This past Saturday, the football team (5–1) won their fifth game in a row in a narrow 24–21 victory over the undefeated Trinity College (5–1) in this year’s homecoming game.
Middlebury scored first, halfway through the first quarter, on the back of a great passing drive by quarterback Brian Moran ’26, who hit Patrick Jamin ’25 and Ethan Vashel ’25 for a couple of receptions to set up a 32-yard touchdown pass to tight end Liam High ’24.5. The Bantams answered quickly, scoring two touchdowns of their own to end the quarter 14–7.
Each team scored a touchdown of their own in the second quarter, going back and forth in a tight matchup. Middlebury’s offense continued to make progress in their air behind a season-high throwing performance of 313 yards and three touchdowns from Moran ’26 and a breakout game of 104 yards from first-year wide receiver Jeremy Kiefer ’28. Vashel ’25 and Connor McClellan ’28 had strong receiving and rushing games respectively, leading the Panther’s offense.
Middlebury’s defense also had a strong game, holding the Bantams to 350 total yards behind strong performances from Rocco Stola ’25, Matt Shaw ’27 and others. Middlebury was losing a close game 21-14 at the end of the first half, but the Panthers held a lot in store for the 1,250 anticipating fans.
The third quarter was a stout defensive battle, with Trinity threatening at the Middlebury 28-yard line before a great defensive play from Tómas Kenary ’24.5 and Sean Link ’24.5 forced a turnover on downs. The score remained the same after the third quarter, but kicker Zach Levy ’25 cut the deficit to four with a field goal from the 20-yard-line to start the fourth quarter.
The defense held strong and forced a fumble on the next possession, igniting the homecoming crowd. The defenses continued to hold strong and force punts until around the two-minute mark, with the Panther’s defense coming up clutch with a few game-saving stops.
Down by four, the Middlebury offense took the field down four, amid high tensions, with 2 minutes and 36 seconds left to go in the game. They gained about 25 yards to the Trinity 39 and had 1:07 on the clock when the Panthers took a timeout with fourth-and-one. They came out of the huddle with the perfect play drawn up and McClellan ’28 was able to push the pile three yards for first down. With 30 seconds to go, Moran hit Jeremy Kiefer ’28 with a 24-yard pass over the deep middle to set the Panthers up in the red zone, erupting the crowd. The audience now stood on their feet and Moran threw the ball to Mike Ahonen ’26 on an ambitious back-shoulder pass with a single toe tap in the corner of the end zone to take the lead with 20 seconds to go.
The stands at Youngman Stadium went wild and the Bantams had a chance to strike back, but the Middlebury defense held strong, closing out the game in a 24-21 victory. The Panthers have now won five consecutive games.
The Panthers football team will look to extend their win streak in their next matchup against the next to last place Bates Bobcats (1–5) on Oct. 26.
