouts.
For the second straight week, Trinity, ranked second in the latest Div. III New England top 10, kept its opponent off the scoreboard, carrying an offensive unit that had little trouble moving the ball but struggled to finish drives.
"The defense played well again, they got the shutout, they did their job," said sophomore running back Evan Bunker, who finished with a game-high 207 rushing yards. "Just the offense, we've got to finish drives. I thought we played well, we just have to eliminate mistakes."
Those mistakes were primarily manifested through a combined four total passing yards and an interception by sophomore quarterback Hedley Jennings. Bunker also fumbled twice. But the league's top defense once again stepped up, holding the Jumbos to just 13 rushing yards and 146 yards of total offense. The Bantams also sacked senior quarterback Johnny Lindquist four times and held Tufts to 2-of-14 on third downs.
"Our defense, that's what we expect," Trinity coach Jeff Devanney said. "We've got a lot of seniors in the group. Traditionally, we've been really good on our defense, and so we kind of expect that. Our defense has the attitude that as long as we get three points on the board, we'll win the game, and that's kind of what happened today."
Still, Devanney was quick to point out that, despite the Bantams' 4-0 record, they still have to focus on avoiding a repeat of Trinity's lowest scoring output since Oct. 15, 2005, a game that also happened to be against the Jumbos.
"You're not going to be able to shut every team out," Devanney said. "We have to do a better job on offense, and hopefully we'll look back and say this was our worst offensive game of the year."
A hearty dose of Marty
On an afternoon when the Jumbos needed to win the field-position battle, junior wide receiver/punter Marty Finnegan shouldered more than his fair share of the work load.
Finnegan punted 10 times on Saturday, pinning the Bantams inside their own 20-yard line five times and inside their own 10-yard line three times. He averaged 34.3 yards per punt, including a booming 47-yarder.
Trinity still managed some lengthy drives — including an eight-play, 65-yard series that burned more than three minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter — but Finnegan's special teams efforts helped avoid any substantial damage.
"In any game that we've had a chance to be in, it's been because of what he's done," Civetti said. "How many times did we put them inside the 10? That puts us in a position to at least have a chance to win, especially with an offense like that and a team that can strike like they can."
Quick hits
Bantams senior inside linebacker Walter Fallas was named NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week for his effort against the Jumbos. Fallas had six total tackles, including two sacks of Lindquist that resulted in a combined 18 yards lost.
Tufts honored members of its 1986 football team at halftime on Homecoming. The '86 squad went 7-1 and was voted the top-ranked Div. III football team in New England that season.
Players like Tim Fanikos (LA '90) and Paul Dresens (E '89), program leaders in career rushing yards and career rushing touchdowns, respectively, were members of that historic team.
Senior defensive lineman Nick Croteau, the team leader with 3.5 tackles for a loss, did not play after suffering an elbow injury against Bowdoin. Civetti said that the status of Croteau, the only Tufts player to record a sack this season, will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Fellow lineman Chris Toole, a junior, also went down versus Trinity with what appeared to be a leg injury.
