The Lord Jeffs’ Fletcher Ladd rushes for 166 yards to give Amherst a 34-0 win over Bates.
LEWISTON – Don’t call the Amherst College football team a bunch of procrastinators.
Amherst punched in a handful of touchdowns in the second and third quarters to waltz to a 34-0 victory over Bates College Saturday afternoon at Garcelon Field.
The Lord Jeffs’ running back Fletcher Ladd carried the ball 16 times for 166 yards, two more than Bates’ offense produced all afternoon.
Ladd’s biggest run of the day came 35 seconds into the second half. On a trap play, he took the ball up the gut and scrambled for 90 yards, giving Amherst a 26-0 lead. It was the Lord Jeffs’ third touchdown in as many minutes, spanning from the 1:44 mark in the second quarter.
Three minutes later, Ngai Otieno sprinted off-tackle, scampering 62 yards to the end zone. Dave Bodner’s point-after brought the final score to 34-0.
“Scoring those touchdowns before the half made it tough for Bates and coming out and scoring real quickly made it even tougher,” said Amherst coach E.J. Mills.
Amherst controlled the ball for nearly 21 minutes in the first half, collecting a pair of Bodner field goals and scoring two quick touchdowns before the break.
Matt Monteith found the end zone first, eluding tacklers on a 10-yard sprint around the left end. After holding Bates to a three-and-out series, Amherst scored with 24 seconds left on the clock. Quarterback Marsh Mosley hit Jim Devine on an 11-yard slant route, extending the Lord Jeffs’ lead to 19-0. Bodner connected on the point-after.
Ladd’s touchdown at the start of the third quarter took the air out of Bates’ defense, which surrendered 529 yards of total offense.
“A couple guys showed a lot of heart, but it was few and far between,” Bates coach Mark Harriman said. “Not being able to run the ball and not being able to stop the run (really hurt us).”
Offensively, Bates saw the red zone only once. Starting on their own 44, the Bobcats moved the ball down inside Amherst’s 10 thanks to Ken Adams, who carried the ball four times for 27 yards on the drive.
But Bates’ lone scoring threat ended when two penalties illegal procedure and a personal foul forced a fourth-and-goal attempt from the 27. Quarterback Chris Gwozdz was sacked for a loss of six on the play.
Mosley finished the day 15-21 with 165 yards, connecting with wideout Jay Wagstaff seven times for 80 yards. Six other Amherst receivers caught passes for 10 or more yards, while four backs complemented Ladd’s performance for a combined 182 yards.
Despite being penalized 12 times for 153 yards, Amherst still won the battle for field position, though Mills was disappointed with Amherst’s ability to put together sustained drives throughout the contest.
“We threw the ball around a bit,” Mills said. “We know Bates is capable of defending the run, so we had to throw the ball to open things up. We did have a couple big runs, but we couldn’t do it consistently, which really isn’t an issue if we’re able to break the big ones.”
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