To hear the players' post-game reactions click on their names below.
With Middlebury trailing 24-20 and facing fourth-and-goal from the Trinity seven-yard line with less than 90 seconds remaining in the game, quarterback McCallum Foote ’14 connected with wide receiver Matt Minno '16 in the end zone to give the Panthers the lead. 1:12 later, first-year cornerback Nate Leedy ’17 sealed Middlebury’s 27-24 victory with a leaping interception at the goal line as time expired, sending a capacity Homecoming crowd into delirium.
The victory improved the Panthers to 5-1, giving Middlebury an outside shot at a NESCAC title, while knocking the Bantams (5-1) off their undefeated pedestal and ending Trinity’s 14-game winning streak. Entering Saturday’s game, Trinity had won nine of the past 11 meetings between the two teams, including the past two by a combined score of 87-14.
Undeterred by past performances, Middlebury drove the length of the field on its first drive, as Foote completed five of seven attempts for 49 yards, culminating in a seven-yard touchdown pass to Minno — a play call the Panthers would return to on the game-winning score.
The touchdown pass was Foote’s 12th of the season and 63rd of his career, breaking the previous program record of 62 set by Donnie McKillop ’11.
“Mac really deserves it,” said Minno the NESCAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, who caught nine passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns. “He’s the one who makes the offense tick, and he’s played at such an unbelievable level for so long for this program.”
Defensively, the Panthers limited Trinity to just 67-first quarter yards on three, futile possessions as the Bantams struggled to move the ball against a stiff wind and a stingier Middlebury defense that held the Bantam offense, which entered the game averaging over 230 rushing yards per game, to just 3.3 yards per carry and 148 total rushing yards.
“We had guys making plays all over the field,” Matt Benedict ’15 said. “We were more physical with them this year than last year. I thought last year we kind of shied away. This year we punched them in the mouth and gave it right back to them and they didn’t like it.”
Benedict led the way from his free safety position, racking up 19 tackles over the course of the game and winning NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
“Matt’s just a smart, smart player — maybe the most coachable player I’ve ever coached,” said defensive coordinator Doug Mandigo. “He’s not the most gifted athlete, but he’s an incredibly sharp kid. You can give information [on what the opposing offense is going to do] and he takes advantage of it and that’s why he makes plays.”
Turnovers and missed opportunities, however, threatened to derail Middlebury following the opening-drive touchdown. On their second drive of the game, the Panthers appeared to stall at their own 28-yard line as a personal foul forced Middlebury to punt on fourth-and-21. What could have been disastrous for Middlebury turned into the miraculous as a high snap forced punter Mike Dola ’15 to pull the ball back from an oncoming Trinity rusher and, with a convoy of blockers in front of him, the 6’2’’, 210-pound specialist rumbled for a 23-yard gain and a first down. The Panthers failed to capitalize on the special teams swing, however, as Dola pulled a 24-yard field goal attempt wide left later in the drive.
The game became more precarious from there as Foote threw a pair of interceptions inside Middlebury territory on consecutive possessions that led to 10 Trinity points in the form of a four-yard Ben Crick touchdown run and a 37-yard Ben Rosenblatt field goal.
Trailing for the first time in the game, Foote and the offense responded with an 11-play, 71-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a 17-yard strike from Foote to his tight end Billy Sadik-Khan ’14. The drive started with a 17-yard carry from running back Ryan Hislop ’15, who started in place of injured teammates Matt Rea ’14 and Joey Zelkowitz ’17. Hislop, who entered the game with just 39 career rushing yards, carried the ball 19 times for 68 yards and provided crucial pass protection for Foote.
“He upped his game for that day,” said head coach Bob Ritter. “Once he had some contact and was in the moment he ran really hard with his shoulders perpendicular to the sideline, to get north-south to get everything he could and always fell forward.”
Middlebury’s lead was short-lived, however. Trinity enjoyed its first sustained drive of the half with 5:24 remaining, as Crick found pay dirt for the second time in the game, this time from 15 yards out after a 12-play drive that chewed up 4:46 of clock and giving Trinity a 17-14 halftime lead.
Middlebury took the opening drive of the second half and marched deep into Trinity territory, Foote notably keeping the drive alive with a 17-yard completion to wide receiver Grant Luna ’17 on fourth-and-six from the Bantams’ 19-yard line. However, two negative plays forced the Panthers to settle for a 28-yard Dola field goal that tied the game at 17 apiece.
