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Tigers At Otters... A New Grid Season Begins

Tuesday September 4, 2007

By Mike Cameron

    Two very different programs and yet the fan support is loyal and vocal.  That's the way things will shape up as the 2007 Tiger Varsity football team heads down the road for the short trip to Brandon and their first meeting ever with the Otter Valley Union High School Football Team.  OV is a remarkable success story and under Head Coach Dennis Perry, the Otters were able to bring a championship to Brandon in their division and have proven that they can produce quality talented players that can suit up with anyone in any division.  They might not win against the bigger schools on a consistent basis but they will show up and put up some surprising numbers against bigger schools and more experienced programs.  

    The Otter’s ace in the hole for this one is Assistant Coach Brian Grady who knows the Tigers play book as well as anyone in the state.  At MSJ Grady was the master of a high powered air attack that featured some of the best quarterbacks ever produced in Vermont High School Football.  The Otter program is young but eager and showing well against the Division 1 State Champion runners-up means that they have nothing to lose going into this one Saturday September 1st at 1 p.m.

    The Tigers will be a stern test.  Pete  Brakeley and his staff look for aggressive players who want to pay the price of being a winner and that means fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.

    If the talent is there you will see some flair.  If it is not they will win by out- working their foe and improving week after week.  Very seldom will you see a Tiger team make the same mistake more than once or twice, twice would be rare.

    Middlebury is coming off a perfect 8-0 regular season but graduation as it always does has thinned the ranks and there are some other issues as well.

    There could be plenty of room for younger players to “step up’ and find a job this year.  Names from last year that come to mind include, Junior Sean Harrison who as a Sophomore put his 200-pounds of power to work out of the backfield and played like a Senior.  He can run and he can block.  Harrison was also a fearless pass catcher over the middle and very seldom fumbles the ball.  Ben Almquist also a Junior was a key asset in the backfield last year for both short and long yardage situations.  Sam Jones who played on both sides of the ball in the shadow of the now graduated J.J. Mackey was as solid as a rock when duty called.  His patience and skill could pay off big this year.  The Tigers have some speed and quickness going in with players from last year who have been tested.  Ryan, Foley and Swift were juniors on that 8-0 team from 2006.  Passing the test early this year is their goal.

    An opposing coach looking at last years roster will quickly notice a core of juniors who have moved up a year and bring plenty of experience.  Names like Harrington, Fifield, Elithorpe, Ashley, Rinzer, McNally and Prouty come to mind as well as Lawson, Waren and Karpak.  Opponents will also remember Betourney, Cram and Shaw and some of their exploits on either side of the ball last year.

    Defensively, Middlebury will be aggressive and difficult to run on and because they play with a contain philosophy they can at times be beaten by the big play deep, but it happens only rarely.  The problem is that opponents have to be in a position to exploit this and that is not as easy as it sounds against a defense that will put pressure on the opposing skill players all game long.
Impatient opponents will pay with poor field position, fumbles and intersections against the Tiger D, and that isn’t likely to change this year.

    Otter Valley will be taking a giant leap for their program by opening up against a Division 1 powerhouse like the Tigers.  Middlebury needs to find the right formula and the right personnel to return to the big dance this November.  The game has plenty to offer and should attract an excellent crowd from both communities.  The fact that the game was played on a Saturday afternoon gave plenty of opposing coaches a chance to take a peek at the two clubs.  

    A game between a not too long ago Division 4 and a Division 1 ball club might not sound exciting but forget the cliche; there were too many good coaches involved in this one and the Otters have come a long way from Division 4....they have now graduated to Division 2.

    The Otters have something going in  Brandon; the town loves the Otters and the Otters love to win.  Dennis Perry coached Vermont to within a field goal of breaking a Shrine Game  jinx this year and his right hand man, Brian Grady, should be called Mr. Quarterback Coach....he is that good and that successful.  

    The offenses and defenses of both teams have had two tune-up scrimmages each and will be entering the season in fairly good shape.  The Tigers will have to cope with some academic ineligibility issues for at least the first game of the season.
Now comes the real deal and for two weeks in a row the Tigers will not have much time to slow the momentum if it can be generated this early in the year.

    Hartford will visit Doc Collins Field on Friday night September 7th at 7 p.m.  Middlebury ended the Hurricanes season last year in the Division 1 playdowns in Bristol on a walk-off field goal by J.J. Mackey.

    Hartford will be ready to rumble with Middlebury in the Tigers home opener on Friday night September 7th at 7 (get there early for a good seat in the new bleechers) but looking beyond O.V. is what the Otters are hoping for.

    It’s hard to believe that a year has almost past since we last gathered at the sidelines for a High School football game.  It is a seasonal passage that brings back some great memories and the promise of some brand new ones to come.   

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