Football: Jumbos win home opener in overtime thriller

The Tufts Jumbos hosted the Hamilton Continentals on Saturday in their home opener and came away with a 35-28 victory after an intense overtime period. This was the first game between the Jumbos and the Continentals since the first game of the fall 2015 season. In that matchup, the Jumbos came out on top by a field goal, also in overtime, 24-21 over the Continentals.

The Jumbos opened up the scoring on Saturday. While driving down the field on Tufts' first possession, junior quarterback Ryan McDonald scrambled to his right and flipped into the end zone for an 11-yard rushing touchdown that put his team up 7-0. McDonald, a dual-threat quarterback, recorded 647 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground last season.

Hamilton struck back on its first drive of the game, as sophomore quarterback Kenny Gray hit his wide receiver, sophomore Joe Schmidt, on a crossing route. Schmidt then broke away from a defender and took it all the way to the end zone for a 70-yard touchdown. Hamilton's special teams failed to convert the extra point after a botched snap, so Tufts led 7-6.

Schmidt scored his second touchdown of the game just four minutes later on a 51-yard pass from Gray to put the Continentals up 13-7. This time the Jumbos' secondary left Schmidt wide open on the left sideline, allowing him to easily reach the end zone. Surprising many at Ellis Oval, Schmidt scored four receiving touchdowns in the game. In this year's season opener, Schmidt doubled his total of two touchdowns from the entirety of last season.

Tufts coach Jay Civetti attributed Schmidt's performance simply to his abilities and the coaching behind him.

"He's a great player," Civetti said. "They really put him in some good positions versus our defense, exploited some things that we were trying to do. Hats off to them and their game plan."

In the second quarter, Tufts came back with a vengeance. After showing his skills on the ground, McDonald took to the air for a couple of touchdowns.

The first score for the Jumbos came early in the second quarter, as McDonald found sophomore wide receiver Winton Blount for a 27-yard touchdown.

The Jumbos' next five drives ended in either a punt or a turnover on downs. Then, on a third-and-six in the red zone, McDonald found junior wideout Jack Dolan on a short pass that Dolan extended into a 16-yard touchdown. This gave Tufts a 21-13 lead that they took into the half.

The Tufts defense, especially its defensive line, really found its stride after the first quarter, when it allowed two early touchdowns. Senior defensive lineman Micah Adickes was particularly successful, recording two sacks and accounting for three QB hurries, the bulk of which came after Hamilton's 13-point first quarter.

"Thirteen points is never time to hit the panic button," Adickes said. "The first game last year [the defense] started off a little slow against Wesleyan. That's how it started this year, but we were able to throttle down, relax a little and just stick to our training."

Adickes attributed his two sacks largely to his teammates on the defensive line.

"The whole D-line, the entire day, was completely getting after their offensive line," Adickes said. "Everybody was productive, we were just pushing the quarterback into each other's laps."

In the third quarter, good defensive play on both sides prevented either team from scoring. The Hamilton secondary suffocated Tufts' receivers, leaving no window for McDonald to throw. The Continentals' interior defensive line was able to stuff any inside runs that came its way, holding the Tufts running game to minimal yardage.

At 12:21 in the fourth quarter, Hamilton recorded the first score of the second half. Gray found Schmidt for their third touchdown connection, as the Continentals tied the game at 21-21.

Tufts responded by scoring in a tough situation. On fourth and one on the Hamilton 31-yard line, sophomore running back Andrew Sanders shook off several Continental defenders and took the ball 31 yards for a Jumbo touchdown. This gave Tufts a 28-21 lead.

That lead didn't last very long. On the next possession, Gray found Schmidt for the pair's fourth touchdown of the game. This tied the score up once again, 28-28.

On the Jumbos' next drive, McDonald went to the bench with an unspecified injury and junior quarterback Ryan Hagfeldt took over the offense. Civetti remarked that the team is unsure of the extent of the injury at this time.

Civetti noted that he was not at all worried about playing his backup quarterback in the fourth quarter of a close game.

"I wasn't [nervous]," Civetti said. "I'm 100 percent confident in Ryan Hagfeldt. He's a hard-working kid and a good student of the game. He has ice-water in his veins, always has. We didn't even bat an eye when we put him in there."

Hagfeldt had trouble finding his rhythm, throwing several passes that were nearly intercepted by the Hamilton defense.

"You can always look back and say 'I want that play back,'" Hagfeldt said. "In general, it's just on to the next play, my one goal is just to get us into the end zone."

The quarterback also noted that it was helpful during that fourth quarter knowing that he had the support of his teammates, his coaches and even the Tufts community.

Tufts' last chance in regulation came with 1:38 remaining. Hagfeldt led the Jumbos into field goal range, only to be pushed back by a holding penalty. Penalties were a problem on both sides, as the two teams combined for 21 penalties, including a plethora of false starts and holding calls.

Tufts attempted a daring 51-yard field goal to end the half, a distance rarely attempted by NESCAC kickers. The Jumbos sent out senior linebacker Zach Thomas to kick the field goal. Thomas recorded a couple of tackles on the day, but badly missed the long field goal attempt as the game went to overtime.

In Div. III, both teams get at least one possession in overtime starting at the opposing 25-yard line.The Jumbos won the toss, elected to go first, and scored a touchdown on a nerve-wracking quarterback sneak from Hagfeldt on the goal line. The snap was bobbled, but Hagfeldt was able to recover it and dive across the goal line for the game-winning touchdown.

On Hamilton's possession, the Jumbos' defense executed and sealed the victory. The last play of the game was an incomplete pass by Gray that was well covered by the Jumbo defenders. There was a flag thrown on the play, but the Jumbos celebrated as the penalty, after a thoroughly dramatic pause by the officials, was called on the Continentals' offense and the game ended with Tufts ahead, 35-28.

Tufts looks ahead to its first away game on Saturday. The team will travel to Wesleyan for its first and only evening game of the season at 6 p.m.