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Tigers Defense Shines in 28-7 Win Over Saint Johnsbury Hilltoppers

photo by Mike Cameron L to R: #4 Ben Almquist, #36 Chad Foley, #3, Sean Harrison, #33 Ben Shaw, #54 Tyler McNally, #53 Eric Fifield and #2 Sam Jones line up against St. Johnsbury Academy on Friday Night, September 21, 2007. The Tigers won the game 28-7 at Doc Collins Field.

Tuesday September 25, 2007

By Mike Cameron

    The 3-0 MUHS Tiger Varsity Football Team came in to this one with three solid wins under their belt.  Otter Valley, Hartford and most recently Rutland have been turned away by a hard hitting defensive unit and an offense that can bust a big play anywhere on the field at any time.

    Middlebury has some depth and experience this year and it shows especially late in the games they have played so far.  Rutland discovered that last week.

    At least to a casual observer the Tigers seem to be a confident team and a certain harmony appears to exist among the players.  But this is high school football and keeping everything in place week in and week out is difficult. Ask a varsity coach with a winning record.

    St. J. came in at 0-3, the Tigers were 3-0 and wanted to continue the momentum after a big win against Rutland the week earlier.  

    What the Tigers didn’t realize early in the contest was that Saint J. was a much better team than their record indicated.  It showed early on with a smoothly excited half-back-option pass completed for a large chunk of turf on the Hilltoppers first possession.  But Tiger linebacker Ben Shaw would set the tone of the game in the first quarter with a big hit on St J’s fleet footed halfback Matt Lane. It was a text book one-on-one shot you could hear a block away from Doc Collins Field.  The Toppers moved to the goal line but were turned away by the Tigers and a penalty after moving to a foot away from scoring.

    The defense would have many more moments before it was over with Shaw, Fifield, Mc Nally and an alert secondary ready to ball-hawk every time St. J. quarterbacks dropped back to throw and that was often and ineffective.  

    The first half saw the Tiger offense   as flat and a bit confused with the Hilltopper defensive sets but that was quickly diagnosed and after some dropped balls and penalties the Tigers began to settle down and dominate the contest.

    Ben Almquist demonstrated to the visitors why he is a legitimate game-breaker.  Ben had 2-TD’s and several big plays in the defensive secondary.

    Tiger quarterback Sam Jones ran the offense well, didn’t panic when some early miscues occurred and made several nice runs on the option.

    Almquist went 27-yards with a quick burst of speed in the secondary to put the Tigers up 7-Zip at the half after Lance Robinson’s p.a.t.

    In the third quarter,  Middlebury sustained a drive to the Topper 16-yard line and Chad Foley raced in for another TD.  Moments later Jones threw a nice soft pass while under pressure to Almquist who was open in the middle and out-raced the coverage for another score.

    This was followed by a 74-yard touchdown jaunt by Robinson that stunned the Saint J. defenders but they would not fold their tents and it set the stage for a hard fought fourth quarter of action in front of a big hometown crowd.

    One bright spot for St J. came in the fourth quarter when Ed Curling made a brilliant cut in the short secondary and ran away from the Tigers defenders, for 72-yards and a TD.  The point was good but the damage had already been done.

    Middlebury 28...St. Johnsbury Academy 7.  The Toppers are 0-4 but still could be a giant killer before the season is over.  The Tigers even with some first half jitters in this one are apparently healthy and look prime for a showdown with the Essex Hornets in Essex Junction on Friday night September 28th at “The Hornet’s Nest.”­

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