October 2, 2004
BRUNSWICK, ME - Senior tailback Fletcher Ladd (Amherst, NH) pierced the end zone with a game-winning nine-yard touchdown run to lead the Amherst football team to a dramatic 34-28 double-overtime win at NESCAC rival Bowdoin College on Saturday. With 175 yards on 25 carries, including a school-record 95-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, Ladd upped his career rushing total to 2,984 yards, shattering the previous Amherst record of 2,916, held by Josh Mason '97. The win, which marked the first overtime game in the 102-year history of Bowdoin's Whittier Field, upped Amherst's record to 2-0, while Bowdoin dropped to 0-2 with its 14th straight loss.
In a game that featured a combined 972 yards of total offense, several school records were tied or broken by both teams. Among them, quarterback Ricky Leclerc bested a pair of Bowdoin marks with 64 pass attempts for 395 yards. He was also victimized by five Amherst interceptions, including four by senior defensive back Rob Walsh (Fair Lawn, NJ), which tied the Amherst single-game record, set by Tim Stanton '78 in a 1977 win over Trinity. Walsh's fourth and final pick came in the second overtime, setting the stage for Ladd's game-winning touchdown.
Amherst watched a 28-7 lead fall by the wayside as Bowdoin scratched and clawed for 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of touchdowns in the final 54 seconds of regulation. The Polar Bears kick-started the comeback with a five-play, 68-yard touchdown drive with 5:18 left in the final period. An ensuing onside kick was unsuccessful, but Bowdoin forced Amherst to punt after only three plays and then connected on a 16-play, 78-yard drive, capped by one-yard touchdown plunge by Leclerc. Trailing by just seven points in the final minute, the Polar Bears tried yet another onside kick and this time recovered it. Leclerc continued his impressive play, connecting on four passes and finding Jeff Nolin for the tying score with just 15 seconds left.
After Bowdoin won the coin toss and chose to defer, Brendan Murphy promptly intercepted a Marsh Mosley (New Orleans, LA) offering in the end zone, giving the Polar Bears a chance to win the game outright. But three Bowdoin plays produced a loss of two yards, and a Nolan McNair field goal attempt was tipped at the line, forcing a second overtime. Walsh collected his fourth interception on Bowdoin's next possession, and Ladd took over from there, rushing three times for 25 yards, including the game-winning score, giving Amherst its third victory in five overtime games since 1998.
Bowdoin drew first blood in the game with a touchdown on its opening possession, but the Jeffs appeared to regain control, exploding for 28 unanswered points. Senior tailback Matt Monteith (Madison, CT) put the Jeffs on the board with a two-yard touchdown run, his third of the season, and Moseley gave Amherst its first lead of the game with a six-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Parnell Adam (Montreal, Canada). Ladd then erupted with his school-record 95-yard jaunt, surpassing his own school-record 90-yard run set in last year's 34-0 win at Bates. After a scoreless third quarter, Moseley seemingly put the game out of reach with a career-long 43-yard touchdown scramble, putting the Jeffs up 28-7 with 6:13 left in the fourth quarter.
Amherst totaled 306 yards on the ground. Monteith bolstered Ladd's record-breaking afternoon with 80 yards of his own, while Moseley zigzagged for 40 yards on nine scrambles. Mosley finished 16-for-24 passing for 138 yards and a touchdown as well. Five of those completions went to sophomore wideout Justin Macione (Mansfield, MA), who totaled 30 receiving yards on the day. Junior outside linebacker Justin Roemer (Jupiter, Florida) paced the Amherst defense with 15 tackles, including 14 solos and two for loss. Senior inside linebackers Dave Borgonzi (Everett, MA) and Michael Salvatore (Greenwich, CT) chipped in with 13 and 10 takedowns, respectively. In addition to his four interceptions, Walsh turned in six tackles and five pass deflections.
Amherst returns to action next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Middlebury College.
BOX SCORE/PLAY-BY-PLAY
