Football: Jumbos set to battle Ephs on the road

Tufts football will travel to Williamstown, Mass. for a week six matchup with the Williams Ephs on Saturday.

The Jumbos' 3–2 record puts them in sixth place in the NESCAC. The Ephs, at 4–1, are in a four-way tie for second place with the Amherst Mammoths, Middlebury Panthers and Wesleyan Cardinals. Meanwhile, the defending NESCAC champion Trinity Bantams hold a perfect 5–0 record, making them the defending NESCAC champions.

Trinity's most recent victory came against Tufts in last week's 23–16 loss for the Jumbos at Ellis Oval. The Jumbos were mostly able to contain the Bantams' passing offense by holding senior tri-captain quarterback Sonny Puzzo to just 200 yards and a single touchdown while sacking the Trinity playcaller six times. The Bantams' rushing attack proved too much for the Jumbos' defense, however, as junior running back Max Chipouras racked up 165 rushing yards on 29 attempts (5.7 yards per carry). Crucially, Chipouras also scored the go-ahead one-yard touchdown for Trinity in the fourth quarter to seal the visiting team's victory.

Tufts was plagued by penalties in the game, giving up 85 yards on eight infractions. Coach Jay Civetti attributed the number of penalties to his team's aggressive style of play.

"The teams that play the most aggressively end up getting the most penalties," Civetti said. "It just comes with the nature and demeanor of the way games are officiated."

The game against Tufts was Trinity's closest of the year, as three of their five victories have been by at least 28 points, including a 51–0 shutout against the Bates Bobcats (0–5).

"We played well, but at the end of the day we made one too many mistakes," Tufts' junior defensive back Alexander LaPiana said. "It's great to say you kept a game close but, at the end of the day, a loss is a loss. We've gotta learn from it and move on, but [the game against Trinity] was a tough one."

The Ephs were more fortunate in their last contest, a 27–26 comeback win over the Ephs. With nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Panthers had what seemed like a commanding 26–14 lead.

With four and a half minutes left, Williams closed the gap partially on a 10-yard rushing touchdown by first-year wide receiver Rashad Morrison. The Ephs' defense managed to force a punt and reclaim the ball for their team with 2:19 to go in the game. The Williams offense then ran an impressive two-minute drill to get into the red zone. With his team down five points and 15 yards away from pay dirt, first-year quarterback Bobby Maimaron found first-year wide receiver Frank Stola in the end zone as time expired. The reception clinched the dramatic 27–26 victory for the Ephs and handed the Panthers their first loss on the year.

In last year's matchup against Williams, Tufts came out on top with a convincing 35–16 win. The Jumbos' running back Chance Brady (LA '17) racked up video game numbers in that matchup. Brady rushed for 165 yards on 6.1 yards per carry and scored a whopping four touchdowns on the ground, breaking Tufts' career rushing touchdowns record in the process.

Certainly, without Brady in the mix, this matchup will be quite different from last year's game for both the Jumbos and the Ephs. This year, the touches have largely been split at running back between first-year Mike Pedrini, sophomore Andrew Sanders and junior Dominic Borelli, with both Pedrini and Sanders seeing an increase in touches over the last few games.

Civetti noted that both of his underclassman running backs will see time on the field against Williams.

"Mike [Pedrini] is growing, he's learning a lot," he said. "He's only a [first-year]. Then again, Andrew [Sanders] is only a sophomore. I think both of them together complement each other well. [Pedrini] had a great game last week, and [Sanders] had a couple of big runs, so I think the two of them together give us a great chance."

Williams will deploy a few first-year starters on offense, most notably Maimaron. LaPiana, who will attempt to shut down the Ephs' passing attack, is not taking any lack of experience for granted.

"Williams has had some [first-years] come in and play really big for them," LaPiana said. "I think the whole freshman thing is overblown. If you're playing well, you're playing well, regardless of your experience."

Tufts and Williams will face off at Farley-Lamb Field on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.