Trinity Football Prevails During Second Half Against Colby

Blythe Hastings ’23

Sports Editor

The Trinity College Football team gave Bantam fans a scare as they were trailing by the largest deficit of the season at halftime. The Bantams refocused after half time, coming back with aggression and rhythm to score 35 unanswered second half points to defeat Colby, remaining undefeated on the season. The 35-12 win on the road for the Bantams was the sixth win of the season, and the Bantams dominated in all aspects of the game. Saturday’s loss for Colby now makes their record 2-4 on the year in the NESCAC conference. The 6-0 Bantams travel to Williams College next Saturday to take on the unbeaten Ephs, in hopes of changing the three-way tie for first currently in the NESCAC conference.  

Colby’s second possession of the afternoon game resulted in a six-point lead as the touchdown put Colby ahead on the scoreboard. Keon Smart carried the football into the endzone on a 12-yard run after a consecutive 11 plays for a Mules forward drive. The Bantams struggles to make any sort of offensive drive during the first half, not having many positive plays, and having to punt the football three times, giving up possession. The offense also handed over a fumble to Colby.  

The Colby defense gave the ball back to its offense for the fourth straight Trinity possession, and Smart ended up extending his team’s lead by two touchdowns, this time rushing into the endzone for a two-yard touchdown run. After missing the first extra point of the game, Moises Celaya’s kick was blocked by junior Justin O’Neil Riley for a Trinity special teams gain. The Bantams left the field trailing by 12, leaving Colby fans hopeful for what would have been the first big upset of the year in NESCAC conference play. But to the Mules dismay, the Bantams regained their confidence within the short half time period and came out swinging.

Trinity started off the second half with quarterback and NESCAC player of the week Spencer Fetter ’23 leading his offense. Fetter capped off a nine-play drive on a one yard touchdown pass to senior tight end and endzone regular Jack Barrett ’22. On the first play from scrimmage following the touchdown, sophomore Luca de Lancellotti ’24 came up big for the Bantam defense as he forced and recovered a fumble that would give the Bantams an edge in their next drive forward. The Bantams capitalized on this defensive play and marched back down the field where William Kirby’s three-yard rushing score put the Bantams in the lead 14-12. Trinity took advantage of this new energy from the offense as Fetter connected with first year wide receiver Mathew Laughlin ’24 on a massive 40 year touchdown strike and again with Barrett as the play-action pass created an easy three-yard pitch and catch for the next touchdown, making the score 28-12 lead. With less than a minute to go, Fetter would create another touchdown opportunity with the pass of the day to senior Jonathan Girard ’22. 

At the end of the game, Fetter had completed 27 of 33 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns. Senior DeVante Reid ’22 led the Bantams with nine receptions and 113 receiving yards. Senior Noah Glantz ’22 led the defense with six total tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and one pass break up. Laughlin’s touchdown marked the first of his career while Barret came out of the game hot with two touchdowns.