AMHERST — Playing undefeated Wahconah is a challenge to any high school football team in the Suburban South. It was a challenge the Amherst Hurricanes were ready for.

The spirit was willing for the Hurricanes, but spirit isn’t going to win a game by itself.

“We knew they were No. 3 in Western Mass. We have a really young squad. Our entire secondary were underclassmen tonight,” said Amherst running back/linebacker Nate Mills. “To come in and fight the way we did was a good thing.”

The scoreboard told the story of the game: Wahconah 43, Amherst 8. The Hurricanes didn’t score until the final 1:30 of the fourth quarter.

“We had some young guys out there who never stopped ballin’,” first-year Hurricanes coach Michael Dublin said, “which is something I love. We’re looking to get better as we’re going through.”

Wahconah senior quarterback Ryan Scot had an extraordinarily efficient night. He was 15-for-18 for 204 yards and five touchdowns. Scott threw completions to six different receivers, and a couple of balls were dropped or he might have been close to pitching 1.000.

“They blitzed a lot,” Scott said, “so we had a lot of open passes. The O-Line held up great, so the passes were wide open and my receivers did a great job of getting open.”

None as much as tight end Ben Noyes, who caught five passes for 61 yards, scoring on catches of 16, 8 and 2 yards. Scott also threw a 4-yard TD pass to Luke DiCicco and a 50-yarder to Owen Salvatore, accounting for the last of Wahconah’s 43 points.

It was a game where the Wahconah defense held Amherst to 119 total yards on 38 plays. All of those yards came on the ground. Sophomore quarterback Jameson Dion ran the ball 18 times for 66 yards, while Mills had 66 yards rushing on 14 carries.

“My hat’s off to Jameson Dion,” Dublin said. “He’s a sophomore. I would call him a young kid, but he certainly doesn’t play like it. He’s a leader on our team, and he’s the heartbeat. He’s working on how to communicate to get that heartbeat louder to our guys.”

Wahconah, however, is a veteran team. The Warriors from Dalton demonstrated that right off the bat.

The Hurricanes started the game on their five-yard line and got as far as the Wahconah 20. On third and seven, Dion threw incomplete to freshman receiver Tre Bowman, forcing a punt.

Wahconah took over on the Amherst 40 and needed to convert a third-and-6 when Jonah Smith rambled for six yards and a first down. On the next play, Scott ran a sprint out to the left and threw to Noyes, who crossed the middle of the field. The 15-yard gain put the ball on the Amherst 15. Two plays later, Smith ran through a pretty big hole and took it 7 yards into the end zone for the touchdown. Wahconah did not make the two-point conversion, but led 6-0 with 7:05 left in the first quarter.

One thing you don’t want to give Wahconah is a big break. But that is exactly what happened on Amherst’s next series.

The Hurricanes stalled out on their 40 and were forced to punt. A bad snap to punter Nathaniel Oliver sailed behind him, and instead of getting a kick blocked for a possible score, he downed the ball on the Hurricane 25.

Three plays after the bad snap, the Warriors scored. Scott got under center with a “heavy” backfield for what looked like a run. Instead, Noyes got wide open behind the front seven, caught the pass and easily rambled into the end zone for the 16-yard touchdown pay. This time, Smith got the handoff and scored on the conversion, making it 14-0.

Wahconah ended up having the ball four times in the first half and scored on all four possessions. The Warriors led 28-0.

“They’re a really well-coached team,” Dublin said of Wahconah. “They always have been. They do what they do very efficiently and well. They’re not going to make mistakes.”

Wahconah took the third-quarter kickoff, and a stop by the Amherst defense might have done wonders for the Hurricanes. Wahconah recovered the squib kick on its 42, as DiCicco fell on the bouncing ball. Ten plays later, Wahconah scored a back-breaking touchdown.

The Warriors converted a fourth-down play with a 13-yard pass from Scott to Owen Alfonso. On the next play, Noyes got behind defensive backs Jovahny Govan and Dion on a 20-yard catch-and-run for the touchdown.

Wahconah got its final score when Salvatore got loose down the right sideline, ran under a rainbow pass, and went 50 yards for the touchdown. It was the longest play from scrimmage on the night, and Amherst’s Bowman couldn’t do anything but watch Salvatore take it to the house.

“We have an excellent offensive line, an excellent running back and excellent receivers,” Noyes said. “If you’re stopping one, you’re not stopping the other.”

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Wahconah   14   14   15   0   —   43

Amherst        0   0   0   8   —   8

First Quarter

W — Jonah Smith 7 run (Run failed), 7:05.

W —Ben Noyes 16 pass from Ryan Scott (Smith run), 2:40.

Second Quarter

W — Noyes 8 pass from Scott (Owen Alfonso pass from Scott), 10:48.

W — Luke DiCicco 4 pass from Scott (Run failed), 3:17.

Third Quarter

W — Noyes 20 pass from Scott (Alfonso pass from Scott), 5:55.

W — Owen Salvatore 50 pass from Scott (Scott Duma kick), 2:28.

Fourth Quarter

A — Jameson Dion 20 run (Nate Mills run) 1:35.

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     Amh     Wah

First Downs     8     15

Rushes/Yards     36-119     21-82

Passing yards     0     204

Comp-Att-Int     0-2-0     15-20-0

Total offense     38-119     36-286

Punts/Avg     3-28.3     0-0.0

Fumbles/Lost     3-1     1-0

Penalties/Yards     2-15     4-20

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Amh: Nate Mills 14-66, Jameson Dion 18-66, Nathaniel Oliver 1-(minus-15), Neil Cunniffe 3-2. Wah: Jonah Smith 10-67, Scott Duma 2-7, Ryan Scott 3-(minus-2), Owen Salvatore 1-13, Lucas Pickard 2-(minus-14) Doug Collins 2-11.

PASSING — Amh: Dion 0-2-0 0. Wah: Scott 15-18-0 204, Pickard 0-2-0 0.

RECEIVING — Wah: Ben Noyes 5-61, Salvatore 2-58, Brad Noyes 2-29, Owen Alfonso 3-40, Luke DiCicco 1-4, Jonah Smith 2-1.