SOUTH BURLINGTON — The Middlebury Union High School football team bolted to a 32-0 first-half lead on the way to a 39-0 victory over Division I newcomer Rice on Saturday to remain undefeated at 7-0. Rice, the two-time defending D-II champion, dropped to 1-6.
The Tigers can wrap up an 8-0 regular season with a win at Champlain Valley at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Redhawks lost at home to Mount Anthony, 30-27, this weekend to fall to 4-3.
A win will not guarantee the Tigers the top seed in D-I. Rutland (6-1) or Hartford (6-1), who meet on Friday, could edge the Tigers in quality points gained by winning that game. Their losses do not count in the league’s quality-point rankings because they came in to out-of-state competition.
On this past Saturday vs. Rice, Tiger quarterback Oakley Gordon threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more. Gordon hit Sawyer Ryan for a 13-yard score on the Tigers’ opening drive and also hit Trey Kaufmann for a 13-yard TD late in the opening quarter.
The second of Gordon’s two 3-yard TD runs made it 32-0 at the half. Also scoring for the Tigers were Cortland Fischer and Jerry Niemo, on runs or 1 and 6 yards, respectively.
The victory was the MUHS football program’s 29th straight.