Football team massacres Mules, opens season 2-0

Author: Andrew Schlegel

After a hard-fought 10-7 win over Wesleyan in their season-opener, the football team went on road and defeated Colby 23-0 on Seaverns Field, catapulting them to 2-0. Already the Panther football program is off to its best start since 1997.

Tight-end and co-captain Jamie Staples '07, who caught three balls for 36 yards, bringing in a touchdown, said, "All three dimensions of our team performed: defense did a great job shutting down Colby's powerful run game, offense controlled the ball and the rhythm of the game and special teams gave us great field position to allow us to score."

The entire team definitely came to play Saturday. Quarterback Tiger Lyon '07 completed 7 of 14 passes for 84 yards and had one touchdown. Behind him, Stefan Hrdina '07 rushed 27 times for 94 yards and had two touchdowns.

When the offense could not get the job done, punter Steve Hauschka '07 cleaned up the mess. He punted eight times for 345 yards and many of his kicks pinned the Mules deep in their own territory. As a result, the disparity between average field positions for each respective team throughout the game was telling. Colby started most of their drives around their own 20-yard line, while Middlebury began most of its drives close to half-field around their 46-yard line.

The Panthers were the first to score at the 5:07 mark of the first quarter off a 14-yard carry by Hrdina. The scoring drive came about after a 53-yard punt from Hauschka put Colby in poor field position on their own eight-yard line. After three and out, the Panthers got the ball back and four plays later Hrdina entered the end zone for the team's first touchdown of the season.

In the second quarter, co-captain Scott Secor '07 ended a Colby drive with his first interception of the season. After an unsuccessul Middlebury possession, Hauschka knocked a punt that left Colby with the ball on their own seven-yard line. Again the Mules ran three plays before they had to punt.

Middlebury went up 14-0 with 3:56 to go in the second quarter after Lyon found Staples for a seven-yard TD strike.

In the third quarter, the Panther defense clamped down. Following a 52-yard punt by Hauschka the Panthers had another strong defensive set, including a sack by Kevin Ryan '07, one of his record-setting six on the day. The Mules were left helpless at their own four-yard line.

"Our front seven were excellent and we had great individual efforts from Kevin Ryan and Erik Woodring, who were both unstoppable," said Secor. Woodring '07, last week's NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week, led the Panther defense again and ended the day with another 14 tackles.

After a holding penalty called back, a Lyon-to-Hrdina touchdown pass early in the drive, Hauschka hit a 28-yard field goal at the 7:16 mark of the third quarter to put the Panthers up by three scores, 17-0.

With 32 seconds left in the game, Hrdina did get his second touchdown of the day when he scored on a one yard carry. Following the final scoring drive for the Panthers, the Mules were able to run one play before time ran out and Middlebury won.

For the second consecutive week, the Panthers came out victorious and had a player receive NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. This week the opponent was Colby and fittingly a kicker won the honor. Mules are normally known for kicking, but this time around it was Hauschka. Said Staples, "[his] kicking was phenomenal."

This win was the first shutout the Panthers have had since 2000, when the team shutout Amherst and Williams in back-to-back games. Over the next two weekends, Middlebury will play Amherst (2-0) at home and then travel Williams (2-0). The top of the NESCAC standings will be up for grabs.