Hamilton football falls to Trinity in home opener
Evan Bunker '14 and Ben Crick '14 ran for more than 100 yards apiece as Trinity College remained undefeated with a 53-14 win against Hamilton College in a NESCAC game at Hamilton's Steuben Field on Oct. 6.
Bunker finished with 162 yards and scored two touchdowns, and Crick ended up with 128 yards and two more scores. Trinity (3-0 overall, 3-0 NESCAC) ran for 384 yards as a team and racked up 527 yards of total offense.
Ryan Burgess '13 started at quarterback for the Bantams and was 6 of 10 for 109 yards and two touchdown passes. Michael Foye '16 relieved Burgess and was 5 of 10 for 34 yards and another TD toss. Chris Ragone '15 caught one touchdown pass and recorded a team-high 44 yards receiving.
Mike Mancini '14 returned an interception 33 yards and Julian Brown '13 returned another pick 18 yards for Trinity. Tom Haverty '14 recovered a fumble and Preston Kelly '16 sacked the quarterback for a 3-yard loss. Kelly finished with two tackles for a loss.
James Stanell '14 rushed for a career-high 159 yards on 31 carries for the Continentals (0-3, 0-3). Stanell also scored Hamilton's first touchdown. It was the most rushing yards in a game for the Continentals since Brandon Holtslag '08 went for 230 yards in a 51-48 overtime victory against Bowdoin College on Oct. 16, 2004.
Jeff Hopsicker '15 started behind center and was 4 of 10 for 23 yards with two interceptions. Jordan Eck '13, who started his first three seasons at Hamilton, was 10 of 22 for 74 yards with one touchdown pass in his first action this year. Garrett Hoy '13 led all receivers with a team-high 34 yards on three catches.
Dan Peters '13 was credited with a season-high 12 tackles and broke up one pass for the Continentals. Ian Milne '15 and Andrew Madigan '14 recovered one fumble apiece and Alex Mitko '16 blocked am extra-point attempt in the third quarter.
The Bantams led 41-0 at the half and 47-0 after three quarters. Ragone started the rout with 10:19 left in the first quarter when he caught a 33-yard pass from Burgess. After Hopsicker was intercepted by Brown on Hamilton's first possession, Bunker ran it in on the next play from the Continentals 32 with 8:48 remaining in the first. Tim Costello '13 added the extra-point for a 14-0 lead.
Trinity found the end zone four times in the second quarter. Andrew Grombala '13 caught a 17-yard pass from Burgess with 13:39 left and Michael Budness '15 punched it in from the 1 with 9:50 remaining. A bad snap led to a missed extra-point and a 27-0 advantage. Crick scored on an 11-yard run with 6:10 left and Bunker scampered into the end zone from 6 yards out with 2:34 remaining.
Crick's 3-yard touchdown run with 1:32 left in the third were the only points of the quarter. Stanell scored on a 3-yard run to put Hamilton on the scoreboard with 12:35 remaining in the fourth. Hoy added the extra-point.
Foye found Will Herbert '15 for an 8-yard touchdown and a 53-7 cushion with 6:58 left. The PAT sailed wide to the left. Dillon Mitchell '15 rounded out the scoring for the Continentals with a 6-yard TD catch from Eck with 2:23 remaining.
The Bantams had 26 first downs, went 9 of 15 on third-down conversions and 2-for-2 on fourth down. Trinity scored touchdowns on all six trips inside the red zone. The Bantams won their 18th straight game against Hamilton and lead the all-time series, 34-11-1.
The Continentals host Bowdoin in NESCAC action on Saturday, Oct. 13. Trinity will try to move to 4-0 next Saturday when the Bantams host winless Tufts University.
