Amherst tops
Bowdoin 31-24 on Gridiron
Men's College
Football
September 27, 2008
BRUNSWICK, Maine - The
Amherst College
football team rushed for 278 yards, including 121 by Aaron
Rauh, in a 31-24 victory over
Bowdoin on
Saturday afternoon. The Jeffs improve to 2-0 this season
while the Polar Bears fall to 0-2.
Holding a 3-0 lead late in the opening quarter,
Amherst
looked to expand on their early lead, only to have a pass by
sophomore quarterback Alex Vetras picked off by
Bowdoin middle
linebacker Kevin Zikaras. He took the pick 31 yards before
being tackled at the
Amherst 31
yard line.
Bowdoin needed
just over two minutes to get the ball to paydirt, scoring on
a fade route to the left corner of the endzone.
Bowdoin
quarterback Oliver Kell found Ian Merry for the score on a
15-yard toss.
The Jeffs responded with the only other points of the first
half, scoring with 6:15 left to play in the second quarter
on a 6-yard pass from Vetras to sophomore wideout Ben
Kettering. The touchdown capped a 12-play, 71-yard drive for
Amherst, and sent the two teams into the locker room with
the Jeffs up 10-7. The deficit could have been worse for the
Polar Bears, but rookie Michael Blouin intercepted a pass at
his own goal line with under a minute left in the half to
keep the margin at three points.
Amherst's
running attack dominated the third quarter, as the Jeffs
held the ball for 9:55 and tallied a pair of rushing
touchdowns. Rauh scored on a 10 yard scamper up the middle,
before NeSmith fought through traffic to dive in for a six
yard effort of his own to give the Jeff what appeared to be
a commanding 24-7 lead heading into the final quarter.
But
Bowdoin
rallied, thanks in great part to first-year Ian Vieira, who
returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to the
Amherst 30
and then, just 1:25 later, received a swing pass from Kell
for a 10-yard touchdown with 13:39 left.
Bowdoin forced
a three-and-out from
Amherst, and
took the ball back near midfield. The Polar Bears marched 51
yards in just over one minute to score once again, this time
on a 35-yard connection from Kell to Kevin Raymond on the
right sideline. The touchdown closed the gap to 24-21 with
over ten minutes remaining.
With the lead down to three points, Amherst put together a
decisive ten play, 67 yard drive, capped by a four yard
Oyalowo touchdown run up the gut.
Bowdoin added
a field goal with three minutes to play, and regained
possession of the ball with 3:03 left. However, a sack by
Amherst's Jake Spadafora and Brandon Quinn helped force a
turnover-on-downs to close out the contest.
The
Bowdoin
defense was led by Zikaras, who finished the day with 14
tackles and a pick. Matt Leotti and Chris Martin both
finished in double-digits for tackles with 12 and 11,
respectively. In the battle of quarterbacks, Bowdoin's Kell
went 20-of-37 for 202 yards, three touchdowns and one
interception. Amherst's Vetras finished with 181 yards and
one touchdown, on 17-of-27 passing with two picks.
In addition to Rauh's rushing total, Amherst's Eric NeSmith
just missed the 100-yard mark, with 95 yards on just 15
carries, and one touchdown.
Sophomore Femi Oyalowo totalled 53 yards and a score on a
dozen touches.
BOX SCORE:
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