MIDDLEBURY — Visiting Trinity College took advantage of two key turnovers by the Middlebury College football team on Saturday on its way to a 26-14 win over the Panthers. The 4-2 Panthers outgained the 6-0 Bantams, 449-262 yards, and held a 34:36-25:24 edge in time of possession.
Middlebury returns to action on Saturday, when it hosts Hamilton at 12:30 in its final home game of the fall.
This past Saturday, Middlebury got on the board first with a 10-play, 90-yard drive. Quarterback Matt Milano hit Tanner Contois for 28 yards before hitting Contois again on a 35-yard scoring strike at 6:13 of the first quarter.
Trinity answered on its ensuing drive: A 41-yard pass play from Sonny Puzzo to Bryan Vieira set up a 32-yard field goal from Kyle Pulek to make it 7-3 game later in the quarter.
In the second quarter, Trinity’s Darrien Myers returned a Panther punt 74 yards to claim a 10-7 Trinity lead. The Panthers nearly answered, but Brandon Blaise blocked Charlie Gordon’s 31-yard field goal attempt.
A sack by Gil Araujo on the Bantams’ next series gave Middlebury the ball on the Trinity 42 after a short punt. Milano connected with James Burke on passes of 14 and 11 yards before finding tight end Daniel Fulham for an eight-yard touchdown and a 14-10 Panther lead.
Myers returning the kickoff from the end zone 46 yards. Trinity marched down the field before Pulek hit a 25-yard field goal to make it 14-13 with 39 seconds left in the half.
Middlebury drove to the Trinity 13 in the third quarter, but a 30-yard field goal went wide right. Will Becton picked off Puzzo on Trinity’s next possession, returning it to the Trinity 42. Ten plays later, the Panthers turned the ball over on downs at the Trinity five.
The 14-13 lead held late into the fourth quarter, when Trinity recovered a Panther fumble at the Middlebury 34. Puzzo connected with Ian Dugger on an 18-yard screen pass before Max Chipouras scored from 14 yards out. The two-point conversion failed as the Bantams led 19-14 with 2:52 remaining.
After the kickoff, Middlebury started on its own 25 with two timeouts remaining. Following an 18-yard connection with Fulham, Milano was intercepted by Spencer Donahue at the Trinity 28.
The Panthers got the ball back at their own 28 with 1:17 left to play, but Archi Jerome picked off Milano and returned it 50 yards for the clinching touchdown.
Milano finished the day 33-for-51 for 336 yards. Fulham (71 yards) and Jonathan Hurvitz (61 yards) each caught seven passes, while Contois (95 yards) and Matthew Minno (55) yards each had six receptions. Hurvitz added to his 61 receiving yards with 55 on the ground. John Jackson finished with a team-high seven tackles and a sack, while Araujo earned 2.5 sacks with six tackles.
Puzzo finished 13 for 31 for 229 yards for Trinity. Myers caught four balls for 54 yards and finished with 215 all-purpose yards. Trinity converted on all three of its attempts in the red zone, while the Panthers were one for four.