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Sophomore Dylan Haas had 205 yards receiving for the Jumbos
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AMHERST - In a game that featured 119 points and 1,303 yards of total offense, the #1 in New England Amherst College football team came back from a halftime deficit to earn a wild 70-49 win over Tufts University in a NESCAC game on Saturday afternoon at Pratt Field.
Passing records were smashed on both sides. Tufts senior quarterback Anthony Fucillo (Winthrop, MA), finished the day 42 of 63 with 503 yards and three touchdowns. He broke the Jumbos' previous single-game record of 356, which he set against Bowdoin earlier this year. He also became the Jumbo program's single-season passing yardage leader with 1,880 yards this fall. That breaks the mark of 1,639 yards by Dave Piermarini in 1982. Fucillo also rushed for two touchdowns in the game.
Fucillo also broke a pair of NESCAC records with the output. The 503 yards surpassed the 472 yards passed by Bowdoin's Oliver Kell a year ago against Wesleyan. Fucillo also finished with 522 yards of total offense, nine more than Kell's 513 in the Wesleyan game. That mark is also a Tufts record, obliterating the previous total of 366 yards by Piermarini against Amherst in 1982.
Amherst College senior quarterback Alex Vetras (Clyde Hill, WA) became the program's all-time leader in career passing yards. He threw for 265 yards to give him 4,979 in his career, surpassing the school's previous record of 4,837, which was set by Rich Willard '98.
Junior running back Eric Bunker (Topsfield, MA) ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns, and was joined by classmate Femi Oyalowo (Bowie, MD) and freshman Ryan Silva (Bristol, RI) as Amherst accumulated a season-high 367 yards on the ground.
Amherst tied a program record for longest winning streak (14) to improve to 6-0, while Tufts fell to 1-5. The Jumbos return home to face Colby College next Saturday, while the Lord Jeffs will travel to Trinity College.
The electric first half saw two explosive offenses trading long drives. The Jumbos wasted no time throwing the first punch on their opening drive, as a 12-play, 76-yard drive was capped off by a Fucillo one-yard run that made it a 7-0 game.
The Amherst special teams quickly responded with a 52-yard return by Silva that brought the ball out to the Tufts 30-yard line. The Jeffs moved the ball down inside the 5-yard line, but Vetras fumbled a handoff to Bunker and Tufts senior LB Brian Danshaw (Colleyville, TX) recovered the loose ball on the three-yard line. It was only second time the Lord Jeffs have turned the ball over in the redzone all season.
The Jumbos continued their aerial attack on their ensuing drive when Fucillo connected with multiple receivers on an impressive 14-play, 97-yard drive. The Jumbos punched the ball in with a 1-yard touchdown run from senior Pat Bailey (Beverly, MA), who accumulated 92 total yards on the day with 10 catches and 13 carries. Junior Adam Auerbach (Glen Rock, NJ) would tack on the extra point with 5:45 remaining in the first quarter to give the Jumbos a 14-0 lead, Amherst's largest deficit of the year.
After pinning the Jumbos inside their own five-yard line, the Amherst defense forced a crucial punt that would help start to swing the momentum. Fielding a punt at the 36-yard line, junior Andre Gary (Exeter, NH) started running to his right, made a few defenders miss and cut across the field to find paydirt. The first punt return touchdown of the year for the Lord Jeffs cut the lead to 14-7 as time expired in the opening quarter.
Tufts responded on its very next drive, with Fucillo finding his favorite target of the day, sophomore Dylan Haas (Yorktown Heights, NY), over the middle for a 23-yard score to give the Jumbos a 21-7 lead with 13:03 remaining. The Tufts wide receiver nearly broke the program's single-game record for receiving yards, falling 14 short of the record by finishing with 205 yards on 13 catches and a touchdown.
Amherst responded with a six-play, 55-yard drive that was capped off when Silva rumbled to a five-yard score to bring the deficit back within seven points at 21-14 with 11:29 remaining in the first half. The scoring continued on the next drive when the Jumbos caught the Jeffs blitzing on third down and a wide receiver screen to senior Greg Stewart (Wilmington, MA) went 65 yards to put the Jumbos back up by 14 with a 28-14 lead. The long score marked the longest touchdown given up by the Amherst defense on the season.
On the Lord Jeffs' next possession Vetras found classmate Brian Murphy (Evanston, IL) for a 28-yard strike that brought the ball to the Tufts 12-yard line. Bunker bounced off a pile on the next play and ran off to the left for a 12-yard score. Leading 28-21 with 8:46 left in the half, the Jumbos manufactured another long drive with an eight-play, 84-yard possession that was finished off by Fucillo's second rushing touchdown of the day, giving Tufts a 35-21 advantage with 6:39 remaining before halftime.
Great special teams play and a solid defensive stop gave the Amherst offense great field position at the Tufts 22-yard line with only three minutes left in the half. Hoping to add another score before the break, the drive stalled out at the three-yard line and Lord Jeffs Coach E.J. Mills sent the field goal unit out to add three points. However, when Vetras took the snap he flipped a no-look pass behind his head to sophomore Matt Rawson (Bethesda, MD), who caught the pass and scampered into the endzone to cut the lead to 35-28 at halftime.
Rawson's first career touchdown ignited a 35-0 Amherst run that took the wind out of the Jumbos' sails, as the visitors were held scoreless in the third quarter. The Lord Jeffs got right back to work to start the second half behind two stellar plays by Bunker. The junior running back took a handoff outside for a 46-yard pickup and then followed it up with a 15-yard catch to find the endzone. Taking only 39 seconds, the first drive of the second half tied the game at 35-35.
On its very next drive, Amherst went 65 yards on 10 plays and Oyalowo finished things off with a seven-yard score to give the Jeffs their first lead of the day at 42-35 with 9:21 remaining in the first half.
The Jeffs relied on their running game for their next two series, putting together drives of 56 and 69 yards that ended with touchdown runs by Vetras and Bunker. Amherst's 35 consecutive points generated a 56-35 lead just before the end of the third quarter.
The Jumbos got back on track on their first drive in the fourth quarter with a 10-play, 58-yard series, as Fucillo found senior Billy Mahler (Milwaukee, WI) in the back of the endzone to get within 14 points (56-42) with 12 minutes to play.
Amherst's offense continued to roll, however, when Vetras connected with his favorite deep target, sophomore Andrew Reed (Riverside, CT), for a 54-yard strike and Bunker capped the drive off with six-yard touchdown run. Bunker's third score of the day brought the score to 63-42.
The Lord Jeffs finished off their scoring for the with an Oyalowo one-yard touchdown run with 6:14 remaining, giving Amherst a 70-42 lead. The senior captain finished with 104 yards on 16 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Replacement quarterback John Dodds (Mount Pleasant, SC) connected with freshman Jon Sobo (Tenafly, NJ) with 1:32 remaining to culminate the scoring and reach the final score of 70-49.
When all was said and done, Tufts finished with a NESCAC and school-record 671 yards of offense. The Lord Jeffs piled up 632 yards of offense. Including Dodds' 93 yards passing, the Jumbos finished with 596 passing yards overall.
Junior Greg Kutzin (Eastchester, NY) and sophomore Sam Clark (Andover, MA) each finished with nine tackles and an interception to lead the Amherst defense. Junior Nick Falk (Riverside, IL) led the Jumbos with 13 tackles.
Game Statistics
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Game release courtesy of Amherst College
