AMHREST — After winning the New England Small College Athletic Association Conference three years in a row, the Amherst College football team put up an unexpected mediocre season in 2016, finishing just 4-4.
This season, Amherst is set to regain its status as the powerhouse of the NESCAC, and the journey starts Saturday when it takes on Bates.
The Mammoths are led by E.J. Mills, who is entering his 21st season as head coach. Mills, a four-time NESCAC Coach of the Year, knows his team is eager to get back out there and put last season behind them.
“I think everybody’s excited,” Mills said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had an opportunity to play. These guys have worked extremely hard.”
Mills likes what he has seen from his team at camp, but knows you can’t get a true grasp of what your team is made of until the pads are on and there’s an opponent lined up across from you.
“We’re cautiously optimistic, but the reality is you don’t know where you’re at,” he said. “We don’t have spring ball and it’s been a long time since we’ve been out there. These kids have worked really hard; we’ve had a good camp.”
The Mammoths are thrilled to be getting Reece Foy back under center. The senior quarterbacked the team in 2015, leading Amherst to a perfect season. Foy tore his ACL and missed all of 2016.
“We got Reese back, and that’s a big deal,” Mills said. “We’re excited about that position and the leadership they bring.”
Backing up Foy will be junior Nick Morales, who played most of last season and threw for 1,099 yards. Also in the quarterback room is sophomore Oliver Eberth, who the coaching staff is very high on.
The offensive line will once again be anchored by Elijah Zabludoff. The 6-foot-3, 275-pound lineman is coming off a season in which he was named first team all-NESCAC. Zabludoff led a line that helped Amherst average 332.8 yards of total offense per game.
Mills said last season came down to his team’s failure to make plays and being more consistent across the board. The offense struggled to be balanced, and the defense gave up far too many big plays.
“Football comes down to making plays in all three phases of the game,” Mills said. “We just didn’t make plays. Overall it comes down to execution. We lost close games.”
Amherst and Bates kick off at 1 p.m. at Pratt Field. Bates, which finished 3-5 a season ago, returns most of its offense from a ground game that averaged 167.4 yards per game a season ago.
Bates struggled in the passing game, averaging 84.6 yards per game through the air in 2016.
This is the first year the Mammoths are entering the season without having played a scrimmage. The NESCAC switched to a full round-robin schedule where every team plays each other, switching what would have been an opening weekend scrimmage into a regular season game.
“It’s short,” Mills said of the preseason. “We played ourselves. It’s compressed the preseason. We’re excited to play the ninth game, that’s a big deal for us. But on the same token, everything has been compressed.
“We’re itching. These guys are itching to play somebody else. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Thomas Johnston can be reached at tjohnston@umass.edu and followed on twitter @TJJohnston.