Going into Saturday's football matchup between Tufts and Amherst, there appeared to be little reason for optimism in Medford. While the Jumbos were reeling at 1-4 with three straight losses, Amherst was riding high with a 5-0 record and was looking ahead to a Trinity game that would mostly likely determine the NESCAC champion. But Tufts, and especially the Jumbo defense, made sure it grabbed Amherst's attention, holding the Lord Jeffs to just 221 yards in a 10-3 upset.
Amherst, who had been averaging over 30 points a game, also fell 200 yards short of its average of 421 yards an outing. In the ground game alone, running backs Fletcher Ladd and Matt Monteith had combined to rush for nearly 200 yards per game. On Saturday, however, the two were held to just 116 yards, while the Jumbos forced three turnovers that led to all ten of their points.
All of the game's scoring took place in the second quarter. Tufts scored first, taking a 3-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal by junior Phil Scialdoni. The Jumbos pushed their lead to 10-0 later in the quarter on a 23-yard touchdown pass from senior Casey D'Annolfo to sophomore Steve Menty. Those turned out to be all the points the team would need. Amherst pulled within seven with a 31-yard field goal of its own, but they were shut down the rest of the game by a Tufts defense that has allowed only 13 points in the last two games.
Twice late in the fourth quarter Amherst had the ball, but both times the Jumbos stopped the Lord Jeffs on big fourth down plays to protect the lead. The defense played well enough to overcome three Jumbo turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble lost) and a blocked field goal.
"The defense has been playing really well all year," sophomore defensive end Chris Decembrele said. "We just stuck more guys in the box [against Amherst]. We knew because of the weather that they were probably going to try to run the ball, so we wanted to take that away."
Decembrele paced Tufts with 15 tackles, including nine solo. Also having a great game was sophomore defense back and punter Brian McDavitt, whose impact on the game was not limited to punting. He had six tackles, but two were for loss, including one sack. Senior defensive tackle and captain Chris Lawrence also had six tackles and a sack.
"All our guys played great," Decembrele said. "Our defensive line blew up all the holes that their O-line was trying to make. [Tufts defensive coordinator John] Walsh prepared us very well all week."
The game marked the best performance of the season by a young Tufts defense, which has been steadily improving with each game of the season.
"The first game of the season was the first time seven of our starters had seen real action," Decembrele said. "Just getting that experience and understanding our defense and getting playing time has made those guys so much better."
Senior running back Steve Cincotta led Tufts with 79 yards on 20 carries, while D'Annolfo threw for 109 yards on five of 16 passing. For Amherst, Ladd gained 90 yards on 23 carries, but quarterback Marsh Moseley was limited to just 12 of 29 passing for 90 yards, including an interception and two fumbles.
"We've pretty much stopped everybody this year," Decembrele said. "We know we can beat all these guys. And now our focus is just to get these last two wins for our seniors, to get our record back to .500."
Tufts will face the fourth-ranked Colby Mules at home this weekend with the hope that its defense can keep its recent dominance going.
