Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Middlebury Campus
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Panthers Dominate Amherst, Improve to 3-0

No member of the football team had ever beaten Amherst. Not a single member of the team had ever been 3-0. Until Saturday Oct. 6, that is, when Middlebury dominated the defending NESCAC champions Amherst, 24-3 in a tour de force performance, handing the Lord Jeffs their first loss in over a year and ending their 10-game winning streak.

Led by an offensive line with two returning members from the 2011 All-NESCAC team and a trio of explosive running backs, the Lord Jeffs entered the game leading the NESCAC in rushing, averaging over 300 yards per game on the ground alone through the first two weeks of the season. Saturday, the Middlebury defense limited them to just 146 rushing yards on 43 carries — a paltry 3.4 yards per carry.

The defense also continued to make big plays, bookending the Middlebury win by forcing turnovers from a pair of Amherst quarterbacks. The unit’s improvement, however, goes far beyond forcing turnovers. Through the first three games of the season, the Panthers defense has allowed just over 11 points per game, the fewest in the NESCAC. Last season the defense ranked last in points allowed, giving up more than 31 points per game.

“It’s the little things that we didn’t do last year,” said defensive coordinator Doug Mandigo. “Eight-yard gains or completed passes are inevitable in a football game. The whole idea is not [allowing] an eight-yard gain or a completed pass [to become] a 50-yard gain or a touchdown. We’re just much better at that than we were last year and so we haven’t given up as many big plays as we did last year.”

The offense, meanwhile, struggled to find its rhythm early in the game — a worrying trend for quarterback Mac Foote ’14 and company, who have scored just two first quarter touchdowns in three games.

“We’ve moved the ball well, but we haven’t been able to convert on big third downs [early in the game],” Foote said. “It’s something we can’t afford [going forward].”

It was Amherst, therefore, who threatened to take an early first quarter lead. Following a three-and-out on the Panthers first drive, the Lord Jeffs marched 37 yards on eight plays to set up a first and 10 from the Middlebury 23-yard line. On the ensuing play, however, linebacker Matt Crimmins ’14, who blocked a field goal at the stroke of halftime the week before, sacked Amherst quarterback Max Lippe, forcing a fumble in the process, which defensive lineman Jimmy Tilson ’13 recovered.

The Middlebury offense punted on its next two drives, but the defense forced consecutive three-and-outs, keeping the game in a scoreless tie through the first quarter. Finally, on the first play of the second quarter, Middlebury ended the scoring drought as Foote found Preseason All-American Billy Chapman ’13 for an 11-yard touchdown pass, the third of the season for the 6’4’’, 223-pound tight end. Two possessions later, Foote and Chapman connected again, this time for an eight-yard score, capping a six-play, 64-yard drive and extending the Middlebury lead to 14-0.

Chapman caught 12 balls on the afternoon for 110 yards and two scores while Driscoll, coming off a NESCAC Player of the Week Award, brought down 11 receptions for 126 yards.

“[Chapman] and Driscoll have a really great understanding of route running and defenses and where to sit down, when to stand and run,” said head coach Bob Ritter. “This is [Foote’s] second year with those guys and there’s great chemistry there. [Foote’s] going to lead them into the right spot and they’re going to be [there].”

Hoping to take a three-score lead before the half, the Panthers defense forced an Amherst punt with 6:41 remaining in the second quarter. Foote orchestrated a drive using short passes to Driscoll and running back Remi Ashkar ’13 to open up looks downfield. On second and five from the Lord Jeffs 44-yard line, the Middlebury signal caller found Brendan Rankowitz ’15 over the middle of the field for a catch and run of 21 yards. The home team’s drive was stranded there, however, as Foote threw consecutive incompletions on first and second down from the Amherst 22-yard line, followed by a sack on third and 10. Out of field goal range, but too deep in Lord Jeffs territory to punt, Ritter left the offense on the field on fourth down. Foote’s 12-yard completion to Josh Amster ’13, however, came up four yards short.

The defense yet again picked up the offense, forcing the Lord Jeffs into another three-and-out — their sixth of the half. With 50 seconds left in the quarter and all three timeouts remaining, Foote and the offense took over at midfield after a 30-yard punt from Amherst punter Jackson McGonagle. Following a conversion on third-and-six down to the Amherst 24-yard line, Foote found first-year wide receiver Harrison Goodkind ’16 who made a leaping grab over the middle on a 20-yard pass to the four-yard line. Following a pair of timeouts and an unsuccessful run on first-and-goal by Ashkar, Middlebury faced second-and-goal from the three-yard line with eight seconds remaining in the first half. After surveying the end zone for an open receiver Foote stepped out of a would-be-tackle and dove into the end zone, scoring on the final offensive play of the half to give Middlebury a 21-0 lead.

“I read [the play] front to back, but everyone was covered from the right side to the left side,” Foote said, describing the play. “I have thrown to Driscoll late over the middle [in the past] and everyone else knew that too, so Amherst was pushed back and I was able to walk into the end zone sort of untouched.”

Foote finished the first half with two touchdown passes in addition to the rushing touchdown — the first score on the ground in his Middlebury career. The Newton, Mass. native finished the game with 379 yards through the air, marred only by a second half interception.

The Panthers opened the second half with the ball, but were unable to extend the lead as Foote threw three consecutive incomplete passes after picking up a first down. Amherst, sensing a chance to find its way back into the game engineered its only scoring drive of the game. Riding running backs Ryan Silva and 240-pound Steven Jellison, the Lord Jeffs gained 61 yards on 14 plays. With its back to the goal line, however, the Middlebury defense stiffened, bringing down Amherst tailback Tyler Jacobs for a loss of a yard on third down and eight at the Middlebury nine-yard line. Amherst head coach E.J. Mills opted to attempt a field goal, which kicker Jake Schmidt converted from 29 yards out. It would be Amherst’s only score of the game.

The Panthers responded on the first drive of the fourth quarter as first-year kicker Jake Feury ’16 capped an 11-play, 33-yard drive with a 28-yard field goal to bring the Middlebury lead back to 21.

In fitting fashion, the defense finished the game emphatically as first-year linebacker and NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week Tim Patricia ’16 intercepted Amherst’s second-string quarterback DJ Petropolous with 2:25 remaining. Patricia led the team in tackles for the second consecutive week adding 12 total tackles to his team-high 32 this season. His interception, however, demonstrated that Patricia will make plays in coverage, as well.

“I had been lurking the past three plays [on the drive],” Patricia said. “[Petropolous] went to his first read a couple of times earlier so I knew he would probably try to dish it to his second read the next time down. So I lurked underneath that [route], he threw it and I made a play.”

The interception sealed the Middlebury victory and likely Patricia’s NESCAC Player of the Week Award as well.

“I was really excited to get the nod from the NESCAC — it was awesome,” he said. “But the win was really all I needed.”

The 3-0 Panthers travel to Williamstown, Mass. Saturday, Oct. 13 to face Williams (1-2). The Ephs have struggled with early season injuries at key positions, but have dominated Middlebury historically. The Panthers are looking to beat the Ephs for the first time since 2000.


Comments