Lancers, Rose roll over Cavaliers

AMHERST — Amherst proved to be the better study Friday night, scoring early and often in its 35-6 win over Jefferson Forest at home.

The Lancers (6-1, 2-1) produced on all but one possession while holding top running back Desmond Goode and the Cavaliers to four first downs and 81 yards of offense in the first half.

“Teams in the past, they may have been caught off guard by our offensive schemes,” Goode said. “They did key on me. They had three guys that blitzed every play. We tried to make a few adjustments as far as our formations, but with that many people coming it was hard to find gaps.”

The Lancers had their defensive game plan in place Monday, and as he does every week, coach Cecil Phillips sent the players home with scout film. That kind of planning put the game out of reach quickly for the Cavaliers.

Starting quarterback Anthony Rose scored the Lancers’ first two touchdowns. Taking his third snap of the game, Rose spun out of tackles up the middle for a 33-yard touchdown.

During the offense’s second possession, Rose faked the handoff to Mario Vaughan and broke up the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown. Kicker Tyler Dawson made the kick to put Amherst up 14-0 with 2:29 left in the first quarter.

“On my second touchdown, give that one to A.J. Parrish,” Rose said. “He made a good block on No. 86 (Dustin Engledove). He took him off his feet.”

Lancer Devonte Brown tacked on the next score, taking in a 71-yard touchdown after skirting pressure at the line of scrimmage. With five minutes to play in the half, Vaughan carried for 34 yards to set up Jamar Glover’s 3-yard touchdown run.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers kept stalling from their half of the field. On a third-and-eight, quarterback Hunter Hannell fumbled on the handoff, and Amherst recovered the ball. In their only scoreless series of the half, Rose fumbled the shotgun snap, giving it back to Jefferson Forest.

The Lancer defense made up for the blooper, though. From their own 35, Hannell sent a pass deep, and Vaughan went up for the interception, catching it but out of bounds. Then linebacker Timmy Johnson took down halfback Rashad Hall in the backfield. Goode got his chance to make a gain, but the Cavaliers fell five yards short of a first down.

Punter Josh Storm had barely taken the long snap when three Lancers rushed him, blocking the kick. Kirby Anderson scooped and scored the 30-yard touchdown. Dawson made his fifth extra point to give Amherst a 35-0 lead going into halftime.

“I think us as coaches didn’t have our kids ready to play,” said Cavalier coach Don Rice. “I’m going to tell our kids the same thing. We’ve got to regroup now. We’ve got three games we’ve got to win to get in the playoffs.”

The Cavaliers (4-3, 2-2) scored their only points with less than two minutes to play. On a first down, Goode carried for 21 yards. Then Hall escaped Amherst’s secondary for a 44-yard touchdown. Storm’s kick was blocked.

In all, the Lancers stuck to their plan of shutting down Goode and Hall, Phillips said.

“We forced them to run between the tackles, and when you’re doing that you’re running into the teeth of our defense, our interior guys,” he said. “Our kids, they came out of the locker room with a different look in their eye the first half. At this point in time, I feel like we’re playing the best football in the district.”