With a dominant defense that caused three Hamilton turnovers and the accurate passing of quarterback Peter Honig '01, the Jeffs put the game out of reach early.
After forcing Hamilton into a three and out possession on their first drive, the Jeffs received the ball at their own 45-yard line and went immediately to Derrell Wright '02. Wright, one of the best receivers in the NESCAC, caught the first pass of the season for 13 yards and followed it up with a 14-yarder.
After stalling, the Jeffs faced a fourth and six at the Hamilton 26. With a courage that Amherst fans have come to expect, Head Coach E.J. Mills decided to go for the first down. Again Honig dropped back and this time found his sophomore fullback Jeff Ryan over the middle for a 15-yard gain. Sensing the advantage of the Jeff receivers over the Hamilton cornerbacks, Honig finished the drive with an 11-yard pass to Wright in the corner of the endzone. The catch was the first of Wright's three touchdowns on the day. For the game, he finished with nine catches for 151 yards.
After the extra point, the Jeffs held a 7-0 advantage. It was all they would need as the Jeff defense shut down all aspects of the Hamilton offense. The Continentals gained only 120 total yards and suffered two interceptions and a lost fumble.
The first interception came on Hamilton's second possesion when linebacker Brian Landolfi '02 caught a tipped ball and returned it to the Hamilton 23. This set up a career long field goal by Liam Flemming '01 of 32 yards.
After the teams traded punts, the Jeff defense came through again when lineman Pat McGee '02 recovered a fumble that was caused by a vicious hit on the Hamilton receiver from cornerback Steve Yung '02. Given the ball on the Hamilton 25, the Jeffs returned to the air attack. Wright, faced with only single coverage, ran his man to the endzone and then outjumped the defender to pull in Honig's lofted pass.
"They were running a 4-4 defense and it's tough to run the ball against that defense, so we had to throw to win," Mills said, explaining the number of passes the Jeffs threw. "Plus number 81 (Wright) is a great player, so we have to use him," he added.
While both teams were shut out in the second quarter, the Jeffs returned to their strength in the third. After completing a 33-yard pass to Brian Hart '03, Honig and the Jeffs faced a third and 13 at the Hamilton 29. The Continentals had seen enough of Honig and his receivers to know what was coming next, but even triple coverage was not able to prevent Wright from hauling in the touchdown pass. On the day Honig was 16 of 29 for 240 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
"We have to make the big plays to win and we did that today," said Mills. "Very few times in this league do you go 80 yards without making a big play. We asked [Honig] to make the big plays and he did that," Mills said.
In the past two seasons Honig had often been quick to scramble when sensing a breakdown in protection, but against Hamilton he stood in and trusted his arm more often than he tucked it away. Mills said this was a direct result of the coaches' instructions.
"We like him to get rid of the ball quickly and we've been working with him to throw the ball on time," he said. "But we also have to protect him better-he took too many shots out there."
The Jeffs capped the scoring on an interception return by safety David Frankel '01, who took the ball 35 yards for his first career touchdown.
The defense overall had a strong day, registering four sacks and 10 tackles for losses. The defense, however, will get a better test next week when Bowdoin College invades Pratt Field.
Bowdoin, which lost 28-14 to Middlebury College, is led by the former offensive coordinator at Williams College, Dave Caputie, who is in his first year at Bowdoin. The Polar Bears, who return a number of starters from last year, will be looking for revenge after losing a 10-7 game to the Jeffs last year.
"Last year was a dog fight, and I'm anticipating a much more competitive game this Saturday," Mills said.
Perhaps Williams missed Caputie because the Ephs were 27-24 losers to Colby College this past Saturday.
"That was a little surprising," said Mills. "But it just goes to show that there is a lot of parity in this league."