The campaign began with the Lord Jeffs’ perennial win over Hamilton College, 21-12, as Head Coach E.J. Mills continued his seven- year mastery over the Continentals. In fact, during his Amherst tenure Mills has yet to lose to the New York school, to whom the Jeffs have lost only once in their history.
Amherst’s offense was led by junior quarterback Alex Vetras, who finished with 273 passing yards and three touchdown passes, including an 80-yarder to sophomore Andrew Reed. The defense, anchored by senior defensive lineman Edwin Urey, held the Continentals to a mere 40 yards rushing. Urey racked up four sacks and a blocked pass while classmate Mike Taylor had a team-high nine tackles, two blocked passes and a recovered fumble.
After disposing of Hamilton, Amherst took on Bowdoin College in the Jeffs’ first home game of the young season. On an overcast and drizzly afternoon at Pratt Field, the Jeffs and Polar Bears hammered away at one another for 60 minutes in a game of attrition that developed into a real nail-biter. Despite a lackluster showing on offense, the Lord Jeffs managed to emerge still undefeated, thanks to their defense, which gave up a lot of real estate between the twenty-yard lines but stiffened in the red zone throughout the afternoon.
Although Bowdoin’s talented quarterback Oliver Kell paced an extremely effective offensive attack — 23 first downs and 317 passing yards — the Polar Bears succeeded in pushing the ball over the Amherst goal line only once. Meanwhile, the seemingly outplayed but opportunistic Jeffs’ offense notched a pair of touchdowns on a six-yard scamper by senior Aaron Rauh in the second quarter and the fourth-quarter, come-from-behind game-winning toss from QB Alex Vetras to senior Brandon Bullock with less than three minutes remaining.
Still, the game ball and the lion’s share of credit for the victory belongs to the stingy defense, led by senior Mike Taylor, who caused a fair amount of havoc with 16 total tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage and a quarterback sack for an 8-yard loss. Senior Fred Argir and junior linebacker Brandon Quinn also were stand-outs, creating fumbles and interceptions in addition to making many tackles. Senior Fran Florio also had an interception. While Bowdoin won the statistical battle, the only stat that ultimately matters is the scoreboard, which favored the home team in a 14-13 squeaker.
The following Saturday, Amherst again played host, this time to Middlebury College’s Panthers, whom they had not beaten since 2005.
As senior wide receiver Brandon Bullock pointed out prior to the game, “No one on the team has ever beaten Middlebury, so it would be a great accomplishment to get a victory …. 3-0 is the goal.”
Playing inspired football, Amherst vaulted to a 17-0 halftime lead and never looked back, winning a comfortable 20-10 victory that saw both quarterbacks, Amherst’s Vetras and Donald McKillup for Middlebury, set new school records. On the Amherst side, Vetras completed 35 passes to break the previous record set by Paul Foye against Bates back in 1986, while his 54 total pass attempts broke Lucas Loeffler’s record set during a 2007 match against Middlebury. Along the way, Vetras also threw for 234 yards and for two touchdowns.
McKillop of Middlebury also put up some truly amazing numbers, completing 47 of a mind-boggling 74 pass attempts, but was intercepted by the Lord Jeff defense four times, including twice by freshman linebacker Sam Clark.
Next on the Jeffs’ agenda were the Mules of Colby College in a series that Amherst has traditionally dominated, and this season proved no different even on Colby’s home turf, where the Mules played Amherst to a standstill for the first half before eventually succumbing to the visitors, 23-13. Colby managed to score first, with a touchdown pass on a long opening drive, but Amherst returned the favor in the second quarter with quarterback Vetras finding junior wide receiver Brian Murphy for a 61-yard touchdown toss.
Despite entering the third quarter tied at 7-7, Amherst pulled away for the win after getting nine unanswered fourth-quarter points from its special teams and defense. Sophomore Eric Bunker blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown, and junior linebacker Jeff Katz sacked Colby quarterback Nick Kmetz in the Colby end zone for a safety and two more points. After a Colby touchdown, Amherst added to its margin with a touchdown scamper by junior running back Femi Oyalowo, set up by Fred Argir’s interception and 25-yard runback to put the Lord Jeffs in excellent scoring position.
For Homecoming this weekend, Little Three rival Wesleyan University comes calling. Since Amherst last lost to the Cardinals in 2002, hopes are high that the Jeffs will be standing at 5-0 and atop the NESCAC after Saturday’s game.