Football edges Hamilton in first road win

Head coach Bob Ritter and the Middlebury Panthers got back in the victory column on Saturday, beating Hamilton 30-26, improving to 3-4 and keeping their hopes for a .500 season alive. The Panthers win marked their first and only road win of the season.

“Getting a win on the road was nice,” said Ritter. Though the Panthers never trailed in the game, it had its share of dramatic plays. The Panthers made game-changing plays in every phase of the game. The special teams were, in a word, special. Led by kicker Anthony Kuchan ’11, who connected on three of four field goals, and highlighted by defensive back Jared Onouye’s ’14 blocked punt, the Panthers’ special teams play was pivotal to the team’s victory.

“[Special teams play was] huge,” said Ritter. “Onouye blocked the punt that set up the score. It was a big play that changed the momentum of the game. Anthony made a couple huge field goals. The 37-yarder in the fourth quarter let us cushion a lead and secure the win.”

On the first Panther drive of the game, Kuchan finished a 15-play, 85-yard drive by drilling a 21-yard field goal through the uprights. While the special teams continued to make big plays throughout the game, none was bigger than the play that Onouye  made with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter, when he blocked the Continentals’ punt. The Panthers recovered at the Continentals 24-yard line and after a 19-yard completion to Nick Resor ’12, quarterback and co-captain Donald McKillop ’11 found tight end David Reed ’11 in the end zone for a five-yard score.

Leading 10-0, the Panthers had a chance to extend their lead to 13-0, but Kuchan failed to connect from 23-yards out –– a rare miss for the senior who leads the NESCAC with 10 field goals and is second in the division with a .833 conversion percentage. Quarterback Jordan Eck led the Continentals on a 10-play 80-yard scoring drive on the subsequent possession that pulled Hamilton within three. The Panthers got the ball back with just over three minutes left in the second quarter and McKillop methodically drove the Panthers into field goal range where Kuchan atoned for his earlier miss by converting a 29-yard try and extending the lead to 13-7 at the half.

After a McKillop interception and two stalled drives to start the second half for Middlebury, defensive back and co-captain Connor Green ’11 made one of the decisive plays of the game. With the Continentals trailing 13-7 and driving with the ball into Middlebury territory, Green intercepted Eck at the Panthers 44-yard line and returned it 33 yards to the Continentals 23-yard line. McKillop found Zach Driscoll ’13 on the next play for a 23-yard touchdown to increase the Panthers lead to 20-7.

“That was nice to get points off the punt block and points off the turnover,” said Ritter, who knows all too well the struggles his team has had trying to convert big plays into points.

The Continentals responded immediately, however, driving 65 yards on 11 plays in under six minutes to pull within six points on running back James Stanell’s touchdown run from four-yards out.

Middlebury’s counterpart Andrew Plumley ’11, however, was just as good. On the ensuing drive, the senior from Burlington finished a five-play, 58-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run in which he broke multiple tackles to reach the end zone. The play before the touchdown run, Plumley, who has been a crucial part of the passing offense this season, caught a short screen pass that he turned up field for 19 yards. On the day the senior finished with 69 yards rushing and 58 yards receiving, and 80 of his 127 all-purpose yards came in the second half.

“He was great,” said Ritter. “We hit him on a couple screen passes that he converted into some big yards in a couple key situations. He did a great job finding the seams that the offensive line opened for him.”

While the first half and much of the third quarter had been dominated by each team’s defensive units, the last quarter of the game turned into a back-and-forth affair as the Continentals matched the Panthers score for score, not allowing them to extend and maintain a two-score lead. After the Panthers took a 27-14 lead on the Plumley touchdown run, the Continentals marched down the field, finding the end zone after a 12 play, 72-yard drive that culminated with another touchdown run from Stanell.

Now leading 27-20 after the Continentals failed to convert the point after try, the Panthers put together a drive of their own on 3rd and 8 from the Hamilton 18-yard line that nearly resulted in another Middlebury touchdown, but instead, the Panthers were flagged for offensive pass interference and what had appeared to be a possible game-clinching touchdown was instead 3rd and 23 from the Hamilton 33-yard line. Now in need of someone to step up and make a play to cushion the one-score lead, Middlebury got exactly that from wide-out Matt Rayner ’12 who picked up 16 yards on a shallow drag route, setting up Kuchan for a 34-yard field goal to send the lead back to a 10 for the Panthers.

Kuchan’s field goal proved crucial as the Continentals put together another impressive drive. Eck led Hamilton on an eight-play 85-yard drive in just over three minutes which ended with another Stanell touchdown.

After Hamilton once again failed to convert the extra point, they attempted to recover an onside kick with 2:34 remaining in the game. The ball only traveled eight yards and the Panthers recovered. To ice the game, however the Panthers still had to pick up a first down. The Panthers faced a crucial 4th down and three from the Hamilton 31-yard line with the game on the line. Coach Bob Ritter put the ball in the hands of the most accomplished quarterback in NESCAC history, trusting McKillop to put the game out of reach. He did just that, finding Matt Rayner for a seven-yard reception that allowed the Panthers to kneel the ball to run the clock out.

Offensively, McKillop led the Panthers once again, passing for 359 yards on 30 completions in 46 attempts with two touchdowns and one interception. Resor led all receivers with 10 catches for 146 yards receiving.

“Nick Resor had a great day,” said Ritter. “Those 10 catches –– a majority of those were to pick up first downs or take us down to the goal line. He made some clutch plays.”

Defensively, Andrew Poulin ’11 led the way again for the Panthers with 12 total tackles and a sack.

“He had a great day,” Ritter said, “and actually had a couple tackles where if he doesn’t make them they’re going to be big plays for them.”

This weekend the Panthers host the Jumbos of Tufts (1-6) in what will be the final game of McKillop’s historic career as a Middlebury Panther.

“It’s going to be an air-show on Saturday,” said Ritter.  “Both teams like to air it out, both teams have very good quarterbacks, so it’s going to be a fun game to be a part of.”