The Middlebury football team continued their season on Saturday, Sept. 26, beating Bowdoin 16-0 for their first win of 2026. Coming off a tough loss to Wesleyan the week prior, the Panthers defense shut down the Polar Bears and evened the team’s record at 1-1.
It was the first road game for Middlebury, who endured the brutal five-hour bus ride to Brunswick, Maine to face off against a Bowdoin team also seeking to rebound after losing 17-7 to Williams in their season opener.
Similarly to last week’s contest against Wesleyan, the game started as a defensive battle. Neither team managed to find the end zone for the first 30 minutes of the game, both defenses notched early interceptions, and the best chance for either team to score came on a Bowdoin missed field goal with eleven minutes left in the second quarter.
However, in the final two minutes of the half the Panthers drove 67 yards downfield, setting the stage for kicker Yaseen Mousa ’29 to convert a 30-yard field goal with just nine seconds remaining. At halftime, Middlebury led 3-0.
The defensive theme of the first half continued into the second, as both teams struggled to advance the ball in the first five minutes. Bowdoin snagged a second interception of quarterback Aiden Moss ’27, but the Polar Bears were unable to take advantage of their opportunity and had to punt.
The turning point of the game came shortly after, when a promising Bowdoin drive turned to disaster for the Polar Bears. After quarterback pressure from linebacker Matthew Leonard ’28, linebacker Carson Eutsay ’29 intercepted a pass, taking the ball 70 yards downfield for a pick-six. Mousa converted the extra point to give the Panthers a 10-0 lead with 9:17 remaining in the third quarter.
“It definitely was a big moment in the game,” Eutsay said.
It was the first touchdown of his career. However, he deferred the credit to his fellow defensemen. “It couldn't have been possible without my D-line,” he said, “You had Matthew Leonard, who almost had a sack and he altered the throw, which then allowed me to make a play, turn on the jets and run into the end zone. It was a surreal experience. So much fun.”
The offense needed that spark. After forcing another Bowdoin punt, the Panthers capitalized to put together their best drive of the game.
“It was great,” running back Connor McClellan ’28 said. “Obviously our defense shut them out, and then the pick-six out of Carson was huge … we love our defense. We want to support them, and at some point it's like they're doing our job, and then it becomes a competition. We're not gonna let them do our job for us, and I think feeding off the momentum A-Mo [Moss] got out there and led us on an awesome drive.”
Middlebury marched 80 yards on 12 plays, capping it off with a 14-yard touchdown connection between Moss and receiver Jordan Angstreich ’29. After a missed extra point, the Panthers led 16-0 with 4:32 remaining in the third.
The teams traded punts, and the score remained unchanged entering the fourth quarter. The Panther defense continued to stand strong, highlighted by an interception from Charlie Grant ’27 early on in the period.
However, the Polar Bears weren’t giving up yet, and with 6:33 left in the game they strung together a strong drive, pushing downfield 77 yards in 10 plays to the Middlebury 5-yard line. Unfortunately for Bowdoin, Eutsay picked off the ensuing pass for his second interception of the game and the Panthers’ fourth total.
With the ball secured and only 2:21 left in the game, McClellan notched 49 rushing yards and forced Bowdoin to spend their remaining timeouts. Once the Polar Bears had no means of stopping the clock, all Middlebury had to do was kneel twice before walking away with their first win of the season; final score 16-0.
Reflecting on the victory, Eutsay said “We made a lot of plays, it was a good game, but there's a lot of stuff to improve on. We definitely made a couple mistakes … we gotta just keep the energy going, keep making plays in practice, keep working hard, lifting hard, taking care of ourselves and we’ll keep the ball rolling.”
In a more recent development, Eutsay was named NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week. His pick-six was cited as the longest in Middlebury football history since an 85-yard interception and runback by Middlebury Athletics Hall of Famer Sam Guarnaccia, of the class of 1930. He also added on the second interception, which made him tied for most in the league thus far, and three tackles.
Looking to the future, McClellan was optimistic. “I'm thrilled. We have a super hungry team. I think with most of the guys, if you ask them, there's an aura of ‘let's f—ing win.’”
The Panthers now begin to gameplan for their next contest, where they’ll play Colby at home at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3.
