Trinity drops to 4-3 with its second straight loss, while the Jeffs improve to 6-1 with their fourth win in a row.

Amherst scored first with 6:43 remaining in the first quarter on a one-yard plunge by sophomore tailback Kevin Kennard (Canton, Ohio). The Jeffs took advantage of good field position, starting the drive on the Bantam 35-yard line after Trinity had to punt from the deep in its own end.

The Bantams quickly tied the score 3:52 later when sophomore quarterback Greg Ward (Avon, Conn.) scrambled around the right side for a three-yard score. Trinity sophomore strong safety Gavin O’Reilly (Cheshire, Conn.) intercepted an Amherst pass and returned it 39 yards to the Lord Jeff nine-yard line to set up the touchdown.

On the next drive, Amherst answered with its second touchdown as senior quarterback Peter Honig (Bronxville, N.Y.) lofted a pass to junior wide receiver Derrell Wright (Hudson, Ohio) 65 yards down the left sideline to give the Jeffs a 14-7 lead.

Late in the second quarter, Amherst extended its advantage to 21-7 on a three-yard touchdown run by Ugwonali. On the 61-yard drive, Ugwonali carried the ball on eight of the 10 plays for 32 yards.

After both teams put up zeros in the third quarter and Amherst missed a 33-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth stanza, Trinity began a valiant comeback effort. Starting with the ball on its own 20-yard line, the Bantams drove the ball 80 yards down the field on 11 plays for a touchdown.

Ward completed four passes on the drive, including an 15-yarder to sophomore wide out Kevin Waters (Garden City, N.Y.) on third-and-eight and a touchdown pass to freshman tailback Tom Pierandri (Ridgefield, Conn.) on third and goal from the nine-yard line. Sophomore Patrick Hayes (East Bridgewater, Mass.) blocked the extra-point try, leaving Trinity behind by eight points at 21-13 with 6:43 to play in the game.

On the next play from scrimmage, Ugwonali ran the ball up the middle and broke free for a 53-yard touchdown run to push the league back up to 15 points at 28-13. The Bantams battled back once again with a 64-yard drive culminating in a one-yard touchdown run by freshman tailback Matt Glasz (North Haven, Conn.). The key play on that drive was an Amherst holding penalty that negated a sack and gave the Bantams a first down in Lord Jeff territory.

Trinity kicked off onsides but Amherst recovered and attempted to run out the clock. However, the Trinity defense held strong, led by freshman defensive end Jamie Creed (Valley Forge, Pa.). Senior nose tackle Mike Leone (Longmeadow, Mass.) dropped Kennard back for a two-yard loss on first down, and Creed made consecutive stops on second and third down for the Bantams.

On fourth down, Creed broke through the middle of the line and blocked the Lord Jeff punt, which Trinity recovered on the Amherst 49-yard line. With just 1:38 remaining, the Bantams were unable to get a first down as Amherst stopped Pierandri five yards short of the marker on fourth-and-seven.

Amherst outgained Trinity, 455 to 264, including a 237 70 114 yard advantage on the ground. Kennard complemented Ugwonali with 69 rushing yards on 16 carries. Pierandri ran for 95 yards on 21 carries for the Bantams.

Ward completed 17 of 33 passes for 150 yards, including four to freshman receiver Porter Fraker (Nantucket, Mass.). Honig threw for 218 yards, completing 11 of 18 attempts for Amherst. Wright caught two passes for 109 yards and senior receiver Matt Hall (Lincroft, N.J.) added four catches for 47 yards.

Freshman linebacker Greg Tanner (Wellesley, Mass.) paced the Trinity defense with 13 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Creed made 10 tackles and recovered a fumble in addition to his blocked kick, while sophomore linebacker Ben Ramsey (Wayland, Mass.) added seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble. Freshman Joe Wahl (Rumford, R.I.) helped the Trinity defense with eight punts for an average of 39.3 yards.

Junior defensive back Jay Hutchins (Columbus, Ohio) made a team-high nine tackles, along with a sack, for Amherst. Senior back David Frankel (New York, N.Y) totaled seven tackles and intercepted a pass.

Amherst (6-1) 14 7 0 7 -- 28

Trinity, Conn. (4-3) 7 0 0 13 -- 20

SCORING

1. 6:43 A- Kevin Kennard one run (Ian Fleming kick) A7-0

1. 2:51 TC- Greg Ward three run (Skip Sullivan kick) 7-7

1. 1:19 A- Derrell Wright 65-pass from Peter Honig A14-7

2. 2:42 A- Okey Ugwonali three run (Fleming kick) A21-7

4. 6:43 TC- Tom Pierandri 10-pass from Ward (kick blocked) A21-13

4. 6:25 A- Ugwonali 53 run (Fleming kick) A28-13

4. 3:10 TC- Matt Glasz one run (Sullivan kick) A28-20

TEAM STATS

                                                                        Amherst             Trinity

First Downs                                                     18                       14

Rushes-yards                                                   56-237                    38-114

Passing (att-comp-int-yds)                         18-11-1-218        33-17-1-150

Return yards                                                     73                      120

Punts-avg                                                    6-32.5                     8-39.3

Fumbles-lost                                                     1-1                      1-0

Penalties-yards                                             8-59                     5-51

Time of Possesion                                     33:07                    26:53

RUSHING

A- Okey Ugwonali 33-158, Kevin Kennard 16-69, Peter Honig 6-8, Dan Lalli 1-2.

TC- Tom Pierandri 21-95, Matt Glasz 9-27, Greg Ward 7-1, Charles Kalender 1-0.

PASSING

A- Peter Honig 11-18-1-218.

TC- Greg Ward 17-33-1-150.

RECEIVING

A- Derrell Wright 2-109, Matt Hall 4-47, Matt Flavin 2-43, Jeremy Hiltner 1-10, Jeff Ryan 1-5, Okey Ugwonali 1-4.