Rain tore across the Northeast on Saturday, leaving many of the Amherst teams soaked after their matchups against Hamilton. The football team faced a similarly dreary forecast up in Middlebury, Vt. against the Panthers. Slugging it out in the wet mud of Youngman Field, the Jeffs and the Panthers both struggled to find the end zone through the four quarters of play. Thanks to the Jeffs’ running game, however, Amherst was able to emerge victorious 7-0, bringing their record to 3-0 on the season. Once again, the Jeffs’ defense came up big, keeping Middlebury off of the scoreboard altogether and handing the Panthers their first shutout in 69 years.
“We worked hard all week on defending Middlebury’s running and quick passing game. As a defense, we wanted to make them beat us with big plays down the field,” said junior linebacker Tom Kleyn. “We knew we couldn’t let them play up tempo and get in a rhythm, so we practiced stopping their bread-and-butter run plays and quick passing routes.”
Midd. senior quarterback Matt Milano completed nine of his 31 attempts for 67 yards, and the offense compiled a total of only 129 yards on the day. The Amherst defense also came up with four sacks leading to a loss of 13 yards. Defensive lineman Paul Johnson ’17 credited the entire team for keeping Middlebury scoreless, citing field position as a major factor in the Jeffs’ victory.
“We played great team defense, but the key was in the effort of the entire team,” Johnson said. “Our offense had the ability to drive the ball and keep Middlebury backed into their own territory for most of the game, which ultimately led to the shut out."
The Amherst offense, while only finding the end zone once, ran for 252 yards and added 152 yards through the air. Running back Nick Kelly ’17 led the team with a career-high 141 yards on 22 carries. Keeping the running game going despite the heavy rain helped Amherst keep the talented Middlebury offense off the field.
“Our ability to run the ball well gave us a lot of third-and-short situations, where we were able to keep the defense guessing and pick up first downs,” Jim Daniels ’16 said.
The Jeffs’ handled third down conversions well compared to the Panthers, converting six of 19, while the Panthers only moved the chains on 2 out of 17 third down plays.
After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, the Jeffs’ defense started out on the field against the Midd. offense. Johnson came up big on third down, sacking Matt Milano for a loss of two yards and forcing Midd to punt the ball away.
Amherst, led by quarterback Alex Berluti ’17, found success moving the ball on their first drive. Combining runs by Kelly and short passes to wide receiver Gene Garay ’15, the Jeffs reached the Midd. 14-yard line. Unable to convert the first down or find the end zone, the Jeffs settled for a field goal attempt. Philip Nwosu ’15 was unable to convert the field goal, however, leaving the Jeffs’ empty handed on their first drive.
The first half remained a battle of defense and field positioning, as the Midd. offense consistently started deep in their own territory and were unable to get past the Amherst defense. Jackson McGonagle ’16 punted for a shocking 10 times during the entire game, totaling 332 yards. Five of these punts occurred during the first half, placing the Midd. offense within its own 20 three of those times.
With a 0-0 score at the beginning of the second half, the Jeffs were eager to get on the board. Kelly started the half off strong, returning the opening kickoff for 28 yards to the Amherst 41-yard line. Two plays later, Kelly received the ball in the backfield from first-year Reece Foy ’18 and blew through the Midd. defense all the way to the end zone. The 59-yard run was the longest on the day and finally broke the stalemate from the first half. Nwosu completed the point-after attempt giving the Jeffs’ a 7-0 lead.
“Obviously one of the most important plays of the day was Nick Kelly’s long touchdown run that gave us the points to win, but I think that play was a culmination of the offense’s ability to hold on to the ball and run it effectively,” Kleyn said.
Exchanging punts back and forth for the rest of the third and most of the fourth quarter, neither the Jeffs nor the Panthers really got close to scoring. Once again, McGonagle’s punting factored into keeping the Panthers out of scoring position as he pinned the offense inside the Midd. 20-yard line four times. As time began to wind down, keeping possession of the ball emerged as the main goal for the Jeffs. With eight minutes left in the game, McGonagle came up big, punting the ball for 58 yards placing Midd. on their own five-yard line.
“The most important play of the game was Jackson’s punt late in the game,” Johnson said. “Jackson has been great all year for us, and especially in this game he was able to pin Middlebury deep in their own territory and win the battle of field position.”
The Jeffs’ defense stopped the Panthers offense in its tracks, allowing the Amherst offense to take over at the Midd. 35-yard line. Middlebury would end up stopping the Jeffs on the 26-yard line but were unable to move into scoring position. With three minutes remaining, the Jeffs offense got the ball back and hoped to run out the clock on the Panthers. Facing third and long on the Midd. 33-yard line, the Jeffs handed the ball to Raheem Jackson ’17 to burn out some of the clock. Rushing for nine yards and the first down, Daniels considered this play to be one the most important in the game.
“It forced Middlebury to use their last timeout, and we were able to run out the clock without giving their offense another chance to score,” Daniels said.
The low-scoring victory bumped the Jeffs to 3-0 for the season and gave them a place at the top of the NESCAC moving into Week 4. With only eight games in the season, their matchup next weekend against the Colby will represent the halfway point of their 2014 season. The second half of the season for the Jeffs includes difficult road games at both Wesleyan and Trinity, who also are 3-0 in the season thus far.
“Defensively, I’d like to see us work on turning the ball over to give our offense the best possible field position,” Kleyn said. “We played a great game against Middlebury, but we did not have any interceptions or forced fumbles. Offensively, I think we need to finish more drives in touchdowns.”
This week, however, the Jeffs are focused on beating Colby and moving to 4-0.
“The defense will go back to our normal process that we use for every other game. We will watch film, make adjustments and listen to our coaches,“ Johnson said.
On the offensive side of the ball, Daniels said, “Colby has a very talented and physical defense. We will focus on having a balanced attack in order to keep them on their heels.”
Colby has been winless so far this season most recently falling to Wesleyan 23-7. The Jeffs’ barely beat the Mules last season, winning 14-10. The Jeffs will look to get their offense back on track against the Mules at 1 p.m. on Amherst’s Pratt Field.
