Sports
Football defeats Williams for second year in a row, falls to Middlebury
By Robert Berk’20
November 10, 2016
Tags sports
Hamilton College football fought hard at home over the past two weeks. They won their first home game over Williams 16-6, but sadly lost to Middlebury 45-10 this past weekend.
Two Saturdays ago, the Continentals dominated the Ephs on the gridiron. It was the second straight year beating Williams and the first time in twenty years that Hamilton beat Williams at home. The win was the Continentals second straight win on Steuben Field. Hamilton’s kicker Robert Morris ’17 had a superb performance. He connected on three of his field-goal attempts and scored the only extra point. His field goals of 23, 30 and 37 yards not only tied the program’s record for made field goals in one game, but also were good enough to earn him Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III North Special Teams Player of the Week.The Continentals offense controlled the tempo of the game. They totaled 22 first downs and 383 yards of offense. Running back Marcus Gutierrez ’18 dazzled the crowd as he set a new career high with 115 rushing yards on 25 carries. Quarterback Kenny Gray ’20 was efficient and effective. He completed 13 of 24 passes and added 20 yards and a touchdown on the ground. With 27 seconds left in the first half Gray ’20 scampered in from the one-yard line to lead to 10. The Continental receiving corps were all factors. Alec Waugh ’18 led the way with 52 yards on one catch. Joe Schmidt ’20 and Charles Ensley ’17 both racked up 47 yards. Ensley moved into fourth place in receiving yards in the program’s history. At the start of the second half Justin Leigh ’20 provided a spark, running a couple wild-cat plays that moved the Continentals up the field quickly.
The Ephs struggled to move the ball against the Continentals’ stingy defense. The defense totaled five tackles for a loss and two sacks for a combined 48 yards. Linebacker Mickey Keating ’18 led the team with a game-high 13 tackles and one interception. Defensive end Tyler Hudson ’19 added nine tackles including two for a loss, one sack, and even one forced fumble. Williams scored their only points of the game with just over two minutes left in the game. It was a great win for the Continentals who took the momentum from this game into their last home game of the season against Middlebury.
In the minutes before kick off, Hamilton honored all 18 of the seniors on the team. Unfortunately, the Panthers won the 37th edition of the Old Rocking Chair Classic 45-10. Middlebury is tied for second in the NESCAC with a 6-1 record. The game was very close early on. Hamilton’s first drive of the second quarter was great. The offense gained 46 yards over 13 plays and put three points on the board when Robert Morris ’17 connected on a career long 40- yard field goal. The Continentals trailed 10-3 with a minute left in the first half before the Panthers quarterback Jared Lebowitz ’18 punched it in from the two-yard line.
The game spiraled out of control in the third quarter. The Panthers’ defense came out of the locker fired up. They sent the Continentals’ offense into a rut, as Hamilton did not gain a single first down and threw two interceptions. Middlebury capitalized on this by scoring twenty-one points in the quarter. Cole Freeman ’18 replaced Gray at quarterback. He was effective throwing for 99 yards and a touchdowns on 11 completions. Ensley led the team with six receptions and 62 yards. Chase Rosenberg ’17 had 37 receiving yards. Schmidt had five receptions and scored the only touchdown for the Continentals. Marcus Gutierrez ’18 led the team in rushing with 31 yards.
The Continentals defense fought tough all game long. Middlebury’s quarterback, Lebowitz, started off his collegiate career at University of Nevada-Las Vegas before transferring. The Panthers also have the NESCAC’s leading receiver Conrado Banky ’19. Banky totaled 154 yards and scored three touchdowns in the third quarter. Hamilton did have some outstanding defensive performances. Matt Glebus ’17 led the way with 10 tackles and one sack. Fellow senior Jimmy Giattino ’17 had seven tackles and one interception. Colby Jones ’19 had seven solo tackles and Alec Boyles ’20 recorded his first career sack.
The Continentals will look to finish their season on a strong note next Saturday when they play Bates in Maine. A win in that game will give the seniors their best record in any of their seasons and would represent the best record posted by a Hamilton football team since the 2011 team finished 3-5. Last time the Continentals went to Maine, they played far from their best game, losing 27-7 to the Colby Mules. This time around, Hamilton hopes to come out strong and defeat the Bobcats for the second year in a row in spite of the long bus ride. Last year, the Continentals ended their season with a thrilling victory over Bates, a 14-0 shutout, which was the first time Hamilton held its opponent scoreless in 66 games. The Hamilton defense shut down the triple option offense which Bates runs that day and will need to do so again for the Continentals to leave Maine victorious and finish the season with their best record in five years.