Main Sections

Tigers Shut Out Brattleboro 28-0

photo by Mike Cameron 25th & 50th Honored at Tiger Homecoming ‘07 MHS and MUHS Tigers from the past were honored on Friday night 10-05-07 at Doc Collins Field before a big crowd. 25th Anny Squad members in the front row include ; Larry Provencher, Pat Shaw, Ricky Reaume and Steve Lamonde. Behind the 25th are members of the 50th Anny Squad Members and they include; Don Keeler, Mike MacIntyre, Larry Duffany, Bill Birlawski, John Barrera, Don Burton, Bob Smith, Ken Burton, Dick Rouse, Dick Turner and Bob Ryan. Dick Bullock was the Master of Ceremonies for the half time event. At right front Ann Baldwin class of 1950 was inducted into the MHS/MUHS Hall of Fame.

photo by Mike Cameron Tigers Ben Almquist #4 gets a full head of steam as he heads for the corner behind #36 Chad Foley who is blocking Bratts #36 Alex Bristol while Tiger #8 Taylor Ryan lines up another colonel further up-field. The Tigers won the important D-1 contest 28-0 in MIddlebury and are now 6-0 in ‘07.

photo by Mike Cameron MUHS Fullback Sean Harrison #3 shakes off a tackle by BUHS defensive end Dylan Larabee #63 on route to a touchdown in the Tigers 28-0 rout of Brattleboro on 10-5-07 at Doc Collins Field.

Tuesday October 9, 2007

By Mike Cameron

    Early in the season the Colonels were highly touted.  One reason for that was their 1,045 pound offensive  line truss consisting of 4 players who checked in at 250, 245, 250, and 300 respectively.  

    Big numbers indeed but not enough to stop a Hartford High  defensive unit that allowed the Colonels just one touchdown while  ringing up three of their own a couple of weeks ago.

    Funny game, high school football.

    On Friday night October 5th,  the Colonels were in town to take on the Middlebury Tigers at Doc Collins Field in a 7 p.m. show down.  

    The Tigers also made a statement the week before at Essex by outplaying the Hornets after trailing early and at the half.  

    The Homecoming crowd   would see their team take advantage of these mistakes and penalties and send the Colonels packing while the officiating crew collected their orange hankies that fell like the leaves along Court Street throughout the contest especially in the first half.

    Right from the “get-go” Middlebury was ready to make big plays as Ben Almquist put a mean hit on Bratt scat back Justin Plank on the opening kickoff.  The ball quickly ejected from Plank’s grasp and was immediately swarmed on by orange jerseys near midfield.

    Sam Jones answered the call and moved the Tigers to the Bratt 1-yard line with some nice play fakes along the way.  The Tigers senior signal caller then sent fullback Sean Harrison up the gut for the touch and the kick-after was dead on.  It was 7-0 Tigers as the locals completed their first of many conversions of Bratt errors forced and otherwise.

    Three minutes later Harrison ripped through the Colonel secondary for his second touchdown of the night after the Tiger defensive unit forced  yet another Bratt miss-que.  

    Up-front and in the Tiger secondary, Ben Shaw, Eric Fifield, Kurt Prouty, Tyler Mc Nally, Nate Lawson, Travis Betourney and Travis Karpak and others played solid and intelligent defense while being outweighed by the Colonels by a substantial margin.  The Tiger  deep secondary supplied excellent coverage.

    Middlebury sacked Colonel quarterback Andy Cavanaugh three times in the contest and forced  five  Colonel fumbles.  Bratt continued to self destruct with frustration adding penalties for hitting out of bounds, face mask and personal fouls in key situations.

    Almquist added further problems for the visitors  when he ran in for a score just before the half and the kick was good.  Middlebury led at the intermission by a 21-0 score and  the big home-coming crowd was treated to a halftime introduction of former football players and a new, well respected, Hall of Fame inductee.

    Members of the 25th and 50th Anniversary teams were honored.

    A special honor was also presented to Ann Baldwin, Middlebury High School Class of 1950.  Ann was not only an excellent student athlete, she has remained a devoted volunteer in our community and a terrific role model.

    The second half saw Brattleboro attempting to turn things around.  Head Coach Charly Mc Laughlin and his assistants apparently made it clear that things needed to change but the Tigers were equal to the adjustments that Bratt made in the third quarter.

    The Colonels went to the run and were able to spring their key offensive asset in the person of sophomore  Colby Kerylow for several nice misdirection carries.  This opened up the pass for Cavanaugh and he was able to find Jared Pacheco open on several occasions.  Bratt looked like they were about to score midway through the third having driven deep into Tiger territory but one of their five fumbles turned them away.  

    Ben Shaw sacked Cavanaugh for a 25-yard loss on another.

    The Tigers got an insurance touchdown from Zach Robinson who added a nifty 41-yard jaunt late in the contest to help seal the Tigers deal 28 to nothing after the point after.  

    The Tiger’s coaching staff has to be more than optimistic about the teams progress as the second half of the season unfolds.  Middlebury is 6-0 and comes to play every week.  If we know Middlebury they are still capable of getting better and will if the trend continues before the end of the regular season.

Printer Friendly

Top

Advertisements

Search our Archives