Last Saturday, the Continentals were defeated by Tufts 38-28 in a thrilling game much closer than the score would suggest. Tufts jumped out to an early lead, with QB Hudson Weidman ’28 completing a pair of touchdown passes to end the first quarter 0-14. Hamilton fired back in the second quarter as QB Luke Kurzum ’27 leapt into the end zone to score the Continental’s first points of the game. On their next drive, WR Alistar Orr ’28 caught a pass and rumbled into the end zone to draw even. A Tufts field goal in the final seconds of the quarter sent the Continentals back to the locker room with Tufts leading 17-14 at the half.
Tufts extended their lead early in the third quarter after a grinding drive downfield was capped off with a short TD run by Christian Shapiro ’27. The Continentals’ offense stalled as their next two drives ended with quick three-and-outs, opening the door for Tufts to knock in their fourth touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter. Hamilton quickly shot back with a touchdown of their own to narrow the gap to 10 points a third of the way through the quarter. Tufts failed to move the chains on their next drive and quickly punted the ball away, giving the Continentals possession of the ball with eight and a half minutes remaining in the game. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to get a drive going, and all seemed lost when Kurzum suffered back-to-back sacks at a critical moment. Tufts’ penultimate drive stalled, but ate through two precious minutes and Hamilton’s final timeout.
However, the game wouldn’t be finished comfortably for the Jumbos after a special-teams disaster. As Tufts lined up to punt, the long snapper torched the ball over the punter’s head, forcing him to chase it down in the team’s own red zone for a loss of 29 yards. On the very first play of the Continentals’ possession, rookie wide receiver Mitchell Ivatts ’29 rang up an electrifying leaping catch to haul in Hamilton’s fourth TD of the game, and the first of his college career. The play cut the Continental’s deficit to just three points, but it wouldn’t last. Shortly after the ensuing kickoff, Tufts RB Shapiro ’27 broke away for a 46 yard rushing TD, sealing the Continental’s fate.
QB Luke Kurzum ’27 came roaring back to life, notching almost 300 yards in 35 passing attempts to post an excellent passer rating of 113.36—almost triple that of his dreary performance against Trinity last week. Kurzum ’28 accounted for 24 of Hamilton’s points, passing for three TDs and finding the end zone with his legs to pile on a fourth. He accomplished this without throwing a single interception in a game that felt like a return to the form that powered the continental offense in the first three weeks of the season. Kicker Carmelo Velardo ’27 held up his end of the bargain too, as all four extra points sailed between the uprights. If the Continentals can sustain this output for the rest of season, the team will have a good shot at picking up a couple more wins, especially as they’ve got some easier opponents lined up in the coming weeks—Colby is the only team with a winning record they’ll have to face for the remainder of the season.
Although the Continentals were bested in the end, the team showed some impressive resilience after the half, a factor that was decisively absent during their pair of blowout losses to Wesleyan and Trinity in the past two weeks. Although the sparks didn’t quite catch this game, it was a great effort, especially from the offensive side of the ball. It’ll be crucial to keep that momentum going as the team searches for its second win of the season.
