AMHERST — Tufts spoiled senior day for the Amherst College football team with a 27-10 victory, Saturday at Pratt Field.
The running game was the difference for Tufts as it put up 252 yards against the best run defense in the conference.
Trailing 13-10, Amherst missed a potential game-tying 36-yard field goal with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Tufts scored two touchdowns after the missed field goal to put the game out of reach.
“This was a really close game, but we have to play 60 minutes and we didn’t do enough to win the game,” Amherst coach E.J. Mills said.
Tufts took a 6-0 lead following a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan McDonald to Ben Berey.
Tufts missed the extra point and Amherst kicked a field goal with 26 seconds left in the half to make it 6-3.
Tuft extended the lead to 10 with a 1-yard touchdown run by Chance Brady with nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Amherst answered right back with a 2-yard touchdown run by Craig Carmilani to make it 13-10.
Touchdown runs by McDonald and Brady in the final four minutes of the game clinched the win for Tufts.
Brady, the leading rusher in the NESCAC, finished with 24 carries for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
McDonald also had success on the ground with 20 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown.
“Tufts did a great job running the football. McDonald and Brady ran the heck out the ball,” Mills said. “We are extremely disappointed but we will get back on the hill tomorrow.”
Amherst couldn’t get anything going in the run game and losing tight end Rob Thoma to an injury in the first quarter made running the ball a challenge.
“We basically had no tight ends and that hurt what we were trying to do in the run game,” Mills said. “We were one dimensional and that is never where you want to be.”
Amherst (3-3) lost three games in a season for the first time since 2008. The loss also snapped an 11-game win streak at Pratt Field.
“We are not doing the things that we need to do win football games and that is what we have to fix,” Mills said. “I am so proud of our kids because they played their guts out. It just wasn’t good enough today.”