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Tigers Tackle Cosmos 22-14 in Monsoon and Mud

Tuesday October 6, 2009

By Mike Cameron

   The Tigers have had difficulty of late generating any kind of offense.  At Champlain Valley Union in their last outing, Middlebury was stopped cold by a well prepared squad led by an excellent quarterback and a defensive unit that will spell trouble for their opponents the rest of the way.  The Tigers played excellent defense, forcing turnovers and hitting hard in the traditional Tiger manner but they were unable to take advantage of the Red Hawk turnovers.  This week they took on a Division III opponent that also has had some trouble getting things going early this year. But lately Springfield has made some adjustments and they have paid off.

Thoughts Going Into Springfield Game

    Springfield came to town as the Division III defending champs and where holding their own in the league this year with a 3-1-record.  The Cosmos however were coming off a big win, plus an emotional high against Woodstock 34-7.  In spite of the mathematical differences between the two opponents i.e. school size, competition and other factors, the two teams matched up pretty well going in.  

    A big question mark for the Tigers before the kick off was the status of Jimmy Danyow.  Danyow suffered a knee injury against the Red Hawks two weeks ago and a knee problem can be tricky.  Loosing the big two way performer and team leader would be a large gap to fill for MUHS on both sides of the line.

In The Rain Tigers Roar

    The Tiger faithful huddled under umbrellas, plastic and other materials to get out of the rain that soaked the field in this one.  Springfield got it going on the opening drive of the contest.  Fullback Matt Mitchell who collected over 100 yards on 19 lugs paced the opening Springfield drive and scored on a 29-yard- burst, then added the p.a.t. with another blast for an 8-0 lead.  The Tigers were sluggish early but moved to the Cosmo 29 where a penalty eventually forced the ball over to Springfield on 4th and 9.

   Cosmo quarterback Brandon Boyle used a spread offense out of the shotgun to keep the Tigers off balance but Middlebury made the required adjustments early and often.  Ryan Foley’s punts in the heavy rain kept Springfield bottled up in their own end but they maintained the lead.  With 1:12 left in the half, the Tigers began to click with Ryan Foley and Jerry Hoffman lugging to the Cosmo 6-yard line.  Hoffman threw to Foley for a 6-yard TD and added the points-after-touchdown with a fake-kick-pass to Foley that tied the game 8-8 at the break.

Tigers Take Command

    The Tigers got the go-ahead score from Foley by moving the ball to the Cosmo 3-yard line after a 34-yard pass from Brendan Burrell to Foley who went in to score 2 plays later and the kick was wide.  The Tigers were up 14-8.

    Foley took in another pass for 13-yards and a TD in the third quarter and grabbed the p.a.t pass from Hoffman for the Tigers 22-8 lead but the Cosmos came back…in the fourth quarter with a drive of their own against a tough Tiger defensive unit that seemed to play better the more the rain came down.  Springfield, directed by Bandon Boyle moved the ball to the Tiger 12-yard line after two solid runs by Mitchell.  Boyle found split end John Estee in the end zone and hit him on his number 3 for a TD….the p.a.t. try was fumbled and the Tigers were still up 22-14.   The Cosmos would not go quietly.

    Middlebury’s defensive unit was able to seal the deal however and the Tigers are now 3-2 on the year.  They will face D II Lyndon on Friday night October 9th, 2009 at Doc Collins for the 2009 Homecoming Game.  The Tigers are vastly improved since playing CVU and if they can get back to full team strength soon, watch out!
 

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