Former Staples Star Leads Unbeaten Amherst Football Team

WESTPORT, Conn. -- Staples HIgh School graduate Nick Kelly is having a big year for the Amherst College football team.

On Saturday, Nov.1, he’ll take on two former teammates in perhaps his team’s biggest game of the season.

Amherst (6-0) travels to play Trinity College (5-1) at 12:30 p.m. in Hartford. Kelly, a sophomore running back, can expect to run into Trinity’s Rob Gau, a former Staples teammate and Trinity’s second-leading tackler. Peter Hoets, a sophomore linebacker from Staples, also sees playing time for Trinity.

Trinity will undoubtedly focus on stopping Kelly, who has rushed for 495 yards and five touchdowns this season. He averages a league-high 5.8 yards per carry, and is third in the conference in rushing and all-purpose yards.

Kelly’s biggest game this fall came in a 33-30 overtime win against Wesleyan. Kelly rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns as Amherst handed Wesleyan its only loss of the season. Kelly also had 141 yards in a 7-0 win over Middlebury, with his  59-yard run accounting for the game’s only score. He has rushed for 100 or more yards three times this season.

Kelly went to Amherst, in Massachusetts, after a standout career at Staples, where he helped the Wreckers reach the Class LL championship game in 2011.

 

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