Amherst wins third straight, drubs Monument 58-0

AMHERST — The Amherst Regional football team won its third straight game Friday night, drubbing Monument Mountain, 58-0, at Community Field.

The Hurricanes (4-2, 3-1 Intercounty South) took control from the opening kickoff, recovering an onside kick and scoring a touchdown on their first drive. Running back C.J. Woodfine-Holmes recovered the kick, and took off for a 28-yard touchdown run to open the scoring.

After a successful 2-point conversion, the Hurricanes and coach Chris Ehorn Jr. opted to onside kick again, and Woodfine-Holmes recovered it a second time. Quarterback J.B. Mills connected with senior Steven Steele for an 11-yard touchdown to cap an eight-play, 45-yard drive, giving the Hurricanes a 16-0 lead.

“They put their linemen on the front line, so I knew they were just going to back pedal,” Woodfine-Holmes said of his recoveries. “I just had to run as fast as I could and grab the ball.”

Amherst Regional generally kicks it short most times on the kickoff, but after a successful onside attempt on the opening kick, Ehorn decided to come out with the same formation and the same kick again.

“We think we have a good enough defense, so we don’t mind the field position (if we don’t recover),” he said.

The Hurricanes scored on three consecutive drives in the second quarter. Mills found Steele again, this time on a slant the senior receiver took 46 yards for a score. Mills came back the next possession for another touchdown strike, this one 33 yards to Antonio Govan Jr. After an interception by Amherst’s Kason Jordan, Woodfine-Holmes ran 5 yards for a touchdown to give the Hurricanes a 38-0 halftime lead.

“We were down some starters this week, so our line knew they needed to push harder to get our run game going,” Woodfine-Holmes said. “The whole offense clicked. JB threw some good passes to me, Isaiah Moyston and Steve Steele. Scoreboard shows it from there.”

Added Ehorn, “I saw some blocks and some effort tonight that I haven’t seen all year. This line, it’s the first time they’ve played together with four new starters all year.”

Moyston returned the second-half kickoff 80 yards for another Amherst touchdown. Steele (10 yards) and Connor Bowen (11 yards) each had touchdown runs in the second half.

Monument Mountain (1-4, 0-3) never got much going offensively, thanks in large part to turnovers created by the Hurricanes. Quarterback Caleb Carlson tossed a pair of interceptions, and the Spartans coughed up two fumbles that Amherst recovered.

“They all flew to the ball,” Ehron said of his defense. “The first guy getting there was making sure they put their hands on the ball too.”

Woodfine-Holmes finished with 110 yards on the ground to go with his two touchdown rushes. Mills totaled 116 yards passing, with Moyston leading the way for Amherst with 46 yards receiving.

“We needed to get the win,” Ehron said. “We’re missing some players, so let’s just squeak out a two-point win. That’s what we thought. If we win by two, we’re happy. The team and everybody was able to play at a high level so we’re excited.”

The Hurricanes play undefeated Lee next Friday night at Community Field.

Amherst 58, Monument 0

First quarter

A — C.J. Woodfine-Holmes 28-yard run (Steven Steele catch), 9:46.

A — Steele 7 catch (Woodfine-Holmes run), 6:11.

Second quarter

A—Isaiah Moyston 46 catch (conversion failed), 10:04.

A–Antonio Govan Jr. 33 catch (Woodfine-Holmes run), 6:02.

A–Woodfine-Holmes 5 run (JB Mills run), 3:51.

Third quarter

A—Moyston 80 kickoff return, (conversion failed), 10:44.

A–Steele 10 run, (conversion failed), 6:30.

Fourth quarter

A–Connor Bowen 11 run (Bowen run), 5:58.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Amherst–Woodfine-Holmes 11-110, Steele 6-65, Govan Jr. 3-16, Bowen 4-28, Ian Yankson 1-15. Monument Mountain—Samuel Cormier 5-41, Micah Loy 5-21, Jose Sagastume 1-(-3), Reece Mullen 3-(-5), Caleb Carlson 1-13, Brendan Holcomb 1-(-2).

PASSING—Amherst–Mills 6-14-116-0. Monument Mountain–Carlson 3-8-35-2.

RECEIVING—Amherst–Woodfine-Holmes 3-30, Moyston 1-46, Govan Jr. 1-33, Steele 1-7. Monument Mountain–Cormier 2-30, Hunter DeGrenier 1-5.