Trinity tops Tufts 42-28; Wesleyan captures opener

After his team fell behind by a touchdown in the first quarter, Trinity’s William Kirby scored three rushing touchdowns to lead the Bantams to a 42-28 season-opening NESCAC win over Tufts on Saturday at Hartford.

Following Kirby’s scoring runs of 7, 1 and 13 yards, the Trinity passing game took over, with quarterback Spencer Fetter hooking up with Jonathan Girard for three consecutive passing touchdowns.

Trailing 42-7 heading into the fourth quarter, Tufts quarterback Matt Crowley pulled the Jumbos closer with three TD passes of his own: two to Billy Dunn and one to Philip Lutz.

Wesleyan 21, Colby 5: At Waterville, Maine, the Cardinals took advantage of a botched snap on a punt and an interception to score twice in 17 seconds in their season-opening NESCAC win.

With Colby ahead 3-0, Wesleyan took over at the White Mules’ 2 after the bad snap on a punt attempt. Two players later Charlie McPhee ran it in from a yard out with 4 minutes, 58 seconds left in the half.

On Colby’s next possession, Matt Hersch intercepted a Danny Banks pass to set up the Cardinals at the Mules 38. On the next play Ashton Scott hit Logan Tomlinson for the touchdown with 4:41 on the clock.

Scott completed 7 of 19 passes for 155 yards and David Estevez was 2-for-2 for 91 yards, including an 84-yard TD pass to Thomas Elkhoury.

Southeastern Louisiana 56, Central Connecticut State 10: At New Britain, Cole Kelley threw for 444 yards and four touchdowns to help Southeastern Louisiana beat the Blue Devils.

Kelley was 25-of-33 passing, and he also rushed for a touchdown. Kelley passed for 338 yards and two touchdowns in the first half to help SE Louisiana lead 28-3. Austin Mitchell topped 100 yards receiving by halftime.

Romelo Williams passed for 148 yards with one touchdown and one interception for Central Connecticut (1-2), which travels to Miami (Fla.) next week to face its second ACC opponent in program history.

Sacred Heart 21, Morgan State 7: At Fairfield, Marques McCray threw for one touchdown and rushed for another, and Sacred Heard won the nonconference game. Both teams scored on their opening possession before the Pioneers grabbed the lead with one second to play in the first half when McCray hit Rob DiNota for a 6-yard touchdown.

Sacred Heart (2-1) wrapped up the defensive struggle with a punishing 12-play, 89-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter, scoring on Malik Grant’s 3-yard run. Grant finished with 125 yards on 25 carries.

That drive looked similar to the Pioneers’ opening series, which covered 85 yards as 13 plays chewed up more than seven minutes. McCray’s 9-yard run tied the game at 7-7.