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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Football prepares for Homecoming showdown against Bates

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Senior running back Dom Borelli follows a blocker en route to a touchdown in the second quarter of Tufts' 16–13 win over Wesleyan on Sept. 22.

Anticipation on campus is high this week, as the undefeated Jumbos (2–0) prepare to take on the winless Bates Bobcats (0–2) in their annual Homecoming game, set to kick off Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Ellis Oval. The game will be Tufts' second in a row at home, as the team defeated Wesleyan, 16–13, thanks to a spectacular defensive performance on Sept. 22.

Tufts enters the contest with Bates as one of the NESCAC's four remaining undefeated teams, along with Amherst, Williams and defending conference champion Trinity.Meanwhile, Bates seeks its first win of the season, having dropped back-to-back games against Amherst (19–7) and Trinity (59–16).

For the second year in a row, the Jumbos face the Bobcats in the third week of the season. Tufts secured a comfortable 37–17 victory in Lewiston, Maine on Sept. 30, 2017. Similar to its 2018 home-opener against Wesleyan, Tufts put up a dominant offensive display in the second quarter against Bates last season. Senior quarterback and co-captain Ryan McDonald threw for 113 yards and two touchdowns, both to senior wide receiver Jack Dolan, in the second quarter.

Overall, McDonald had a strong performance against the Bobcats, throwing for 245 yards and four touchdowns while adding 81 yards on the ground. Despite his performance last year, McDonald has just one expectation for Saturday's matchup: winning.

"We don’t really focus on the stats as long as we get the 1–0 after every weekend," he said.

Tufts put points on the board from both sides of the ball in last season's matchup with Bates. With just over eight minutes remaining in the second quarter, junior linebacker Tylor Scales picked off Bates sophomore Brendan Costa for his first career interception. Scales returned the ball 33 yards for a pick-six to stretch the Jumbos' lead to 27–3.

On the following drive, Costa evaded Tufts' entire defense for a 70-yard touchdown, marking the longest rushing play of the game. The defenses locked down thereafter, with both teams managing just a touchdown in the second half.

The parallels between Tufts' win over Bates last year and its defeat of Wesleyan a week ago do not end with the team's second-quarter outburst in both games. Just as it did against the Bobcats, the Jumbos' defense stepped up in the second half to secure the win against the Cardinals. Junior linebacker Greg Holt, who recorded eight total tackles in last year’s victory against Bates, dominated in Week 2, recording 12 tackles under the lights at Ellis Oval.

Meanwhile, Bates comes into Saturday’s game with an 0–2 record, having already played two of the NESCAC's top teams.The Bobcats kicked off their season by hosting the Amherst Mammoths, as the visitors emerged with a 19–7 victory. Costa scored Bates' only touchdown on a 26-yard run with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Bobcats then faced the defending conference champion Trinity Bantams, who won soundly 59–16.

Tufts coach Jay Civetti emphasized the importance of containing an aggressive Bates team that is hungry for a win this weekend.

“The one thing about Bates that I’m always impressed with is that they’ve done a really good job of recruiting just tough, blue-collar, hard-nose kids," Civetti said. "I’ve said this to the team, and I believe this: As ... frustrated as those guys are with what the score was last week, they’re not a group that’s going to back down from that. If anything, it probably fuels them to play harder."

Civetti also stressed the challenge the Jumbos will face from the Bobcats' defense.

Bates runs a 3–4 defense, which is something we haven’t seen this season," Civetti said. “They also have some really aggressive kids [who] can create some problems for us — in particular within the run game — as well as two really strong safeties, who I think secure the middle of the field really well. We need to do a better job as individuals, including me, putting guys in positions to be successful.”

Although Civetti and McDonald emphasized the team's need to maintain its focus on Saturday, they also admitted excitement for playing in front of a Homecoming crowd that will include several alumni of the football program.

“It’s special, you know,” Civetti said. “We’re pretty lucky when you think of, for me personally, the eight years of guys that have played for me, and then another two years. It’s my 10th year here at Tufts, and there [are] a lot of guys that I’ve had the honor to coach and compete with.”

McDonald echoed Civetti's thoughts.

“From a player's standpoint, you get to see guys who you played with your [first] year — they come back to watch,” he said. "It’s also just an additional 60 guys that are all wearing name tags. You don’t [know] who they are, and it’s just like this game, this team, this family is so much more important to a lot of people than you think when you’re just playing on the field.”