BRUNSWICK, Me. -- Mike Piazza threw for a career-high 374 yards passing Saturday and the Amherst College football team's defense fashioned a fourth-quarter goal-line stand to help the Mammoths snap a three-game losing streak and defeat Bowdoin College, 27-23, at the Polar Bears' Whittier Field.

The Mammoths improved to 3-5 with the victory and will host rival Williams next Saturday, Nov. 11th, at 12 p.m. on Pratt Field at Lehrmann Stadium. Bowdoin fell to 3-4 on the season. 

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* Trailing 16-13 at the half, Amherst re-took the lead twice in a wild third quarter.  The teams traded the lead three times, as a six-yard pass from Piazza to Owen Gaydos regained the lead for Amherst at 12:14, only to have Bowdoin take it back on a two-yard plunge from Andre Eden at 4:38. Moments later, Carter Jung hauled in a 51-yard touchdown pass from Piazza to give Amherst a 27-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

* That score would stand thanks in part to a gutty effort by the Mammoths' defense. The decisive sequence of the game began with Bowdoin at their own two yard line with 14:00 on the clock. The Polar Bears marched 95 yards to the Amherst three, only to be turned away on 4th-and-goal when Luke Harmon tackled Robbie Long for a loss, preserving the four-point lead for the Mammoths. Angelo Fodera made two key tackles in the sequence, one on first down from the 10 and one coming on third down from the 8. 

* Bowdoin got the ball back again with 2:15 to play after forcing a punt, but on 3rd-and-2 from its own 30, Amherst junior Kevin Agnew intercepted a Long pass at the 38. Amherst then ran out the clock to end the game. 

* Amherst, who came into Saturday averaging 11 points per game this season, jumped ahead early, getting a 72-yard pass play from Piazza to Gabe dos Santos to set up a one-yard touchdown by Louie Eckelkamp just 2:22 into the contest.

* The Mammoths trailed 16-10, but trimmed the lead at halftime, going 58 yards right before the break to cash in a 34-yard field goal by Matthew Kelley that would prove to be consequential, making it 16-13 Bowdoin lead at the break.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Piazza bested his previous career high in passing yards by 108 yards. He was a mere 20 yards of the Amherst single-game record. It was also the first game in his career he threw for multiple touchdown passes. He connected on 25 of his 35 pass attempt, a 71.4 percent completion rate. His favorite target was Gaydos, who caught 9 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. Gaydos set career-high in receptions and yards in a single game. 

* The Mammoths racked up 417 total yards of offense, their largest total of the season. Jung has 3 receptions for 98 yards. dos Santos had 3 catches for 84 yards.

* Kelley was a perfect 2 for 2 on FG attempts (29 and 34 yards) and 3 for 3 on PAT's.

* Anthony Lengehan made 7 tackles for Amherst., 5 solo, and broke up one pass. Luke Harmon made 7 tackles, 6 solo. Agnew made 6 tackles, 4 solo, intercepted a pass, blocked an extra point, and broke up a pass.