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Middlebury Spoils B&B Comeback Bid with 42-28 Road Win

Tuesday October 20, 2009

By Mike Cameron

    The Tigers packed their gear for a road trip to Manchester and a 7 p.m. kick-off against the Burr and Burton Bulldogs.

    The “Dawgs” and Tigers had some great games on the gridiron back in the 1950’s.  With Burr and Burton back in the football business and the Tigers making a move to D-II this year, some of the older fans, yours truly included will remember those games gone bye.  One fact going in would be the Bull Dog fan support.  Home games are well attended in Manchester.  Coach Jason Thomas is making his mark in Manchester with a quick no-huddle offense and some big, quick developing talent on defense.

    The Tigers are not without their ‘fans-in-force’ on the road with good numbers following the team to Colchester to take on the Lakers, South Burlington to battle Mt. Mansfield, and then on to Hinesburg to play the Red Hawks of Champlain Valley Union. Now two more road trips in a row would dot the Tigers schedule.  Burr and Burton at Manchester, then back down Route 7 the following week to take on the Mount Anthony Union High School Patriots in Bennington.  The Pats are a contender in D1.

    The Tigers were in the thick of it in Division II going into this one.  Current divisional rankings into Week 6 showed the Tigers in a statistical dead heat with Milton’s Yellow Jackets with three games left to play.  Colchester, CVU, and Mt. Mansfield lead the D-II rankings with points awarded for playoff consideration.  The top 4-teams go to the playoffs with points awarded for wins within a division and also strength of schedule. There is also an index (quality point ratings) to determine tie breakers should it be needed at the end of the regular season.  The numbers will be important especially for that all important 4th playoff spot.

    It was great to see the undefeated 1959 Middlebury High gridders honored at halftime two weeks ago.  Not only did they go undefeated, they were a scoring machine and a defensive wall.  It was interesting to note that that two of the current Tiger players, Steel White #10 class of 2012, and Kyle Rouse #8 class of 2011 are relatives of two of the members of the 1959 squad.  Steel is Don Keeler’s grandson and Kyle is the grandson of Dick Rouse.  Don and Dick are the only living members of the 1959 squad to have grandsons playing for the Tigers. We thank Karen White for this information.

At Apple Jack Field

    The Bull Dogs under Coach Jason Thomas were still smarting from a loss at the hands of Otter Valley the previous week and they were determined not to let it happen again.

    The “Dawgs” got it going early and scored first with their quick huddle offense confusing the Tigers defense.  Trailing 7-0, Middlebury notched a TD off a 76-yard Marshall Hastings punt return and no extra points.  Middlebury then racked up 36-consecutive points including a 29-point second quarter blitz.

    With Co Capt Ryan Foley and Hastings scoring from both sides of the ball including a 1-yard run by Foley, a Brandon Burrell pass of 33-yards to Foley, a 48-yard interception TD run by Hastings and a nice open field run by Burrell on the option it looked like wipe out time for the Bull Dogs.  Jerry Hoffman got the second half underway with a 72-yard kick off return that was a showcase effort on his part showing why he is a threat every time he touches the ball.  With the Tigers up 42-7 the Bull Dogs could have run for cover but the Bull Dogs would not quit.  They made a comeback!  Led by Jared Bovey, Jake Oliver, and lanky frosh quarterback, Jake Stalcup, Burr and Burton started to get things going again in the second half.  The shot-gunning Stalcup threw TD tosses to Oliver and Edis Muminovic keeping the Bull Dogs respectable and preventing a total blow out.  But the Tiger defense would not let them gain any traction as Big Joey Zeo, Riley Billings, Payton Hobbs and Austin Quesnel with help from Tyler Dunton, and Tony Doria kept the defensive pressure on till the final play of the game.  It was an excellent total team effort from Middlebury and had to be gratifying for Coach Dennis Smith and his staff.  They had a bus trip back to Addison County to quickly celebrate and that’s it.  Mt. Anthony is next this Friday night in Bennington and the Pats just defeated BHS at Burlington in a shut out.  The Tigers are now 5-2 and in the D II hunt.  Where has the season gone?  Only 2 regular season games left.  Both are very important.  

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