MONTAGUE — Turners Falls may be predictable.
The Indians love to run the football and Amherst Regional knew what was coming.
Yet Amherst could not stop it.
Using a punishing ground game to control the clock and the scoreboard, Turners Falls eked out a 30-24 triumph over stubborn Amherst, Friday night at Bourdeau Field.
Turners Falls simply played a ball-control game to perfection. The game ended with the Indians driving to the shadow of the goal line as the game clock expired.
The Indians (3-0) rode the strong running of Quinn Doyle. Even though Amherst keyed on him, Doyle ran for 184 yards and three touchdowns.
“They have a very good running game,” Amherst coach Chris Ehorn Jr. said. “We made some big plays as well as some frustrating ones.”
Doyle has been a workhorse for the Indians, who hardly ever throw the ball. Turners Falls attempted only nine passes in its previous two games and one this time around.
But the Indians confused the Hurricanes by operating out of multiple formations. Turners was effective running out of the I, the wing and even from shotgun.
Doyle, who has rushed for more than 100 yards in five straight games dating back to last season, was hardly a one-man show. Jack Darling, Ricky Craver also contributed to the ground game.
For Amherst (0-3), which committed eight penalties for 50 yards, it was another frustrating night. The Hurricanes fell quickly behind before bouncing back to make it a 14-8 game midway through the second quarter.
But a costly turnover on an ill-timed interception led to another Turners Falls touchdown, a 1-yard run by quarterback Tionne Brown and subsequent conversion run by Darling to make it 22-8.
The Amherst offense could not do much because it did not spend a lot of time on the field. Turners Falls kept its offense on the field by staying on the ground and chewing up valuable minutes.
“We just couldn’t stop them,” Ehorn said. “It’s a matter of execution. This was the first game where we were in it late in the fourth quarter.”
Amherst had the ball only three times during the first half as the Hurricanes fell behind, 22-8. One of those lasted only one play following an interception of Turners Falls. The Hurricanes gave the ball right back with an interception, but then stopped the Indians’ drive.
Brown recovered his own line drive kick that bounced off an Amherst player. The Indians were driving, but ran out of time as the half ended.
A halfback option pass from Will Budington to Miles Foerster resulted in a 28-yard touchdown for Amherst.
Budington’s pass was deflected by a Turners’ player, but it caromed right to Foerster, who took it in for the touchdown.
Then Foerster hit Budington with the conversion to cut the Indians’ lead to 22-16.
That’s as close as Amherst could come. Turners held the Hurricanes to three second-half possessions before running out the clock by staying on the ground.