Trinity Football Pulls Away From Bowdoin
Brunswick, Maine - The Trinity College Bantam football team took advantage of five Bowdoin College Polar Bear turnovers and scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away for a 27-10 win this afternoon at Whittier Field. Junior RB Evan Bunker (Topsfield, Mass.) rushed for 136 yards and two scores in the victory for the Bantams who improve to 5-0 with their sixth victory in a row. The loss spoiled a 143-yard, one-touchdown effort by Zach Donnarumma for the Polar Bears who drop to 1-4. The Bantams will host Middlebury in a battle of unbeaten teams next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Bowdoin will travel to Wesleyan for a 1 p.m. kick-off.
Donnarumma got the Polar Bears on the board in the opening quarter, capping a 12-play, 69-yard drive with a 21-yard scamper up the middle, breaking two tackles and diving over the goal line for a 7-0 Bowdoin lead at 9:06. Trinity answered on its next possession, marking 67 yards on 11 plays to find paydirt on a 15-yard pass on a rollout by senior quarterback Ryan Burgess (Dracut, Mass.) to classmate Drew Grombala (Cincinnati, Ohio) at 4:41.
Bowdoin was able to regain the lead midway through the second quarter when Jimmy Garvey nailed a 27-yard field goal at 8:27, but Trinity replied with a quick strike from Burgess, who found junior WR A.J. Jones (Freetown, Sierra Leone) for a 68-yard strike to give the visitors a 13-10 lead heading into intermission.
The Polar Bears looked to wrest the lead back in the third quarter as they advanced to the Trinity 20 with a 10-play, 67-yard drive. But a fumble by Donnarumma at the Bantam 15 ended Bowdoin's hopes of taking the lead. Taking over deep in their own territory, Trinity mounted a monstrous 17-play, 85-yard drive that covered 8:08 and ended with a one-yard plunge by Bunker to give the Bantams a 20-10 lead. Bunker added a second score on a seven-yard run with 2:35 remaining to put the game on ice.
Bowdoin had its share of opportunities, but committed a pair of key turnovers in Trinity territory and missed a field goal in the setback. Burgess finished 13-22 for 225 yards and two scores. Grombala finished as Trinity's leading receiver with four catches for 70 yards. Julian Brown had seven tackles, including two for a loss, a fumble recovery and an interception in the win. Bowdoin was led by 14 tackles from Griffin Cardew, who also had an interception. Joey Cleary pitched in 11 tackles and a sack. Offensively, Donnarumma averaged 5.7 per rush and carried the ball 25 times for a season-best 143 yards. Thomas Romero went 16-37 for 141 yards with David Black catching seven passes for 42 yards. Trinity held a 424-289 edge in total yardage and held the ball for 36:45 to Bowdoin's 23:15. The Bantams gained 24 first downs to Bowdoin's 19.
