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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Defending champions hold Tufts to just seven points in 32-7 victory

2015-10-31-Tufts-Football-vs-Amherst
Tufts junior running back Max Athy runs the ball past Amherst on Oct. 31.

Coming off a dominant victory over Williams, Tufts was ready for its game on Saturday. Amherst, however, now 6-0, boasts the NESCAC's second stingiest defense and limited Tufts to a season-low seven points in its 32-7 victory at Tufts' Ellis Oval. Tufts falls to 4-2 and, after losing to both Amherst and Trinity, is mathematically eliminated from the race for a conference title. 

Amherst took an early lead at 7:20 in the first quarter after junior running back Nick Kelly punched in a six-yard touchdown. The drive began at Amherst's 33-yard line, where senior defensive lineman Ife Adebayo got to sophomore quarterback Reece Foy for a sack on the first play. Foy threw to the flats, where his receivers, juniors Nick Widen and Devin Boehm, turned short catches into chain-moving gains along the sidelines. Kelly got loose for a 17-yard run before senior linebacker Patrick Williams brought him down on the Tufts six.

"I thought Ife Adebayo had a pretty big day," coach Jay Civetti said. "Ife had a big sack and put some good pressure on the quarterback. He’s been battling an injury. I was really proud of him and what he did in there."

Tufts could not sustain a drive until early in the second quarter, when junior quarterback Alex Snyder found sophomore wide receiver Joe Nault for a 14-yard gain. Junior running back Chance Brady rushed outside to the right sideline for a six-yard gain, which would be his longest of the day. Amherst senior inside linebacker Tom Kleyn was flagged for a late hit penalty, which gained another 15 yards for Tufts. Snyder then threw to junior tight end Nik Dean on the left side for a crucial third-down conversion, but junior kicker Willie Holmquist missed a 34-yard field goal wide to the left, ending the drive.

The Tufts defense got to work on Amherst's ensuing drive, as Williams stopped senior running back Kenny Adinkra for a one-yard gain. On second down, first-year defensive back Alex LaPiana leapt backward to intercept Foy's throw intended for senior quad-captain wide-receiver Jackson McGonagle.

"Amherst has some great receivers," Civetti said. "[McGonagle] made a really nice move on [Alex LaPiana] to get him out of position, and Alex recovered very, very well, which is something that I think he does nicely and continues to get better at each week. He really played the ball well and got us down in the red-zone ... and I think we scored six plays later. That’s the football that we needed to play more of."

Tufts' drive began at the Amherst 37-yard line, but only gained four yards through three downs. On fourth down Civetti elected to go for it, a move that paid off as Snyder found junior wide receiver Mike Rando, who carried a defender on his back for the last five yards of a 20-yard gain. Another shot to Rando brought Tufts to Amherst's two-yard line. Three failed attempts later and the Jumbos, down seven points, decided to go for it on 4th-and-1. Brady broke through to the end zone for his ninth touchdown of the season, becoming the Tufts running back with the most touchdowns since Harry Lightfoot's 1989 season.

Amherst answered back, starting off its next drive with two Kelly rush attempts for eight and four yards, respectively. Another Kelly rush, on which senior co-captain linebacker Matt McCormack and junior defensive back Mike Stearns were credited with tackles, set Amherst up at Tufts' 45. McGonagle extended his full 6-foot-3-inch frame on a diving grab 33 yards down the field and rushed for a 10-yard gain on the next play, but Williams saved the touchdown. On the next play, however, Foy snuck into the end zone on a dive play.

"Patrick [Williams] has played a lot of football here," Civetti said. "I think he’s smart, [and] I think he’s a really talented, athletic kid. He’s a student of the game and he knows where to be at the right time. I think he’s starting to feel more and more comfortable in his element and continues to do a great job."

Down by seven points, the Jumbos were well within striking range. However, after the kickoff, Snyder was intercepted by senior defensive back Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, who returned the pick 25 yards for a touchdown, putting Amherst ahead 21-7.

