(Football summary courtesy of Paul Sweeney, Sports Information Director, Tufts University)

CONLEY'S THREE TD PASSES LEAD COLBY TO 28-14 WIN AT TUFTS

Sophomore QB Pat Conley (Bath, ME) threw three touchdown passes in the first 20 minutes of the game and the visiting Colby College White Mules went on to a 28-14 victory at Tufts University in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) football action on Saturday afternoon.

The victory helped Colby maintain a share of first place in the NESCAC with Amherst and Middlebury, who were also winners on Saturday. The White Mules won their third straight and improved to 6-1. Tufts lost its fourth in a row and fell to 2-5.

Conley and junior WR Danny Noyes (Silver Lake, NH) connected for Colby's first two scores in the first quarter. On the first possession of the game, Tufts extended the Mules drive with a roughing the passer penalty on fourth down. On the next play, Conley hit Noyes with a 15-yard scoring pass for a 7-0 lead. After a Tufts punt, Conley then dumped a short pass to Noyes and he exploded 66 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead at 7:19 of the first.

Another big pass play put the visitors lead to 21-0. On the first play after a Tufts punt, Conley connected with sophomore WR Lee Carlson (Braintree, MA) for a 53-yard TD. Less than 20 minutes into the game, Colby had already amassed close to 200 yards passing with three scores. Tufts was able to stop the Mules for the remainder of the half and the game went to the break at 21-0.

Tufts, playing the final home game in the careers of 17 seniors, came out strong in the second half. In their first possession they put together an 11-play, 63-yard scoring drive that culminated with a three-yard Todd Scalia (Fair Oaks, CA) to Steve Lapham (Newburyport, MA) TD pass at 10:53. Later in the quarter, the Jumbos drove down to the Colby 9-yard line and attempted a fake field goal. Sophomore holder Scott Treacy's (Wakefield, MA) pass was intercepted by Colby junior Patrick Fahey (Bannockburn, IL) and returned 55 yards to the Tufts 42.

Seven plays later, Colby junior Joe Murray (Winthrop, MA) scored on a Tufts-deflating, one-yard run with 2:10 left in the quarter. Instead of a possible 21-14 deficit, the Jumbos faced a 28-7 margin. Lapham had another touchdown reception, from nine yards out from Scalia, but with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter it was too little too late.

Conley finished 14 of 27 for 256 yards. Noyes caught seven of those balls for 160 yards. Fahey intercepted two passes for the White Mules, who had three picks overall. Colby sacked Scalia six times, including three by sophomore Kevin Smalley (Seminole, FL).

Scalia completed 20 of a career-high 42 passing attempts for 224 yards. Senior RB Brian Holmes (Newport, NH) caught nine passes for 81 yards. Sophomore CB Evan Zupancic (Lake Oswego, OR) intercepted his sixth pass of the season for the Jumbos.

TUFTS - COLBY

First Downs 15, 16

Rushes-yards 33-57, 35-111

Passing yards 224, 256

Return yards 5 ,131

Passes (c-a-int) 20-43-3 ,14-28-1

Punts-Avg. 7-39.9, 6-25.3

Fumbles-lost 3-0 ,1-1

Penalties-yards 5-35, 4-45

Possession 31:01, 28:59

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Rushing Att. Yds. Avg. LG TD

Joe Murray, Col 19 76 4.0 14 1

Brian Holmes, Tuf 19 52 2.7 10 0

Pat Conley, Col 4 10 2.5 15 0

Guito Joseph, Col 4 10 2.5 7 0

Passing Com. Att. Yds. TD Int

Pat Conley, Col 14 27 256 3 1

Todd Scalia, Tuf 20 42 224 2 2

Receiving No. Yds. TD

Brian Holmes, Tuf 9 81 0

Danny Noyes, Col 7 160 2

Matt Cerne, Tuf 4 38 0

Don Williams, Col 4 27 0

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