Nov 02, 2013
WATERVILLE, Maine --- The Colby College football team won for the third straight time and piled up 531 yards of total offense on the way to a 37-0 victory over Tufts University in New England Small College Athletic Conference football Saturday at Seaverns Field at Harold Alfond Stadium.
The Mules improve to 4-3 overall and will close out the season at Bowdoin College next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Mules can win the coveted Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) title with a victory. Bates took a 17-10 win against Bowdoin on Saturday, clinching at least a tie for the title for the Mules.
Colby had some huge offensive performances in the game. Sophomore quarterback Justin Ciero (Chappaqua, N.Y.) threw for 218 yards, three touchdowns, and ran for 138 yards on 11 carries (12.5 per rush). Luke Duncklee, who set a single-game receiving record with 13 catches against Hamilton two weeks ago, added 12 catches for 162 yards and two touchdowns. First-year running back Carl Lipani (North Reading, Mass.) ran for 104 yards on 11 carries (9.5 per rush) and scored his fifth touchdown in the past three weeks.
The Mules, who have a 95-18 scoring advantage over the opponent during the current three-game winning streak, posted their first shutout since blanking Bowdoin by 17-0 in the season finale last year.
Colby led 14-0 after the first quarter and added 20 more points in the next 15 minutes to go up 34-0 at halftime.
Ciero set up the first score of the day with a 49-yard run on the first play of Colby's second drive. Six plays later, Ciero connected with Glenn Parsons (Westwood, Mass.) on a 6-yard pass play for a 7-0 margin. Parsons, a sophomore tight end, scored his first collegiate touchdown.
The Mules added another big play on the second scoring drive. Lipani had a rush of 56 yards that he broke from the middle to the left sideline and was tackled at the Tufts 1-yard line. Colby fullback Max Eberhart (Rye Beach, N.H.) went up the middle on the next play for a 14-0 lead.
Lipani put the Mules up 20-0 (extra point was missed) with a 6-yard scoring run up the middle with 12:21 left in the second quarter. Duncklee caught a 21-yard pass and Ciero had a 22-yard run on the 10-play, 71-yard drive.
The Mules made it 27-0 when Duncklee lined up on the right side and caught a quick slant for a 2-yard scoring pass from Ciero with 2:29 to play to intermission. Colby went 80 yards on its drive, with Ciero rushing for 16 yards on one play and connected on pass plays to Duncklee (24 yards) and Parsons (13).
With time winding down in the first half, it appeared the Mules would take a 27-0 lead into halftime. However, Colby's Kyle Andrews (New Bedford, Mass.) intercepted a ball at the Mule 15-yard line and returned it 15 yards to the 30 with 1:02 to play.
On the next play, Ciero connected with Duncklee on a 70-yard scoring pass down the right side for a 34-0 margin.
The scoring in the second half consisted of a 35-yard field goal by Colby's Louw Scheepers (San Diego, Calif.), the NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week for last week. Nick Joseph (Mattapan, Mass.) caught a 22-yard pass on the Mules' 38-yard drive.
Parsons added four catches for 31 yards and a touchdown for the Mules. Ciero has now thrown for 1,227 yards and run for a team-best 486 yards.
Jon Sobo (Tenafly,N.J.) had 42 yards rushing, Mike Rando (Walpole, Mass,) caught five passes for 35 yards, and Alex Snyder (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added 105 yards passing for Tufts, which dropped to 0-7 this season and has lost 30 straight games. The Jumbos close out their season next Saturday at home against Middlebury College at 12:30 p.m.
Colby middle linebacker Henry Nelson (Redding, Conn.) had six tackles, while CT Harris (Canaan, N.H.) had 1.5 sacks among his five tackles and had three quarterback hurries. Andrews and Nathan Scyocurka (Longmeadow, Mass.) had interceptions for the Mules.
Matt McCormack (River Forest, Ill.) finished with a game-high eight tackles for the Jumbos. Tommy Meade (Wakefield, Mass.) and Mike Stearns (Framingham, Mass.) had seven tackles apiece. Vince Falk (Chicago, Ill.) had one interception and Quinn Metoyer (Miami, Fla.) added two sacks.
Colby 37, Tufts 0
Tufts............... 0 0 0 0 - 0
Colby............... 14 20 3 0 - 37
Scoring Summary:
1st 06:59 Colby - Glenn Parsons 6 yd pass from Justin Ciero (Louw Scheepers kick), 7-65 3:07
03:40 Colby - Max Eberhart 1 yd run (Louw Scheepers kick), 4-72 1:41,
2nd 12:21 Colby - Carl Lipani 6 yd run (Louw Scheepers kick failed), 10-71 3:36
02:29 Colby - Luke Duncklee 2 yd pass from Justin Ciero (Louw Scheepers kick), 11-80 6:59
00:51 Colby - Luke Duncklee 70 yd pass from Justin Ciero (Louw Scheepers kick), 1-70 0:11
3rd 03:46 Colby - Louw Scheepers 35 yd field goal, 7-38 3:10
TUF COL
FIRST DOWNS................... 15 24
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 28-55 38-289
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 189 242
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 42-21-2 33-24-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....70-244 71-531
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-7 2-10
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 3-36 0-0
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-1 2-16
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 6-35.2 3-34.3
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards............... 5-23 7-101
Possession Time............... 26:07 33:53
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 16 4 of 9
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 4 1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-2 5-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 3-9 2-10
RUSHING: Tufts-Jon Sobo 13-42; Zack Trause 9-16; Liam O'Neil 3-3; Alex Snyder 2-minus 2; Drew Burnett 1-minus 4. Colby-Justin Ciero 11-138; Carl Lipani 11-104; Thomas Brewster 5-22; Rio Schmidt 2-16; Max Eberhart 4-14; Nick Joseph 1-9; Greg Ladd 1-minus 3; Gabe Harrington 3-minus 11.
PASSING: Tufts-Alex Snyder 11-23-1-105; Drew Burnett 6-10-1-48; Liam O'Neil
4-8-0-36; Zack Trause 0-1-0-0. Colby-Justin Ciero 20-27-0-218; Gabe Harrington
4-6-1-24.
RECEIVING: Tufts-Mike Rando 5-35; Zack Trause 3-28; Ben Berey 3-19; Xavier Frey 2-28; Greg Lanzillo 2-19; Jack Cooleen 2-18; Jon Sobo 2-8; Harrison Kidd 1-25; Matt Cahill 1-9. Colby-Luke Duncklee 12-162; Glenn Parsons 4-31; Nick Greenberg 3-17; Carl Lipani 3-4; Nick Joseph 2-28.
INTERCEPTIONS: Tufts-Vince Falk 1-1. Colby-Kyle Andrews 1-15; Nathan Scyocurka 1-1.
FUMBLES: Tufts-Alex Snyder 1-0. Colby-Gabe Harrington 1-1.