Tigers Shock Rutland
MUHS notch number five against Red Raiders with impressive come- from- behind win 20-18
Tuesday October 3, 2006
By Mike Cameron
It has been over a decade since the MUHS Tigers Varsity Football Team has hung a loss on Rutland High School.
Many top notch players have graduated from both schools since then and many outstanding football games have taken played between the two schools.
It’s interesting that the teams are not really considered rivals as such by most of the scribes who cover high school football. But if close scores are a factor in determining a rivalry, if exciting games are a factor and if respect for each others programs is a factor, then rivalry might be an appropriate word even though Rutland has had the decided advantage in wins over the last decade or so.
One thing that even the most strident Raider fan will concede is that Middlebury will always give them a serious challenge right to the final gun and that the Tigers are a threat to win anytime the two teams get together. Given a couple of breaks, the Tigers believe they can win and the Raiders knew this going in. Rutland has the same winning attitude and both teams are blessed with talent and quality coaching. The edge would go to the Raiders on defense and to the Tigers on offense.
Former MSJ standout and coach, Chris Thayre who writes a weekly piece for Vermont Sports Magazine.com has followed the Rutland sports beat since the late 70’s and he knows only too well about the disparity in depth between the Tigers and the Raiders. he noted that “the game should settle once and for all just how undermanned Middlebury is if they actually are undermanned. Rutland is almost three deep at every position but they are not going to take the Tigers lightly,” Thayer observed.
Thayer remembers last year when at the very end of the season a Brattleboro team previously undefeated was sent packing by Hartford after eliminating Rutland only to be defeated in the D-1Championship game by a healthy dose of MSJ Mountie mystique. High School Football in Vermont is full of surprises and the Tigers hoped to spring a few at Alumni Field in Rutland on Friday night September 30th 2006, the last day of the month. Would it be the end of their winning streak or the beginning of something even bigger?
Tiger Pride Prevails
After spotting the Raiders two TD’s. Middlebury went on to craft one of the biggest come-backs in the schools football history. The defense dug in and started to get the angle on Rutland quarterback Sam Reynolds in the second half. The Tigers offensive line would not give the bigger Rutland defenders up-front an inch and Tiger quarterback J.J. Mackey proved that he can throw a clutch TD pass after hitting Ben Almquist with a 45-yarder to get the Tigers back in it. Sean Harrison raced 53-yards to pay dirt a short time later and the Tigers got the PAT’s and led 14-12 before a stunned capacity crowd at Alumni field.
In the second half Rutland roared back and notched another TD after a long sustained drive. The Tigers countered and ran the ball right at the heart of Rutland’s jumbo sized defensive unit as Ben Almquist scored on a 13-yard jaunt with 7-minutes left and the Tigers held off the late Raider rally to win 20-18. It was a total team effort by MUHS.
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