The Amherst College football team traveled up to Waterville, Maine this past weekend to take on the Colby Mules. Behind a stellar defensive effort, the Mammoths rebounded from the previous weekend’s loss with a dominating 40-7 win.

The Mammoths started by establishing the vertical passing game and claimed a lead on their first drive of the game. Ollie Eberth ’20 connected with both Bo Berluti ’19 and Harry Boeschenstien ’20 for two long passes, setting up a 32-yard John Rak ’19 field goal to put Amherst on the board. Rak put another field goal through the uprights at the start of the second quarter to make Amherst’s lead 6-0. Later in the quarter, Reece Foy ’18 connected with James O’Regan ’20 for a touchdown. Scrambling to avoid Colby pressure, Foy bought himself time while his receivers worked to get open, eventually hitting O’Regan, who made a leaping catch, barely staying inbounds. With Rak’s conversion of the extra point, the score sat at 13-0 in favor of Amherst at halftime.

The Mammoths exploded for 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. The run was keyed by a few impressive special teams plays. At the 8:13 mark, Tristan Andrzejewski ’21 blocked a Colby punt, recovered it and ran it 11 yards for the touchdown. Five minutes later, after an Amherst defensive stop, Eberth connected with Craig Carmilani ’18 for a 28-yard score to cap off an 86-yard drive. Nate Tyrell ’19 scored the final touchdown of the quarter, returning a Colby punt 53 yards, breaking several tackles as he rumbled into the end zone. That play made the score 34-0 heading into the final quarter.

Colby avoided the shutout with a touchdown pass, but Joe Kelly ’21 responded, scoring the final points of the day for the Mammoths off an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

Eberth finished 12 for 20 with 141 yards, and Foy went 7 for 9, totaling 56 yards. The Mammoths held the Colby offense to just 135 total yards of total offense. Rak, in addition to his kicking display, registered seven tackles to lead the team.

The Mammoths head into week six of a nine-week season. This upcoming weekend, the purple and white will host the Wesleyan Cardinals on Homecoming weekend in a matchup of 4-1 teams. The game kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. on Pratt Field.