AMHERST – Jameson Dion came into 2023 with a point to prove.
The senior running back missed over half of last season with an arm injury that sidelined him for the final six games. In the four games he played, Dion recorded 11 touchdowns. Dion waited a long time to get back on the field, and he made a statement in Amherst’s season opener on Saturday afternoon.
Dion scampered for five first-half touchdowns – nearly half of last year’s total – in the Hurricanes’ 50-6 thumping of Putnam at Community Field. On top of that, he tallied 346 total yards from scrimmage in those first two quarters before taking the rest of the game off.
Naturally, he thanked his offensive linemen for their help up front.
“I think my success comes from their success up front,” Dion said. “If they didn’t get the push up front that they do, I wouldn’t get those yards.”
Dion had touchdown runs of 83, 81, 48, and 42 yards. Junior Ramsey added a 16-yard touchdown run as well. Hurricanes head coach Vinny Guiel echoed Dion’s comments about the guys in the trenches.
“Today, the emphasis was on the offensive linemen. They were moving bodies all day,” Guiel said.
After Dion’s 42-yard touchdown opened the scoring, Putnam set up shop at the Amherst 30-yard line thanks to a huge kickoff return. On a fourth-and-11 from the 15 several plays later, Putnam quarterback Karter Dickerson made a terrific play throwing on the run to receiver Dominic Sobers for a touchdown. That was the closest the Beavers would get the rest of the afternoon.
“This is one of those games where early on it was weird,” Guiel said. “Putnam came out and played really tough. But first game of the season, I couldn’t be more proud of my guys. They adjusted. Couldn’t be more proud of the effort. We got things to work on, but we’ll get there.”
Amherst responded with a 48-yard Dion score and a 49-yard Gavier “NeNe” Fernandez touchdown pass to none other than Dion. The Hurricanes’ plan coming into the year was to feature a heavy dose of Dion, Matt Hockman (90 rushing yards) and Ramsey (32 rushing yards, one touchdown) in the run game to open up passing windows for Fernandez.
It worked to perfection on the touchdown pass – the only throw Fernandez attempted outside of two-point conversions. Fernandez faked the handoff to Hockman and dropped back to find a wide open Dion.
“That’s the game plan, to get as many people in the box and then throw over their head if they get too run-heavy,” Guiel said. “We did it once today, we threw it right over the top of their head.”
Defensively, Amherst kept Putnam out of the red zone on all but two possessions – one of them ending on a Neil Cunniffe fumble recovery. Guiel knew the Hurricanes defense had to be better than it has been in years prior if they wanted to accomplish their lofty goals this season. Putnam finished with just 52 yards of total offense in the game.
“We’ve put an emphasis on playing hard defense,” Guiel said. “The last four, five years here, we haven’t played good defense at Amherst. We’ve been really working on gang tackling and doing all the right things defensively. I was proud of the effort. We did well.”
The only real concern for Amherst came in special teams. Several times Putnam had lengthy kick returns into Hurricane territory, which gave the Beavers short fields to work with. The defense was able to stifle Putnam, but Guiel knows his team needs to clean up that department as the season unfolds.
Amherst was without its kicker, however, which meant one of its main contain guys on special teams (freshman Owen Earle) had to take over kicking duties. All that said, Guiel felt he didn’t do a good enough job preparing his players on special teams.
“We had to put people in spots they don’t normally play,” Guiel said. “It’s one of those things where we just have to practice that more, and I take full responsibility as a head coach. It’s easy to overlook those things sometimes, and I think that was the case.”
Seven different Amherst players recorded a carry in the win. Guiel pulled the starters after halftime to give his younger guys a chance to showcase their skills. Earle hopped in at quarterback for Fernandez, and Taylor Alfaro Leiva and Greg King replaced Dion and Hockman in the backfield as the second half featured a running clock. The Hurricanes starters were electric on the bench cheering on their teammates.
“It was nice to get some younger guys involved, because we are a team and we work together,” Dion said. “It’s always fun cheering on some of the guys that don’t get as much playing time, and I enjoyed seeing them succeed.”
The Hurricanes lived up to their offseason hype in Week 1, but they aren’t satisfied with just a 44-point season-opening win. They got a taste of dominance, and now Dion and the rest of the Amherst roster are hungry for more.
“Our offseason work led to this, but this isn’t where we want to end,” Dion said. “We’re definitely looking forward to next week and the rest of the season moving forward.”
Amherst (1-0) hosts Springfield International Charter School next Thursday in what is the Bulldogs’ second season as a varsity program. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
