COLCHESTER — The Middlebury Union High School football team rallied for all of its points in the fourth quarter on Friday to defeat host Colchester, 18-14. The Tigers remained undefeated at 4-0 this fall and pushed the program’s overall winning streak to 26 games.
Junior tailback Trey Kauffman scored three rushing touchdowns in the final period, the last on a 6-yard sweep with 1:25 to go to create the final score. Linebacker Jerry Niemo then intercepted Laker QB Travis Boutin to seal the victory.
The Tigers managed just 36 yards of offense in the first half, after which the 2-2 Lakers led, 7-0, on a 30-yard first-quarter touchdown pass from Boutin to Justin Evans. A 36-yard Dakota Navari run on a fake punt set up that score.
The Lakers made it 14-0 on their first possession of the third quarter, when Boutin and Evans hooked up for a 35-yard TD.
But the Tigers began to move the ball, and capped off a drive begun late in the third period at 11:26 of the fourth, when Kaufmann scored from 20 yards out to make it 14-6 after a missed point-after.
At 6:26, Kaufmann’s 45-yard run made it 14-12 after a failed two-point conversion, and then the game-winner came next. Kaufmann finished with 113 yards rushing, and Cortland Fischer added 97 yards on the ground.
Boutin finished with 141 yards through the air, but the Tigers also picked him off three times.
The Tigers return home this Friday, when they host South Burlington at 7 p.m.