Trinity Game Notes

68th Meeting
Williams College Ephs (1-0)
vs.
Trinity College Bantams (1-0)
1:30 PM
Jessee/Miller Field
Hartford, CT


SERIES: Began in 1884. Williams holds the edge 35-30-2, making it the closest series the Ephs have against a NESCAC team. Williams suffered a tough loss to the Bantams in the second game of the 2008 season, 20-17, despite having a three-point lead at the half. The Ephs bounced back with wins in five of their last six games to finish the year 6-2.

The Ephs last win against Trinity came during the undefeated 2006 campaign when they snapped Trinity’s nation-leading 31-game win streak, 31-10.

The teams have split their last ten meetings, although the Bantams claim current bragging rights having won five of the last six games, including an exhilarating triple-overtime victory 46-40 in Hartford in 2007.

The Ephs have not beaten Trinity at Jessee/Miller Field since 2001 (31-10), which also happens to be the Bantams last loss at home.

The Williams/Trinity rivalry has been one of the most tightly contended series in Div. III athletics, particularly since the late 1980s. After losing 8 of 9 games to the Bantams from 1980-88, the Ephs rallied in back-to-back comeback wins in the ‘89 and ’90 meetings (scores of 29-21, 24-21 respectively) during a remarkable streak of 23 straight wins. Trinity aptly ended this streak in 1991 with stunning a 30-27 victory at Weston Field on the game’s final play. Bantam head coach Jeff Devanney played defense for Trinity in that see-saw affair, which included four lead changes in the last three minutes of play.

After a 21-7 loss to Trinity in 1993, the Ephs would outscore the Bantams 72-39 combine in the ’94 and ’95 matchups. Williams reeled off another 23-game unbeaten streak (22 wins, 1 tie) in that span, which naturally was snapped by Trinity in 1996 at Weston Field 14-13 nail-bitter.

Williams defeated Trinity in 2002 by a count of 30-13 and was the last team to do so until 2006, when the Bantams had their incredible 31-game run ended at Weston Field in a 41-16 loss.

The Ephs will have yet another chance to spoil an impressive stretch of Bantam victories, as Trinity has yet to lose at Jessee/Miller Field since it was resurfaced with turf in the summer of 2002. They boast a 31-0 record at “The Coop”.

COACHES: Mike Whalen (33-8) is in his sixth year as Eph head coach this season. During his stint, Williams has never finished worse than 6-2. Whalen was the head coach of the Williams wrestling program from 1996 to 2003, during which time he also served as the Ephs offensive line coach. He held the title of offensive coordinator in his last three years as an assistant coach.

Whalen led the 2006 Ephs to the sixth perfect season in Williams history, extending the Eph win streak at the time to 14 and earning NESCAC Coach of the Year honors. He was also the only New England coach to finish in the top 25 in Liberty Mutual's Coach of the Year program among coaches in all divisions.

Whalen graduated from Little Three rival Wesleyan in 1983, where he was captain of both the football and wrestling squads. He earned All-New England and All-American honors three times in his athletic career, and has coached football at Springfield, Penn, Lafayette, and Colgate.

Whalen has led Williams to four consecutive Little Three titles. He is 1-4 as a head coach against Trinity.

Bantam head coach Jeff Devanny (22-3) is in his fourth year. Devanney, a 1993 Trinity graduate, was a star player for the Bantams, earning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1992. He has served as defensive line coach (2001), special teams coordinator (2001-04), secondary coach (2002-05), and defensive coordinator (2005) in his time on the staff. During this span, Trinity has ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense four times and has posted 17 shutouts. Devanney is 2-1 in his head coaching career against the Ephs.

RADIO - INTERNET: The Williams College student station, WCFM (91.9 FM) will air each game live locally and on the Internet. To hear the game on the Internet on WCFM go to wcf.williams.edu and click on the Listen Live link.

TEAMLINE: TEAMLINE is a pay-to-listen service for this contest. You can access TEAMLINE on the Internet by clicking here.

