Sep 27, 2014
WATERVILLE, Maine --- The Colby College football team got off to a slow start in the opening quarter and Middlebury College took advantage on the way to a 27-7 NESCAC win Saturday Seaverns Field at Harold Alfond Stadium.
Middlebury College quarterback Matt Milano (New Canaan, Conn.) threw for 290 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Milano was 22-for-33 and had no interceptions on a day when Middlebury (1-1 overall) had 458 yards of total offense.
The Panthers scored on two long drives in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead. The first drive went 91 yards on 13 plays and ended with a 1-yard scoring run by Drew Jacobs (Marblehead, Mass.). Jonathan Hurvitz (Duxbury, Mass.) rushed for 27 yards on the drive.
Middlebury stopped Colby (0-2 overall) on downs on the next drive. The Mules had driven to the Panther 37-yard line and were stuffed twice on third-and-one and fourth-and-one.
The Panthers drove 63 yards in eight plays and made it 14-0 on Milano's 25-yard touchdown pass to Grant Luna (San Pedro, Calif.), who also had a catch of 13 yards on the drive.
The Mules got their only touchdown of the game on the next drive. Colby was helped by two personal foul penalties on Middlebury. Luke Duncklee (Augusta, Maine) had two catches for 19 yards, the second for 8 yards to get the ball to the Middlebury 7-yard line. Carl Lipani (North Reading, Mass.) had one rush of 5 yards and then crashed in from 2 yards for the score.
The Panthers got a huge insurance touchdown later in the second quarter. Middlebury went deep on the first play of the drive, with Milano hooking up on a 69-yard pass play with Trevor Wheeler (Nahant, Mass.) to the Colby 7-yard line. Milano then had his second touchdown of the day to tight end Brett Harasimowicz (Duxbury, Mass.) on a 5-yard play and a 21-7 lead.
The Panthers added a 33-yard field goal by Michael Dola (Arlington, Va.) at the halftime horn. Middlebury went 51 yards on seven plays to get Dola in range.
Middlebury got the ball at the start of the third quarter and ran of 7:49 off the clock on a 21-play, 67-yard drive. The Mules were able to force a 25-yard field goal by Dola, but the Panthers ran off more than half of the quarter.
Luna finished with 102 yards on eight catches and the touchdown. Hurvitz ran for 51 yards on 13 rushes, while both Jacobs and John Jackson (Hood River, Ore.) had 40 yards rushing.
For Colby, Gabe Harrington (Chula Vista, Calif.) threw for 152 yards on 25 completions. Lipani rushed for 46 yards and had five catches along with Duncklee and Nick Joseph (Mattapan, Mass.).
Henry Nelson (Redding, Conn.) led all tacklers with 11 stops. Ethan Johnson (Skowhegan, Maine), Jason Buco (Methuen, Mass.), and Tony Atkinson (Bethesda, Md.) all had seven tackles.
Colby punter Louw Scheepers had a good day, averaging 39.8 yards in six kicks and had three of his punts inside the 20-yard line.
Middlebury 27, Colby 7
Middlebury.......... 14 10 3 0 - 27
Colby............... 0 7 0 0 - 7
Scoring Summary:
1st 07:12 MID - Drew Jacobs 1 yd run (Michael Dola kick), 13-91 4:56
01:50 MID - Grant Luna 25 yd pass from Matt Milano (Michael Dola kick), 8-63 2:24
2nd 10:54 COL14FB - Carl Lipani 2 yd run (Louw Scheepers kick), 16-77 5:49
04:03 MID - B. Harasimowicz 5 yd pass from Matt Milano (Michael Dola kick), 4-76 1:06
00:00 MID - Michael Dola 33 yd field goal, 7-51 2:33
3rd 07:11 MID - Michael Dola 25 yd field goal, 21-67 7:49
MID COL14FB
FIRST DOWNS................... 22 16
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 49-131 25-55
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 327 156
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 34-23-0 41-25-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 83-458 66-211
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-0 2-14
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 0-0 3-59
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 3-35.0 6-39.8
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards............... 6-64 3-20
Possession Time............... 34:06 25:54
Third-Down Conversions........ 10 of 19 7 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 3 of 5 0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 4-4 1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-9 1-4
RUSHING: Middlebury-J. Hurvitz 13-51; John Jackson 13-40; Drew Jacobs 18-40;
Trevor Wheeler 1-1; Matt Cardew 1-0; Matt Milano 2-0; Andrew Miller 1-minus 1.
Colby-Carl Lipani 17-50; Jabari Hurdle-Price 4-9; Luke Duncklee 2-2; Gabe
Harrington 2-minus 6.
PASSING: Middlebury-Matt Milano 22-33-0-290; Grant Luna 1-1-0-37. Colby-Gabe Harrington 25-41-0-156.
RECEIVING: Middlebury-Grant Luna 8-102; B. Rankowitz 4-39; Drew Jacobs 4-15; Trevor Miletich 2-41; B. Harasimowicz 2-7; Trevor Wheeler 1-69; Matthew Minno 1-37; Daniel Fulham 1-17. Colby-Nick Joseph 5-38; Luke Duncklee 5-34; Carl Lipani 5-9; Glenn Parsons 3-24; Mbasa Mayikana 3-12; Jabari Hurdle-Price 2-23; Gabe Harrington 1-9; Ryder Arsenault 1-7.