This very success is what made the loss to Trinity disappointing. But this achievement contextualizes the loss: the game is the exception rather than the rule. It is the second mistake in an otherwise hard-fought and well-played season. Amherst will enter its final game against Williams College with a 5-2 record, and will still have a chance to capture the Little Three Championship.
In the first half, Trinity came out quickly and put seven points on the board after only 90 seconds of game time. But rather than let this early score set the tone for the game, the Jeffs rebounded and played two quarters of strong defense, not allowing the Bantams to score again.
Despite the final score, the defense played a relatively solid game. Individual standouts included linebacker Preston Puryear '09, who led the team with 18 tackles, lineman Jon Attridge '08 and linebacker Guy Matisis '09, who both had a tackle-for-a-loss, and defensive back A.J. Scola '09 who intercepted a Trinity pass early in the second quarter. For the most part, the Trinity offense ran the ball, passing only occasionally to keep the Amherst defense guessing. The Jeffs were not able to pressure the quarterback much, putting a considerable strain on the secondary.
In the second quarter, Puryear forced a fumble when the Trinity offense was on the Amherst two-yard line. Defensive lineman Dakota Jones '07 recovered the ball to keep the Bantams out of the endzone. Later in the fourth quarter, the defense was again opportunistic. After Trinity fumbled on the Amherst five yard line, the ball was recovered by quad-captain defensive back Mike Salerno '07. However, despite some great individual efforts and moments of excellent team play, the defense was unable to stop the Trinity onslaught.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Jeffs suffered an early setback when a 46-yard Matt Eberhart field goal attempt was blocked with 4:49 left in the first quarter. In spite of this, the offense was able to put together a number of good drives.
Amherst relied almost exclusively on its passing attack. Considering that Trinity has one of the best-if not the best-defensive lines in the NESCAC, this approach made sense. Quad-captain quarterback Nick Kehoe '07 threw for 183 yards while completing 23 of 44 attempts. He was intercepted once in the fourth quarter and sacked twice. Kehoe's favorite targets during the game were senior quad-captain receiver Mark Hannon, who accumulated 60 yards of receiving during the game, and Taylor Brown '09, who had 41 yards receiving on the day. Though Trinity's defensive line was formidable, Amherst still tried to vary its passing attack by interspersing running plays at opportune moments. Running backs Will Beeson '07 carried the ball four times and Aaron Rauh '10 filled out the rest of the rushing duties with three carries. While Amherst wasn't able to find the endzone during the game, the offense never relented and played tenaciously for the full 60 minutes. Senior lineman Matt Mascioli described this attitude of determination by saying that "the team played hard throughout the entire game; we felt like we were in it until the end."
Next week, Amherst faces Williams at home. The game will be a season-defining moment for the Jeffs, and any previous losses will be forgotten if Amherst can pull off the victory.
Williams, however, will look to rain on Amherst's party. The Ephs are having one of their best seasons in a number of years. In the second game of the 2006 campaign, Williams blew out Trinity by a score of 41-16, and they have been undefeated so far this season. The Williams offense has averaged nearly 40 points per game, so the onus will fall on the Amherst defense to stop them. But with the game at Pratt Field and it being the last game the seniors will play there, the Jeffs hope the infamous "12th-man advantage" will come into play by disrupting the rhythm and comfort of Williams' offense.
NESCAC Notes
The current standings: Williams 7-0; Trinity 6-1; Amherst and Middlebury 5-2; Tufts 4-3; Wesleyan 3-4; Colby and Hamilton 2-5; Bowdoin 1-6; and Bates 0-7.