Amherst Wins 2009 Football Championship with Perfect 8-0 Record

Courtesy Amherst/Trinity Sports Information

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Amherst College football team earned the 2009 NESCAC Football title with a 26-21 win over rival Williams College Saturday afternoon at Weston Field. The Lord Jeffs wrapped up the third 8-0 season in program history. The NESCAC title is the first outright crown for Amherst, after the Jeffs tied with Colby and Middlebury in 2000.

Trinity and Williams finished tied for second with identical 6-2 records. The two teams finished as co-runners up previously in 2007. The Bantams needed double-overtime to get past rival Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon, 26-23.

Williams jumped out to a 14-3 lead and seemed determined to spoil Amherst’s perfect season, but the Lord Jeffs scored the next 23 points of the game and never looked back. Amherst scored in every quarter, while the Ephs put up seven points in the first, second and fourth frames.

The win was Amherst’s first over Williams since 2004 and its first at Weston Field since 1985. With his first perfect season, head coach E.J. Mills moved to 74-30 overall and 4-9 against the Ephs.

The win also marked Amherst’s sixth undefeated—and eighth unbeaten—season, with the last coming in 1984. The Lord Jeffs finished at 1-0 in 1877 and 1899, and 7-0 in 1942, while the 1964 and 1984 squads were a perfect 8-0. The 1938 (6-0-1) and 1953 (7-0-1) Amherst teams also finished unbeaten.

Williams had spoiled Amherst’s perfect season seven times prior to Saturday, with each of the past three occurrences coming in heart wrenching fashion. After scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the final minute of a 19-13 win in 1996, Williams delivered another crushing blow the following year by scoring in the final two seconds of a 48-46 thriller. In 2001, the Jeffs fell to 7-1 after a 23-20 overtime loss.

Williams had scored at least 30 points in each of its past five games (5-0), and Amherst had yet to allow more than 13 points in any contest. Neither streak held up Saturday.

The 124th meeting between Amherst and Williams featured an unstoppable force going up against an immovable object. It was the NESCAC’s top-ranked scoring offense against its top-ranked scoring defense, its best rushing offense versus its best rushing defense, and its most effective red zone offense against its most effective red zone defense.

Amherst entered the battle leading all of Division III in rushing defense (44.4 ypg), but junior sensation Ryan Lupo—the NESCAC’s top rusher—was able to run the ball 30 times for 126 yards for the Ephs. Lupo’s effort wasn’t enough, though, as the Amherst defense intercepted three passes and returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown in yet another outstanding defensive effort.

Junior quarterback Alex Vetras (Clyde Hill, Wash.) entered the game just one pass attempt shy of tying Amherst’s single-season record of 262, which was set by Paul Foye ’87 in 1986. Vetras surpassed the record in the opening quarter, finishing the day 20-of-35 for 290 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns, including a 70-yard connection with sophomore Andrew Reed (Riverside, Conn.) in the second quarter.

Adding a touchdown reception for Amherst was Brian Murphy (Evanston, Ill.), whose 10-yard grab made it a 26-14 game in the fourth quarter. Matt Rawson (Bethesda, Md.) kicked a pair of field goals and sophomore Eric Bunker (Topsfield, Mass.) returned a fumble 33 yards to the end zone in the second quarter to round out the scoring for the Jeffs.

First-year Sam Clark (Andover, Mass.) led the Amherst defense with nine tackles, while junior Brandon Quinn (Atlanta, Ga.) and senior Mike Taylor (Evanston, Ill.) added eight and seven, respectively. Rauh and Oyalowo combined for 65 yards on the ground, with Murphy catching seven passes for 57 yards. The teams were virtually identical in nearly every statistical category, with key plays on defense once again proving to be Amherst’s savior.

The road to 8-0 wasn’t easy. The Lord Jeffs trailed at the end of the first quarter in five of their games. They needed a touchdown in the final three minutes to edge Bowdoin, 13-12. They were tied at halftime during a 13-3 win over a gritty Tufts team. NESCAC powerhouse Trinity led 9-0 after the opening quarter and 12-7 at halftime, but the Jeffs scored 16 unanswered points in the second half.

Aside from a 23-0 win over Wesleyan—the Jeffs’ only victory by more than 11 points—Amherst didn’t blow any team out. They didn’t score more than 23 points in any game. No contest was ever a sure thing. But, as Amherst demonstrated, you don’t have to lead the league in scoring to go 8-0. You simply need to score more points than the team trying to beat you. And that’s what Amherst did. Eight times.

Down in Hartford, Trinity sophomore kicker Tim Costello (Solano Beach, Calif.) kicked a pair of overtime field goals, including the game-winner from 42 yards away in the second extra frame, to lead the Bantams to a 26-23 victory over Wesleyan in the season finale for both teams in a steady rain at Jessee/Miller Field Saturday afternoon. Trinity finishes the season at 6-2 with its 35th consecutive triumph at home. The Bantams remain flawless in their 35 games played on the artificial turf at Jessee/Miller Field and have won nine consecutive games against the Cardinals, who close at 3-5.

Trinity trailed, 20-13, after a one-yard touchdown run by Wesleyan senior RB Shea Dwyer (Marlborough, Mass.) and a two-point conversion pass from sophomore QB Blake DuBois (Santa Ynez, Calif.) to senior TE Mike Ferris (Orange, Conn.) late in the third quarter. The Bantams tied the game at 20-20 with a one-yard scoring run on a direct snap to junior tri-captain S Ben Sherry (Wayland, Mass.), who was lined up at quarterback, with 9:39 left in regulation. Costello opened the NCAA tiebreaker with a 28-yard field goal on Trinity's first possession, but Wesleyan sophomore K Matt Alexander (Dallas, Texas) matched Costello with a 26-yarder to end the first overtime at 23-23. Wesleyan opened the second overtime with a DuBois pass to the end zone down the left sideline, but the ball was intercepted by Sherry. Trinity did not gain a yard on its ensuing possession, but Costello blasted the longest field goal of his career through the uprights for clinching points.