Facing the Cardinals in a battle of the unbeatens, Amherst claimed its fifth win of the season with a 36-17 victory over Little III foe Wesleyan. The Jeffs spend their second week at the No. 3 spot on the ECAC Weekly Poll, while they also remain tops in the nation in scoring defense, allowing merely 6.2 points per game with three shutouts under their cleats.
Amherst showcased its versatile offense against the Cardinals, compiling 228 yards on the ground and another 311 in the air. Darin Byrne (Winchester, MA) led the running game, plowing out 107 yards on 14 carries in the first half alone as the team's leading rusher, while Todd Haggerty (Albany, NY) tacked on 131 yards in the air on five catches.
Amherst opened up scoring midway through the first when Co-Captain Rich Willard (Johnstown, NY) connected on 3rd and 10 with Haggerty for a 73-yard bomb toward an early 7-0 lead. The senior's catch was just four yards short of Amherst's longest ever, a 77-yarder in 1991. Willard racked up a season-best 311 yards on 19-32 completions as he brings his career total to 3,551 yards, just 245 short of the Amherst career best set in 1969 by John Kehoe '70. The Jeffs would score on three successive possessions for a 21-0 halftime lead.
Byrne led the Jeffs' next scoring drive, carrying 49 of the 80-yard series, including a 10-yard run to goal. The junior then handed off duties to classmate Jeff Coviello (Harrison, NY) as he dove over a pack of Cardinals for the first of his two scores late in the second quarter.
Though entering the locker room without a touchdown on the board, Wesleyan had scoring opportunities, though filched by big plays by the Amherst defense. Late in the first quarter, James DeLuca (Rochester, NY) batted down a Cardinal pass in the endzone as the Jeffs have kept all five opponents scoreless in the opening stanza. Amherst extended its shutout to six straight quarters as outside linebacker Jake Conca (Attleboro, MA) intercepted a pass in the endzone with 2:35 to play in the half. The Jeffs have picked 10 opponent passes to date.
After the break, Wesleyan hit the field fired up for a fifth win. The Cardinals gained nearly half their total yardage (147 of 301) in the third quarter with two touchdowns. Amherst's aggressive special teams were called for roughing the kicker on a Wesleyan punt to prolong the Cardinal drive to goal. A 26-yard shot sent Wesleyan into the red zone where a 13-yard pass halted the Jeffs' quest for a fourth shutout. While the Cardinals couldn't capitalize on a recovered Amherst fumble, Jake Fay (Glastonbury, CT), the NESCAC's top passer, launched a 67-yard rocket to the Amherst 13 toward a second Cardinal tally.
But Amherst's trademark defense kicked in in the fourth quarter, stifling Wesleyan with almost 11 minutes of possession time and holding the Cardinals to a mere 16 yards with -13 on the ground. Rookie Liam Fleming (Braintree, MA) capped off an 80-yard drive over five minutes with a 28-yard field goal before Coviello ran his fourth TD into the endzone midway through the period. Wesleyan fumbled Fleming's ensuing onsides kick, recovered at the Wesleyan 39 by Conca. The senior forced a Cardinal fumble two minutes later as Alex Tracy (Easton, MA) pounced on the ball at midfield. Wideout Colin Barnacle (Denver, CO) rounded out Amherst scoring after a series of skillful catches under heavy coverage, including a 13-yard score, the fourth of his senior season.
While Amherst compiled a whopping 539 yards of offense, the Jeff defense held the Cardinals to negative yardage on the ground with five sacks and another handful of tackles for loss of yardage. Amherst punctuated its performance with an 8-yard sack by rookie Ted Hollo (Aurora, OH) to close out the game with the Jeffs as the second-best rishing defense in the nation (38.8 yards per game).
GAME SUMMARY:
Saturday, October 18, 1997 at Amherst, Massachusetts
Wesleyan (4-1) 0 0 14 0 -- 14
Amherst (5-0) 7 14 0 15 -- 36
First Quarter
5:47 A Todd Haggerty 73 pass from Rich Willard (Liam Fleming kick)
Second Quarter
14:30 A Darin Byrne 10 run (Fleming kick)
5:59 A Jeff Coviello 7 run (Fleming kick)
Third Quarter
9:43 W Matt Perceval 13 pass from Jake Fay (Ben Kozik kick)
0:44 W John Pascucci 1 run (Kozik kick)
Fourth Quarter
11:28 A Fleming 29 field goal
7:40 A Coviello 4 run (Fleming kick wide)
1:51 A Colin Barnacle 13 pass from Willard (Fleming kick wide)
Amherst Wesleyan
First Downs 31 17
Rushes-Yards 52-228 25-(-2)
Passing Yards 311 303
Return Yards 57 136
Passes 32-19-0 37-21-1
Punts 2-59 5-181
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-Yards 5-45 6-45
Rushing: A Darin Byrne 20-121, Jeff Coviello 18-89, Bob DiSabato 12-36, Rich Willard 1-(-4), Colin Barnacle 1-(-14). W Tom Themistocles 8-17, John Pascucci 8-6, Dale Hendricks 1-4, Jake Fay 6-(-11), Nate Moore 1-(-6), Mark Schofield 2-(-12).
Passing: A Willard 32-19-0 311 yards. W Fay 21-19-1 274 yards, Schofield 5-2-0 29 yards.
Receiving: A Barnacle 6-85, Todd Haggerty 5-131, Shaun Quigley 5-54, DiSabato 2-19, Coviello 1-16, Paul Rieckhoff 1-9. W Matt Perceval 7-165, Pascucci 5-45, Shane Doyle 3-42, Mike Hakim 3-18, Themistocles 2-15, Henry Wasserman 1-18.
