Hamilton College's Sam Thoreen '22 booted a 40-yard field goal with 4.0 seconds left in the fourth quarter and lifted the Continentals to a 31-28 NESCAC win against the Amherst College Mammoths at Hamilton's Steuben Field on a beautiful mid-October Saturday afternoon.
The Continentals (3-3 NESCAC) defeated Amherst for just the second time in 30 all-time meetings. Hamilton's other win in the series was way back in 1992. The Continentals go for their fourth victory this fall at Tufts University on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m.
Thoreen finished with three field goals including a 44-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter. He's 8-for-8 this year and 13-for-15 (87 percent) for his Hamilton career. Thoreen leads the conference in field goals made and is second with 39 points.
Kenny Gray '20 was 18 of 34 passing for 193 yards with one touchdown for the Continentals. Gray moved into second place on the program's all-time list with 5,471 career passing yards. He also handled punting duties and averaged 48.8 yards on five boots. He landed three of those five punts inside Amherst's 20-yard line.
Will Budington '21, Christian Donahoe '20 and Sam Robinson '20 caught five passes each, and Budington led the trio with 68 yards. Joe Park '22 topped the Hamilton running backs with 61 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. The Continentals were 11 of 19 on third-down conversions.
Christian Snell '22, Carmine Bruno '20 and James Ball '21 were credited with nine tackles each for Hamilton. Bruno returned an interception 32 yards and Ball finished with 4.5 tackles for a total loss of 12 yards. Ian Esliker '21 came up with his second pick this year and the third of his career with the Continentals.
The Mammoths (4-2) racked up 24 first downs, rushed for 268 yards and four touchdowns, and ended up with 488 yards of total offense. Amherst was undone by three turnovers and a blocked punt.
Ollie Eberth accounted for 350 yards for the Mammoths as he was 10 of 19 passing for 220 yards and added 130 yards on just 12 carries. His favorite target was James O'Regan, who had five receptions for 130 yards. Brandon Huff registered 75 yards rushing on 17 attempts. Three of Conor Kennelly's five kickoffs went for touchbacks, but another bounced out-of-bounds and he missed two field goals.
Matt Durborow paced the Amherst defense with eight stops and Ricky Goodson chipped in seven and broke up two passes. Brett Bates also recorded seven tackles including two sacks and forced a fumble.
Thoreen's game-winning kick was set up by a blocked punt by Zach Weinstein '20 that rolled out-of-bounds at the Mammoths 27 with 29 seconds remaining. Robinson rushed for 5 yards and two incomplete passes forced Thoreen's long attempt that split the uprights.
Amherst took a 28-17 lead into the final 15 minutes and bridged the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters with an 18-play drive that covered 90 yards and took more than 10 minutes off the clock. The drive ended on a Kennelly 26-yard field goal attempt that missed wide right with 8:32 to go.
On the ensuing drive, Hamilton advanced deep into the Mammoths territory on a 14-yard pass to David Kagan '20, a 29-yard toss to Budington and an 11-yard scamper by Kagan to the Amherst 10. Bates sacked Gray for an 18-yard loss that nearly knocked the Continentals out of Thoreen's range, but his 44-yard field goal pulled Hamilton within one possession at 28-20 with 3:59 left.
The Continentals' defense forced a three-and-out on the Mammoths' next possession and Henry Atkeson got off a 41-yard punt. Unfortunately for Amherst, that punt was caught by the two-time all-NESCAC returner Robinson, and he returned it 35 yards before Atkeson himself had to tackle him at the Mammoths 23.
Kagan sandwiched a pair of 5-yard runs around a 10-yard catch by Donahoe, and on third-and-goal Kagan punched it in from the 3 with 57.8 seconds remaining. Hamilton still trailed 28-26 and was forced to go for the two-point conversion. Gray rolled to his right and just before he reached the sideline, he lofted a pass to the back of the end zone that Donahoe somehow came down with despite being double-teamed by the Amherst defense.
The Continentals took a 7-0 lead on a 15-yard run by Park with 5:07 to go in the first quarter. Park rushed for 55 yards on the 80-yard drive.
The Mammoths got on the scoreboard with 13:48 left in the second quarter on a 7-yard run by Paul Jackson. A 42-yard catch by O'Regan was the big play of the drive, which was aided by a 15-yard defensive pass inteference penalty.
Hamilton went back in front on its next possession. Robinson had a 29-yard reception on third-and-six and Gray scrambled 21 yards on third-and-long to the Amherst 15. Gray found Budington in the end zone on the next play for a 13-7 advantage with 10:20 remaining. Budington caught the pass as he was falling to the turf after one of the Mammoths tipped the ball twice and nearly intercepted it.
Amherst struck quickly and tied the score again at 14-14. Eberth scampered 68 yards to the Continentals 9 on the first play of the Mammoths' next drive and scored on a quarterback sneak from the 1 on fourth-and-goal with 7:52 to go.
Amherst took its first lead on the Mammoths' next drive. Eberth found O'Regan for a 47-yard gain to the Hamilton 15 on the first play. Six plays later, Huff powered into the end zone from the 1, and Amherst led 21-14 with 3:13 left.
Esliker set up the Continentals' next scoring drive with an interception at his own 36. Hamilton converted three third-down situations including a 14-yard pass to Donahoe at the Mammoths 28 with 25 seconds remaining in the half. Gray's next pass -- a 20-yard completion to Donahoe -- was wiped out because Gray had crossed the line of scrimmage before he threw the ball. He was flagged for intentional grounding on the next play and the Continentals were moved back to the Amherst 36. Gray threw a Hail Mary into the end zone and the ball was knocked away as time ran out on the first half, but the Mammoths were guilty of roughing the passer and Hamilton was awarded another play. Thoreen hammered a 39-yard field goal and sent the Continentals to the locker room with just a four-point deficit at 21-17. The teams combined to score 31 points in the second quarter.
Hamilton thought it had stopped Amherst on its opening drive in the third quarter, but Atkeson's punt bounced backwards and struck the back of a leg on one of the Continentals and Logan Shooster recovered the loose ball for the Mammoths at the Hamilton 16. Louie Eckelkamp sprinted 16 yards into the end zone on the next play and gave Amherst a 28-17 cushion with 11:28 to go in the third.