Flaherty	McAllister
Katon	Beaton
Walker	Wirth
Gregg	Peeke

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Junior running backs Oliver Starnes and Robert Jackson rushed for a combined 181 yards and the defense had a strong showing, as the Trinity College Bantams defeated the Bates College Bobcats 17-7 on Jessee-Miller Field in both teams' season opener this afternoon.

Starnes gained 101 yards on 19 touches, while Jackson collected 80 yards on the ground to go along a touchdown. The Bantam defense frustrated the Bobcats rushing attack, allowing just 35 total yards on the ground.

The Bantams struck early with a first-quarter field goal by senior kicker Adam Cox.  On Trinity's second drive of the game, the Bantams added seven more, highlighted by a 32-yard pass from senior quarterback Eric McGrath to Michael Galligan.  With under a minute left in the first half, Bates threatened to close the gap after junior safety Kyle McAllister (Exeter, N.H.) recovered a fumble, setting his offense up on the Trinity 35-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Larsen (Hull, Mass.) took a shot at the end zone, but Bantam senior cornerback Harryl Smith made a leaping interception on the 4-yard line, denying Bates from adding points to the scoreboard.

The score remained at 10-0 in Trinity's favor until the fourth quarter, when the Bantams added seven more after McGrath found an open sophomore tight end Chris Hunt (Ashford, Mass.), who sprinted down the sideline and into the end zone for a 36-yard score, putting the Bantams up 17-0 with 6:50 remaining in the game.

On the ensuing Bates drive, Bobcats first-year quarterback Ryan Katon (Durham, Conn.), who entered the game in the second quarter, marched his team 70 yards down the field, and capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone to senior wide receiver Mark Flaherty (East Walpole, Mass.), cutting the Trinity lead to 17-7 with just over three minutes remaining in the game.  On the following play, the Bobcats unsuccessfully attempted an onside kick, which allowed Trinity to kill most of the remaining clock, leaving too little time for Bates to mount a comeback.

McGrath finished the game with 167 yards passing and a touchdown for Trinity, while Katon threw for 101 yards and a touchdown for Bates. Junior Tom Beaton (West Newbury, Mass.), alternating between wide receiver and taking quarterback snaps, completed 5 of 6 passes and led the team with 21 yards of rushing on 3 carries; he also caught two passes for 13 yards. Galligan had a team-high 56 yards receiving, and senior wide receiver Connor Wells (Haddam, Conn.) had five catches for 55 yards to lead the Bantams receiving corps. Flaherty led the Bobcats with 56 yards receiving, junior wide receiver Matt Gregg (Milton, Mass.) had seven catches for 52 yards and junior tight end Sean Wirth (Barrington, R.I.) had 8 grabs for 40 yards. Flaherty had career highs with 4 receptions for 46 yards, including his first career touchdown.

In addition to his team-high 13 tackles and the fumble recovery, McAllister picked off a pass and returned it 25 yards to set up the offense at midfield. Sophomore linebacker Myles Walker (Needham, Mass.) made 12 tackles in his first collegiate start. Senior captain Coleman Peeke (Exeter, N.H.) made 7 tackles and senior Chris Hertz (East Burke, Vt.) made a career-high 6 tackles.

Bates travels to Tufts (1-0) next Saturday at 1 p.m.

STATS: Trinity 17, Bates 7