Smith races Amherst past East
Tigers' back breaks single-game school rushing record
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Amherst's Bert Smith leaps over Williamsville East's Ryan Duggan during a first-half run. Smith rushed for a school-record 334 yards as the Tigers beat the Flames, 32-21, last Thursday at East. Behind Smith is East's Brad Teal. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

An unbelievable performance by Bert Smith lifted the Amherst Central varsity football team to its first victory of the season.

The Amherst junior had 463 all-purpose yards, including a school-record 334 yards, as the Tigers beat Williamsville East, 32-21, last Thursday at East. The previous school record for most yards in a game was 256 by Amir Shareef against Sweet Home in 2000.

"That's about as good as it gets," said Amherst coach Patrick Murphy. "He did everything but sell tickets."

Smith had touchdown runs of 74, 19, and 80 yards.

"We really ran only two power plays and he ran those well and when East started over pursuing, he made some big plays cutting back," said Murphy. "I think his strength is not going down when one person hits him. It's very hard to hit him square. He's always slipping and sliding and makes a lot of yards after contact."

Williamsville East's Dan Rizzo leaps over Amherst's Diangelo Flint for a 23-yard first-quarter touchdown. East led 14-0 before Amherst tied the game and eventually won, 32-21. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

East coach Henry Fumerelle describes Smith's 80-yard TD run.

"He started towards their bench, cut all the way back to me and cut up the sidelines," said Fumerelle. "He must have run probably 120 yards on the whole play."

Fumerelle said his defense had trouble tackling Smith.

"Many times we had him at the point of attack but if he ran off tackle to the left, we weren't wrapping," he added. "He's so elusive that when we didn't stay in our lanes, he cut back."

While Smith was a terror on offense, his biggest play came on defense. With the game tied at 14-14 in the third quarter, Smith, playing free safety, stripped Mike Langfelder of the football and returned it 55 yards for the touchdown.

"That play really changed the game," said Murphy.

"It really broke our back," added Fumerelle.

As a team, Amherst rushed 46 times for 403 yards, a huge turnaround from the Tigers' poor performance against Cheektowaga six days earlier (21 offensive plays, three yards rushing, eight yards passing).

"We narrowed things down a little bit," said Murphy. "We decided we needed to run the football more."

Murphy lauded the offensive line (center Pete Battaglia, guards Corey Damon and Dion Merrill and tackles Vance Reeds and Josh Dotzler), who dominated and opened holes for Smith, running back Robert Flint (four rushes, 19 yards, 5-yard TD) and fullback Pharaoh Gayles (seven carries, 27 yards).

"They started seeing the field and blocking for six seconds instead of two seconds," said Murphy.

Amherst junior quarterback Kevin Denny completed 4 of 11 passes for 33 yards and ran in a two-point conversion attempt.

Murphy was also proud of the way the defense played.

"We knew they were going to run the football so we stacked the box up and said 'we're going to stop the run'," said Murphy. "That was the plan."

Junior linebacker Alex Dennis led the Tigers' defense with a sack and seven tackles. Senior defensive end DJ Filer and senior defensive tackle Blake Napierala shared another sack. Smith had six tackles. Junior Kevin Ford and senior Viron Hale each caught interceptions. Ford's pick came late in the game as East was trying to come back.

East junior running back Mike Silvestri opened the scoring with a 33-yard TD after Langfelder recovered a fumble at the East 45. The Flames' defense forced Amherst to punt and East got the ball at midfield. East moved the ball up to the Amherst 23 before senior quarterback Zach Stubbendeck connected with senior receiver Dan Rizzo for a 23-yard TD reception.

Fumerelle said junior receiver Jordan DiBernardo (four catches, 61 yards) caught a 24-yard TD from Stubbendeck in the second half to cut the Flames' deficit to 26-21. East kicker Joe O'Gorman sailed the kickoff out of the end zone. Fumerelle said on the next play came Smith's 80-yard run. O'Gorman kicked three extra points in the game.

Senior linebacker Max Cohen led East with 23 tackles. Cohen is East's season-leading tackler. Langfelder, who was coming back from a knee injury he suffered in Week 1, had 52 yards rushing and four receptions for 32 yards.

The win was sorely needed for Amherst. Coming into game, the Tigers were outscored 90-40.

"At this point of the season there is a lot of questions in people's minds when you haven't won a football game," said Murphy. "You need some kind of passionate thing to happen to prove all of the hard work is worth it."

"We still have a lot of improvements to make," Murphy added. "We're not where we need to be yet but they understand that if we don't make mistakes, run the football and not give up the big play, we're going to have a chance in every game. That's what we came out of this game with."

Amherst (1-3) hosts Maryvale at 7 p.m. on Friday. It's the Tigers' homecoming game.

"Maryvale is a big, strong, physical team," said Murphy. "They'll come right at you. We might be a mirror image of each other because we're going to run it and so will they. The team that can stand up to it will win."

East (0-4) plays at Kenmore East at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

"If we eliminate mistakes and take advantage of what other teams give us, hopefully the game will go our way," said Fumerelle.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com