Telephone: Dial TEAMLINE at 1-800-846-4700 and follow the prompts. The Eph access code is 0126.

Click here for LIVE STATS FROM TRINITY

Click here for TRINITY WEBCAST

STREAKS: Williams enters riding a four-game winning streak, after coming from behind to defeat Colby last week 23-19 in the inaugural game on Colby's brand-new turf field. Sophomore quarterback Matt Coyne scored the game-winning touchdown with one minute left and the Ephs held the Mules to 195 yards of total offense, good for the top spot in the NESCAC.

Trinity has a current string of 11 victories over three seasons dating back to a 23-14 loss to Middlebury on October 27th, 2007. The Bantams defeated Bates 35-14 in their season opener last week and rushed for a NESCAC-leading 190 yards, despite losing five fumbles.

AWARDS: Trinity senior punter Grant Kunkel earned NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors, averaging 44.4 yards per attempt and drilling a long of 51 yards. Sophomore teammate Walter Fallas recorded a career-high 18 tackles (7 solo) to garner NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, as the Bantams held Bates to 30 yards on the ground.

BY THE NUMBERS…

2001… Ephs last road win vs. Trinity (31-10)

189/208… Pass offense Ephs/Bantams

128/210… Pass defense Ephs/Bantams

88/190… Rush offense Ephs/Bantams

67/30… Rush defense Ephs/Bantams

124/107… All purpose yards Ephs’ Bryce Bennett/Bants’ Winston Tuggle

10/18… Total tackles Ephs’ Dyaln Schultz/Bants’ Walter Fallas

100/93… Receiving yards Ephs’ Nick Caro (10)/Bants’ Michael Galligan (7)

31… Consecutive home victories for the Bantams

7… Eph wins vs. Trinity in last 12 meetings

5… Bantam victories vs. Williams in last 6 meetings


STARTING LINEUPS


Williams College Ephs


Offense

TE -- Jon Carroll -- #86
T -- Steve Denza -- #58
G -- Simon Kloeckner -- #65
C -- Tim Bishop -- #54
G -- Kevin Rose -- #73
T -- Mike McGuire -- #54
RB -- Ryan Lupo -- #23
QB -- Patrick Moffitt -- #5
WR -- Nick Caro -- #22
WR -- Tommy Tysse -- #1
WR -- Todd Schnuck -- #81

Defense

DE -- E. J. Toppin -- #29
DT -- Colin Curzi -- #97
DT -- Nichola Mirkovic -- #56
DE -- Tim Kiley -- #30
LB -- Chris Cameron -- #42
LB -- Dylan Schultz -- #55
LB -- Eric Anderson -- #43
DB -- Ikenna Iheoma -- #25
DB -- Dan O'Mara -- #21
DB -- Will Cronin -- #9
DB -- Matt Zanedis -- #27

K -- Scott Sobolewski -- #94
P -- Will Cronin -- #9


Trinity College Bantams

Offense

TE -- Christopher Hunt -- #87
T -- Mac McGinty --#67
G -- Clay St. Denis -- #62
C -- Matthew Santora -- #79
G -- Andrew Weiss -- #54
T -- Michael Goulet -- #72
RB -- Oliver Starnes -- #33
QB -- Craig Drusbosky -- #8
WR -- Drew Grombala -- #80
WR -- Winston Tuggle -- #6
WR -- Michael Galligan -- #4

Defense

DE -- Chuks Ekwelum -- #55
NT -- Chris Doval -- #95
DE -- Gary Williams -- #94
OLB -- Emon Hanifan -- #56
ILB  -- Walter Fallas -- #42
OLB -- Kyle Williams -- #57
CB -- Harry Melendez -- #1
SS -- John Marinelli -- #11
FS -- Ben Sherry -- #13
CB -- Mike O'Connor -- #29

K -- Tim Costello -- #3
P -- Grant Kunkel -- #10