Very good game tonight with two teams that I think can go far this year.
I thought Amherst could win this game going in and they were able to pull it out. The weaknesses I spoke of last week were still present for Salem but it was actually the play of multi-year starter senior players that made some of the biggest mistakes on both sides of the ball. Like others have stated, I thought Amherst was better up front and I think they had more playmakers. Ramsey, as others have stated, was definitely the best player on the field and he made Salem look better than they should have offensively. He was a monster on defense as well and could have blocked two kicks if he layed out for them.
Amherst had great quarterback play in this game. Sure three of the long passes were blown coverages but he still hit the receivers in stride on all of them. He made a lot people miss running the ball and did a good job with ball security. The RB, Page was very good as well, same with #2 and #8. The MVP of the game for Amherst was the LB #25. He made the biggest plays in the game when they mattered most.
Even though Salem made more mental mistakes in this game, I thought they were also outplayed by a better team. If Amherst was without one of their good skill position players they still could have scored a lot of points but that would not have been the case if Salem was without Ramsey. Surprisingly Amherst had more depth and less players going both ways. A lot more hands on hips and gasping for air from the Salem players.
The first half had a ton of offense by both teams. The only way Amherst stopped Salem is when Ramsey dropped an easy first down and a deep ball that probably would have been a touchdown. Salem's stops usually came from Amherst having one bad play or fumble and losing a bunch of yards and getting them behind the sticks. Both defenses played better in the second half.
Not sure why there were comments about officiating. Amherst got a TD called back for a block in the back that did happen. They would have scored without that block and they ended up scoring a TD on the drive anyways. Both teams got called for a bad pass interference.
Looking forward to watching both teams this year. Very possible playoff rematch coming later.
I thought Amherst could win this game going in and they were able to pull it out. The weaknesses I spoke of last week were still present for Salem but it was actually the play of multi-year starter senior players that made some of the biggest mistakes on both sides of the ball. Like others have stated, I thought Amherst was better up front and I think they had more playmakers. Ramsey, as others have stated, was definitely the best player on the field and he made Salem look better than they should have offensively. He was a monster on defense as well and could have blocked two kicks if he layed out for them.
Amherst had great quarterback play in this game. Sure three of the long passes were blown coverages but he still hit the receivers in stride on all of them. He made a lot people miss running the ball and did a good job with ball security. The RB, Page was very good as well, same with #2 and #8. The MVP of the game for Amherst was the LB #25. He made the biggest plays in the game when they mattered most.
Even though Salem made more mental mistakes in this game, I thought they were also outplayed by a better team. If Amherst was without one of their good skill position players they still could have scored a lot of points but that would not have been the case if Salem was without Ramsey. Surprisingly Amherst had more depth and less players going both ways. A lot more hands on hips and gasping for air from the Salem players.
The first half had a ton of offense by both teams. The only way Amherst stopped Salem is when Ramsey dropped an easy first down and a deep ball that probably would have been a touchdown. Salem's stops usually came from Amherst having one bad play or fumble and losing a bunch of yards and getting them behind the sticks. Both defenses played better in the second half.
Not sure why there were comments about officiating. Amherst got a TD called back for a block in the back that did happen. They would have scored without that block and they ended up scoring a TD on the drive anyways. Both teams got called for a bad pass interference.
Looking forward to watching both teams this year. Very possible playoff rematch coming later.
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