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Tigers Rebound Against Colchester 27-7

photo by Mike Cameron Tigers #77 Senior Maverick Payne takes on Colchester Lakers Quarterback Alex O’Connell in a game played at Middlebury on Friday night, September 23, 2016.

Tuesday September 27, 2016

By Mike Cameron

After a week of focused practice, the Middlebury Union High School Tigers regained some of their old flair on offense and continued to be stingy on defense.
   In front of a homecoming throng at Doc Collins Field, the Tigers put in a pivotal first 12 minutes,  stopping the Colchester Lakers first possession and then executing their triple option better than they did against Brattleboro the previous week.  The Lakers were on deck to spoil the party with their outstanding nose tackle Mason Patrie (a 330 pound senior) plugging up the middle.  Steve Emmons a junior defensive end and Alex Oconnell the quarterback and safety were also spoiling for battle.  The first quarter ended in a 0-0 tie but only because the Tigers ran out of clock driving deep in the red zone    
   They had fashioned an impressive drive converting several crucial third down plays with Spencer Carpenter and Trey Kaufmann  lugging the ball on their way to a TD by Andrew Gleason from the 5-yard line at 10:45 of the second quarter.  The kick was good.   On the ensuing kick off, the Lakers went to a power football drive of their own and marched down the field to tie the score.  
   Alex O’connell found wide-out Tom Meadows in the end zone.  Meadows made a nice grab in the middle of traffic for the score.  A face mask penalty against the Tigers helped Colchester sustain that scoring drive.  It was 7-7 at the intermission but only after the Tiger's junior corner, Lane Sheldrick picked off an
O’connell pass at the Tiger 2 yard-line to prevent a Laker go-ahead score just before intermission.
   With the Tigers offensive line clicking better this week, Gleason was also calling his number more often and it was working.  The rangy quarterback and his full back Carpenter and two way stand-out Doug Delorenzo went right to work in the third quarter.  Carpenter plowed in from the 4-yard line for a score and Gleason hit Delorenzo from 15-yards out for another.  The Lakers were unable to answer with drives or big plays of their own and the Tiger defense continued to play well.  Colchester's Matt Hesford ran the ball with authority for the visitors.
   Lane Sheldrick continued to earn his stripes for Middlebury with a 4-yard TD blast in the 4th quarter to end the scoring.  The rugged Junior had a great night in front of the big 2016 Homecoming crowd that included former players from the 1966 Tigers football team headed for the MUHS Sports Hall of Fame.
   An excellent win for Dennis Smith and his staff.  A good showing for Colchester under the direction of Coach Tom Perry.  Nex up for Middlebury, a road trip to South Burlington as the Tigers continue to be a work in progress in 2016.  Final score Tigers 27 Lakers 7.  The Tigers are now 3-1 at the half way point of the 2016 regular season and the Lakers are 1-3.

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