AMHERST - The Amherst Regional football team had a number of good opportunities to break a late fourth quarter tie with West Springfield, but fell just short as Terrier senior wide receiver Dan Jonah ran for a 71-yard touchdown on a reverse with just over a minute left to cap a 20-14 victory at a muddy Community Field Thursday night.

The Hurricanes (3-5, 2-3 Suburban) were in great field position at the Terrier 29-yard line with 4 minutes, 8 seconds to go, but were stopped in third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situation to hand the ball back to West Springfield for its winning drive.

"We left a lot of points out there," Amherst coach Glenn Jackson said. "We were in the red zone three or four times and we just didn't cash it in."

The Amherst defense had trouble with an option play West Side used to create space for senior quarterback Ty Mann, and that was what set up Jonah's winning run.

"They were running that option all night," Jackson said. "We started stuffing that but then (on the reverse) everyone went for the quarterback and we didn't have the backside contained and he just busted it open."

The first score of the game came on the first Terrier drive. A 24-yard strike from Mann to junior wide receiver Chris Lipscomb brought West Springfield to the Hurricane 7-yard line. The score came on a 4-yard run by sophomore Randy Guyette, who had a busy night from the backfield, with 4:42 to go in the first.

The Hurricanes answered quickly on their next drive by getting in the end zone in just five plays. Solid running from junior quarterback Justin Carey and senior running back Zack Jackson led to a 25-yard touchdown run by senior running back Joe Worthley. Worthley converted the two-point conversion as well to put Amherst on top 8-7 with 2:08 to go in the opening quarter.

West Springfield took the lead before the half on a drive that featured a heavy dose of the option as Mann rushed for 42 yards on nine rushes en route to the end zone. The Terriers were in a first-and-10 situation on the Hurricane 4-yard line, and were stuffed on first, second and third down rush attempts before Mann slammed it in for the score to put West Side up 14-8 with 1:03 left in the half.

Amherst opened the second half with a strong defensive stand that, following a short punt from the Terriers, had Amherst starting on the West Side 21-yard line. This field position led to a senior-to-senior 15-yard touchdown pass from Carey to Isaiah Davis-Toledo to notch the game at 14 with 7:10 to go in the third.

Amherst had several chances to break the tie including a botched Terrier snap on a punt attempt that put Amherst in control on the opponent's 9-yard line at the end of the third quarter.

The first play of the fourth quarter was an Amherst fourth down incomplete pass to the corner of the end zone by Zack Jackson after Carey pitched him the ball. This was the closest the Hurricanes came to breaking the tie.

Coach Jackson complimented the Hurricane offense and defense, especially as they bounced back from a 48-0 loss to Putnam in their previous game.

"We lost a game we shouldn't have lost," coach Jackson said. "It wasn't that (the Terriers) were doing anything great. We just found ways to not make it happen. If we had won this one and won the rest of the season we might have had a shot at the playoffs and now that's fading fast."

Carey, Zack Jackson and Worthley all took part in senior night introductions prior to the game.