The Middlebury football team opened its season with a 17-6 victory at Amherst in the 47th meeting between the two teams. The first half featured a defensive battle, with neither team able to get on the scoreboard, but a strong second half lifted the Panthers to the triumph. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Amherst marched 40 yards down the field on seven plays to start its opening drive before Finn Muldoon picked off a pass by quarterback Mike Piazza. The Mammoths took advantage of a penalty on the would-be interception play, driving for 27 more yards before Colby Burke intercepted a pass and the Panthers took over.
• Halfway through the second quarter, Middlebury nearly scored a touchdown. The play started on the defensive side of the ball when Kwesi Adu-Diawuo picked off a pass by Piazza and returned it to the Amherst 17-yard line. Panther quarterback Ben Tauber took over, finding Donovan Wood in the end zone, but an Amherst defender just got a hand on the ball, batting it down and robbing Middlebury of a touchdown. 
• With three seconds remaining in the quarter, the Mammoths looked to get on the board, but Connor Kennelly could not convert his 51-yard field goal attempt as the teams went into halftime deadlocked at 0-0.
• Middlebury came out of the break strong, scoring on its opening drive. Tauber strung together three-straight pass completions, before a rush by Alex Maldjian put the Panthers on Amherst's 27-yard line. Tauber connected with Wood for a touchdown pass on the next play, before Zach Levy converted the extra point to give Middlebury a 7-0 lead.
• Later in the third quarter, the Panthers took over at their own 46-yard line and slowly made the way down the field. LeeCharles McNeil put together a pair of rushing plays before Tauber completed a 28-yard pass to Wood, followed by a 20-yard hookup with Carter Stockwell. Maldjian finished the drive with a three-yard rushing touchdown, and a point after by Levy gave Middlebury the 14-0 advantage.
• With under a minute to go in the quarter, Amherst got on the scoreboard. Piazza completed a 75-yard touchdown pass to Carson Ochsenhirt, but Tomas Kenary blocked Kennelly's PAT attempt to make it 14-6. 
• With 10 minutes left in the game, Tauber and Livingston hooked up for a pair of hauls down to the three-yard line. A strong Mammoth defense held Middlebury in the red zone, but Levy converted a 20-yard field goal to push the Panther advantage to 17-6. 
• Amherst picked up the tempo in the waning minutes, attempting to string something together, but the Panther defense held strong to secure the 17-6 victory.

NOTES

• John McCool and Kieran Sheridan each had eight tackles (6 solo) during the win.
• The defense recorded six pass breakups and a pair of interceptions.
• The teams have split the last six matchups.