Playing against the wind in the third quarter, the Panthers managed to outgain Trinity 123-13, blanking the Bantams and sending the game into the final frame tied at 17.
17 seconds in the fourth quarter, Dola broke the tie, splitting the uprights on a 37-yard field goal — now kicking with the wind at his back — to give Middlebury a 20-17 lead.
On the ensuing drive, Trinity threatened to take the lead as quarterback Sonny Puzzo and Evan Bunker, the conference’s leading rusher, orchestrated a 27-yard screen pass that nearly went the distance. Bunker appeared to be stopped short of midfield after he was upended by a pair of Middlebury defenders, but managed to land on his feet and regain his momentum. Alertly, first-year linebacker Addison Pierce ’17 dragged him down from behind at the 50-yard line to save a touchdown. Pierce finished the game with 10 tackles, none bigger than the play on Bunker.
On the subsequent series, Jake Clapp ’16 chased down Puzzo from the blindside, sacking him for a loss of six yards and forcing Trinity to punt. The Middlebury offense managed just one first down, however, before Dola came on to the field to punt for just the second time, downing Trinity inside its 20-yard line with a 43-yard boot.
The Bantams, who had just two plays longer than 15 yards through the first three quarters, finally found a rhythm in the passing game. Facing second-and-15 from the 10-yard line, Puzzo connected on a 34-yard pass to Chris Ragone — the NESCAC leader in yards per reception. The two hooked up five plays later as Ragone got behind the Middlebury defense and Ragone arced the ball over the coverage for a 39-yard throw and catch, giving Trinity a 24-20 lead with 4:52 remaining and silencing the Homecoming crowd.
The Panthers began the following drive with a pair of Hislop runs, good 21 yards, followed by a Foote five-yard scramble for another first down to the Trinity 35-yard line. Again, however, the Middlebury offense, which had managed just two second half field goals, stalled, turning the ball over on downs with 2:50 left in the game.
“Even though we didn’t score, when Trinity played prevent Hislop ripped off a couple of 10-yard runs and it kept them out of prevent in the next series,” Ritter said.
Needing to force a three-and-out to give the offense the ball back with a chance to win the game, the Middlebury defense stuffed Bunker on three straight carries and preserved the clock by burning all three timeouts.
“Ultimately for them to win the game, they had to run the ball to get a first down, and our guys stepped up,” Ritter said.
Following a 40-yard Kyle Pulek punt, Foote and the offense took the field at their own 25-yard line, needing to drive 75 yards in 2:21 to win the game. The Middlebury receivers won on their routes immediately and the offense quickly moved the ball into Trinity territory. Ritter then dialed up an out-and-go route for wide receiver Brendan Rankowitz ’15 who hauled in Foote’s touch throw in between the corner and the safety for a 40-yard reception down to the Trinity seven-yard line.
The Panthers, who had converted less than 54 percent of previous red zone drives into touchdowns, failed to find the end zone on three straight plays, setting up a decisive fourth-and-goal play from the seven-yard line.
“We have our call sheet and the plays that you run from the seven-yard line and in, but it’s a tough place for us, given our offense,” Ritter said. “We had a couple of things that didn’t work and then on fourth down it ended up being the same play and the same pattern that we scored our first touchdown on.”
With time in the pocket, Foote surveyed the defense, held the defense on one side of the field with his eyes and connected with Minno, his intended target pre-snap, on a crossing route between the corner and the linebacker.
“They brought both safeties over to the front side and the quick look I had to the front side was really just looking away — I knew I was coming back to Matt,” he said. “Their linebackers split and he made an unbelievable catch going down to the ground and holding onto the ball.”
Now trailing by four with 1:12 remaining, Trinity moved the ball to the Middlebury 33-yard line on 12 plays, setting up the final play of the game with 6.5 seconds left. Leedy, playing the deep third to the boundary side of the field kept his eyes in the backfield, broke on the throw and intercepted the football at the goal line — the first takeaway of his career providing an emphatic finish to the game.
“They hadn’t thrown the ball to my side all game, so I figured they’d try to take a shot and right before the play Tim Patricia ’16 said, ‘Here you go, they’re coming right at you,’” Leedy said. “The receiver did a double move to try to get me to bite on something, but I knew they were going to the end zone and I saw the ball in the air before the receiver and I made a play on the ball.”
The Panthers, who need to win out for a shot at a NESCAC title, play their final home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 2 against Hamilton (0-6).
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