SOMERVILLE, MA (October 31, 2026) – A crowd of 2,545 at Ellis Oval watched Tufts trade punches with unbeaten Amherst College all afternoon, but the visitors came away with a 24-21 win in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) tussle Saturday. Amherst quarterback Marek Hill's 53-yard touchdown pass to Jadon Davis early in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference.

Tufts fell to 4-3 on the season (4-3 NESCAC), while Amherst improved to 7-0. In sunny, 50-degree weather, the game turned on a handful of big plays, and the Jumbos had the ball with a chance late.

Amherst took the opening kickoff after Tufts won the toss and deferred, and Hill and the Mammoth offense marched 58 yards in 10 plays, but Hudson Fulcher-Melendy's 34-yard field goal try missed off the left upright with 10:14 left in the first quarter. The Jumbos' offense could not take advantage, but Ted Gialanella's 39-yard punt pinned Amherst at its own 1-yard line.

That punt did not stay a field-position win for long. Demitrius Smith ripped off a 13-yard run, Hill found Christian Moore for nine yards, and then Hill hit Davis on a deep ball for 73 yards to the Tufts 1. Smith punched it in on the next play, capping a five-play, 99-yard drive that took just 2:32 and made it 7-0 with 2:30 left in the first quarter. Amherst outgained Tufts 165-47 in the opening period.

The Jumbos answered in the second quarter. After a stop and a punt, Tufts took over at its own 18 and went 82 yards in six plays. Nate Johnson converted a 3rd-and-4 with a completion to Christian Shapiro, and then, on a second-and-2 from the Tufts 41, connected with Keller Rogers on a 48-yard catch-and-run to the Amherst 11. Shapiro ran it in from 11 yards out at 10:12, and Caden Lawlor's kick tied it at 7-7.

Tufts then took the lead with the help of its defense. After the Jumbos held again, Amherst faced a third-and-6 at its own 19 when Patrick Keeley sacked Hill, forcing a fumble that Johnny Ferrelli recovered at the Amherst 11. Three plays later, Johnson scampered eight yards on third-and-7 for the touchdown with 2:49 left in the half, and Tufts led 14-7. The sequence was a swing of momentum, and it gave Tufts seven points off a turnover.

Amherst did not go quietly before the break. Starting at its own 27 with 2:49 left, Hill drove the visitors 73 yards in 11 plays, using a 12-yard scramble, a pair of completions to Davis, and a 30-yard strike to Moore to reach the Tufts 3. Tufts' defense then stood tall as the clock ticked, with Hill stopped for a 1-yard gain, a pass to Matt Diaz broken up by Ryan Horigan, and Michael Dunmore thrown for a loss by Ferrelli. Both teams burned timeouts, but on fourth-and-goal as time expired, Hill kept it himself for a 3-yard score, and the teams went to halftime tied at 14.

Tufts struck first after intermission with a statement drive. The Jumbos used six plays and 3:38 to go 79 yards, riding Shapiro on the ground for three first-down-sized chunks and Caden McCallum for another. On a second-and-8 from the Tufts 49, Johnson fired deep left to Matt Rios, who came down with it and raced to the end zone for a 51-yard touchdown with 11:22 left in the third. Lawlor's extra point made it 21-14, the last time Tufts would score.

Amherst answered with a methodical 11-play, 54-yard drive that ate 6:24, powered by a 22-yard run from Zachary Curtin and an 11-yard scramble from Hill. The drive stalled at the Tufts 21, and Fulcher-Melendy was good from 38 yards with 4:58 left in the quarter to cut the lead to 21-17. Tufts responded with a 12-play, 45-yard possession that took 7:02 and carried into the fourth quarter, with McCallum carrying the load. On fourth-and-1 at the Amherst 41, though, Shapiro was stopped by Yahya Mir, and Tufts turned the ball over on downs.

Amherst needed only three plays to take advantage. After a 1-yard loss and a 7-yard pass to Max Alexander, Hill faced a third-and-4 at his own 47 and let it fly down the left side for Davis, who hauled it in at the Tufts 15 and walked in for a 53-yard score at 11:27. The extra point put Amherst ahead 24-21. It was Davis's second long catch of the afternoon, and he finished with 141 receiving yards on six receptions.

The Jumbos had chances to answer, but the rest of the fourth quarter belonged to the defenses. Tufts went three-and-out when Izaiah Gallagher sacked Johnson for an 8-yard loss, forcing a Gialanella punt of 50 yards. After a punt by Amherst, Tufts took over at its own 8 with 6:07 to play and moved to midfield on a 14-yard Shapiro run and a 7-yard Johnson keeper on third-and-1. But on third-and-11 from the Tufts 41, Johnson's pass was intercepted by Carson Skotak, and Amherst took over with 2:05 left. Tufts used all three of its timeouts, but Hill converted a fourth-and-7 with a 9-yard pass to Davis, and the visitors ran out the clock.

On offense, Shapiro led Tufts with 91 rushing yards on 23 carries and a touchdown, adding four catches for 25 yards. Johnson finished 11-for-17 for 163 yards and a touchdown through the air, and added 32 yards and a score on the ground. Rogers was a constant threat, catching four passes for 76 yards, including the 48-yard play that set up the first touchdown, and returning three kickoffs for 55 yards, which gave him 131 all-purpose yards. Rios's lone catch went for a 51-yard touchdown, McCallum added 27 rushing yards plus a reception, and Lawlor was a perfect 3-for-3 on extra points. Gialanella averaged 40.8 yards on four punts, with two inside the 20 and a long of 50.

Defensively, Tufts finished with seven tackles for loss and three sacks against an Amherst offense that gained 395 yards, and Ryan Horigan was the anchor with a game-high 12 tackles, nine of them solo, plus a tackle for loss. Ferrelli was all over the field, with eight tackles, a half-sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, the key fumble recovery and a quarterback hurry. Keeley had a huge game up front with 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss, four tackles and the forced fumble, while Justin Keller added seven tackles, a half-sack and a pass breakup. Denver Elliott chipped in a half-sack as well.

The Jumbos edged Amherst in the ground game, 150 yards to 125, and in time of possession, 30:45 to 27:10, but Hill's 270 passing yards and the two long strikes to Davis were the difference.

Tufts (4-3) will look to regroup next week on the road, traveling to Colby College in Waterville, Maine for the final road game of the 2026 season at 1 p.m. in league action. 

--JUMBOS--