"[Snyder] owned that pretty hard," Civetti said. "That play that he threw the pick on, it’s something that we do every day. He’s probably thrown that ball 100 times this season between practice and between games. It’s a regular play for us. That took some wind out of our sails a little bit. Knowing [Snyder], he’s going to own that pretty hard. I’m sure he’d love to have that one back. In terms of his read, he wasn’t necessarily wrong in going to the tight end on that play, and might not have seen the safety as close as he was."

Tufts came out of halftime ready to establish the run. Brady rushed four plays in a row for gains of three, five, five and one. Next, Snyder scrambled out of the pocket and picked up eight yards on the ground to bring up 3rd-and-1. However, Tufts was unable to muster enough force to push past Amherst's 48-yard line and were forced to punt.

Amherst marched to the Tufts 20 on their next drive, as Foy found Boehm for a 34-yard gain. Boehm then rushed for 10 yards, but the play was negated by holding on Amherst. Foy rushed to the Tufts 13, but on second and third down Adinkra was stuffed by Adebayo and sophomore defensive lineman Zach ThomasSophomore kicker Charlie Wall's field goal attempt from 29 was good, putting Amherst up 24-7.

Tufts again tried to establish the run, but Brady was stuffed for three yards and then a loss of two. On third down with no one open, Snyder was brought down for a loss of 10. Tufts was forced to punt the possession -- and the next two as well -- but the defense forced Amherst to punt thrice.

"I think the defense as a whole played pretty well," Civetti said. "You look at 32 points and think, 'How can you say that, coach?' but they were out there a lot. There were a lot of three-and-outs by that offense, and that D-line made a lot of trips back and forth from the sideline. They didn’t play as well as we needed them to, but I think they executed in some stage of the game. They did put some pressure on [Foy]. That’s an OK day, but we are not really satisfied with being OK."

On a drive beginning at the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter, Snyder was again sacked and fumbled the ball into the end-zone. Brady managed to recover the ball and allowed a safety.

"I think what has given Alex some success over the last couple weeks is that Chance [Brady] has carried a big part of the load and [first-year] Dominic [Borelli], with the offensive line being great at the point of attack, getting some great yardage," Civetti said. "We haven’t had to throw the ball as much as we did on Saturday ... and those linebackers were at a point where they knew that we were down 'x' amount of points. It was a lot easier for linebackers to just get to their drop areas, safeties to play more coverage and not have to play run. It had a huge impact. Huge."

Tufts had to kickoff following the safety, and Amherst was able to run the ball all the way down in a drive that killed four minutes of time and ended in a four-yard touchdown by Adinkra. Wall was unable to connect on the point-after attempt.

Substitutes for both teams were brought in. Senior co-captain defensive lineman Corey Burns forced sophomore quarterback Craig Carmilani to fumble, and Williams recovered at the Amherst 34-yard line. However, Nault fumbled on the ensuing drive and Adinkra recovered to all but end the game.

"I knew it would be a tough game," Civetti said. "I don’t think we gave up at all on Saturday. If anything, I think guys were just frustrated that we were running out of time. Certainly in a loss like that it’s hard to find things to be positive or encouraged about, but to be honest with you, we didn’t make a lot of mistakes. We just didn’t execute."

While the loss means that Tufts was eliminated from title contention, Civetti pointed out that the team still has a chance to finish with a winning season.

"Those [seniors] signed up to be a part of something four years ago that they have to take some ownership of," Civetti said. "They have an opportunity to put this team into the win column. You know, being 5-3 or 6-2 is a big deal, especially since their [first] and sophomore years they never won a game here and they signed up knowing that. They wanted to be the guys that changed it."

Tufts takes on Colby away next week in an effort to lock down a fifth win and a winning season.

"We’re just focused on getting that fifth win next week at Colby," McCormack said. "Really trying to learn from this last one and be better next week."