Serving the Vermont Champlain Valley Area for 45 Years
Saturday May 5, 2018 Edition
Main Sections
Front Page SportsValley VitalsIt's in the StarsStarwiseArchivesLinksAbout The VoiceContact Us







Tigers Roll at Rice Memorial 39-0 Gordon Notches 4 Scores

Tigers #88 Larocque and #56 Bruce Wright, strip the ball from Rice quarterback, Jack Fitzgerald during first quarter action at Rice.
photo by Mike Cameron
Tigers #88 Larocque and #56 Bruce Wright, strip the ball from Rice quarterback, Jack Fitzgerald during first quarter action at Rice.

Tuesday October 13, 2015

By Mike Cameron

The last time these two met was in the Division 2 Title Game at Castelton College.  The year was 2010 and Rice won 38-20.  Times have changed.  Middlebury is on a roll and Rice is struggling through their first Division 1 season in decades after moving up from D-2 this season. Early injuries have hurt the Green Knights including the loss of speedster Alex Bond for the year. Still; Rice coach Neil Brodeur and his staff are capable of crafting a winning game plan.  Could Rice move the ball against arguably the best defensive team in the state?  The Tigers were 6-0 going in after another impressive come-from-behind win at home against Essex, a team that gave Middlebury a solid challenge for three quarters of play.
     Middlebury registered another shutout in this one played before a large Rice Open House Saturday afternoon crowd at Bill Lander's Field.  It was too much Oakley Gordon in the first half and Jack Hounchell in the second half for Rice.  Hard runs from Ali Abdul-Sater, Cort Fischer, Parker Gross, Jerry Niemo and Trey Kaufmann had Rice reeling early on and they would never recover.
Middlebury scored on every Tiger possession in the first half.  The Tiger Defensive Unit quickly diagnosed the Rice shot gun attack and harassed Green Knight quarterback Jack Fitzgerald from Rice's first possession.
The Tigers lit up the scoreboard first on a perfect13-yard pass from Gordon to tight end Sawyer Ryan.  Gordon's kick was good and Middlebury was off to the races at the 7:58 mark of the first quarter.
Rice came back quickly with Fitzgerald throwing screen passes and sending Cam Cousino up the middle for good gains before the Tigers front five made adjustments and forced a poor punt at midfield.
The Tigers went right at Rice with Abdul-Sater, Fischer and Niemo's power runs off tackle and up the middle.
Tiger offensive line blocking was crisp led by Bruce Wright the hub of Tigers offensive line. Trey Kaufmann grabbed a Gordon's screen pass and plowed in at 1:59 left in the first on a 19-yard catch and run and the Tigers were up 13-0.  The P.A.T. was missed.  
   Rice again went 3 and out starting the second quarter.  Middlebury went right back at it on offense after Beauchamp, Messinger, Grier, Laberge, Wright, Payne both Mav and River stopped the Green Knights with strong control of the line of scrimmage and a fierce pass rush. Gordon slashed into the end zone on Middlebury's next offensive series after some great play fakes and a nice set up pass to Brady Larocque With 6:46 left in the first half the Tigers were beginning to pull away by the score of 19-0.
   Maverick Payne made a huge stop on the ensuing kick off.  Tiger defenders stopped Rice again and Middlebury scored  at 3:45 left in the first half.  Niemo and Kayfmann set up the score by Cortland Fischer who blasted in from 1-yard out with defenders hanging on him.  Doug Delorenzo booted the point'-after deep into the end zone and the Tigers were putting more distance between the Green Knights and themselves, leading 26-0
   Rice drove to the Tiger 44 and ran out of downs.  Middlebury stormed back and pushed to the Rice 1-yard line. With a 4th and goal and 30seconds left in the half, Gordon again had Rice off-balance with a big play fake and ran in off tackle for a touchdown.  The kick hit the right upright and rejected.  It was Tigers at the Half 32-0. Jerry Neimo would add another Tiger TD in the second half with 6:37 remaining in the third quarter, and the Tigers would stop Rice 39-0
  The Green Knights went to the passing game and Jack Hounchell the Tigers senior corner back would pick off two Rice quarterbacks three times with some of the best defensive plays any one has seen in the open field this year.  Hounchell is a key defensive weapon in the Tiger secondary.
   The final score was 39-0 as Middlebury has quietly developed some depth in the line at running back and in the deep secondary.  Second half runs by Junior fullback Spencer Carpenter and a blocked pass by Junior Dawson “Diesel” McGrath  bode well for the future and the season's final games.
   Middlebury will travel to Hinesburg next Friday night, October 17th for a rare night game at Champlain Valley Union.  The game will be played under portable lighting with a 7 p.m. kickoff scheduled. The Tigers will put their 7-0 record in 2015 on the line in this Division 1 finale.  The Red Hawks are coming off a heart-breaking home field loss against Mt. Anthony 30-27.             


 Printer Friendly  Top
Advertisements


Search our Archives


· More Options



   

Agricultural Weather Forecast:

© 2006-18 The Valley Voice • 656 Exchange St., Middlebury, VT 05753 • 802-388-6366 • 802-388-6368 (fax)
Valleywides: [email protected] • Classifieds: [email protected] • Info: [email protected]