Middlebury College

The Middlebury football team drove down the field late in Saturday's fourth quarter, but Amherst blocked a potential game-winning field goal attempt with seven seconds left to claim a 23-22 victory in Massachusetts.

HIGHLIGHTS

• After both sides failed to score on their opening possession, the Mammoths knocked on the door during their second. Marek Hill found Jadon Davis for a 35-yard completion to set the hosts up with a goal-to-go situation at the Middlebury five yard line. The Panther defense held strong, as Charlie Ozolin denied Demitrius Smith at the goal line to force a turnover on downs with 2:37 remaining in the first quarter.
• Amherst found the scoreboard on its first opportunity of the second stanza. Hill fired a strike to Davis on a slant route from 13 yards to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.
• The Mammoths tacked on a 27-yard field goal converted by Hudson Fulcher-Melendy for a 10-0 score at the 5:26 mark. 
• Middlebury's offense found its momentum late in the second frame following a three-and-out. Aidan Moss floated a pass to Julian Schneider, who twisted around and snagged the catch inside the 10. Four plays later, Connor McClellan rumbled into the endzone from two yards to make it a 10-7 tally heading into the break.
• The Panthers kept the momentum out of the locker room, as McClellan capped a 14-play, 75-yard drive with his second rushing touchdown of the day for a 14–10 lead. 
• The purple and white bled the rest of the third-quarter clock and set up for a field goal with 13:24 remaining in the contest. Fulcher-Melendy's 38-yard attempt sailed wide of the left upright.
• Amherst battled back after forcing a three-and-out on defense. Hill found Davis for a touchdown strike from the Panther 49, grabbing a 16-14 advantage at the 10:20 mark.
• Middlebury marched back down into Mammoth territory, using a 39-yard strike from Moss to Schneider on the third play of the drive to reach the 32. Seven plays later, McClellan found paydirt for the third time with a three-yard scamper. The Panthers went for a two-point conversion and succeeded when Jordan Angstreich gathered in a bending catch to make it 22-16 with 7:34 showing on the clock.
• Amherst did not go away. Hill hit Christian Moore for a five-yard touchdown to retake a one-point advantage (23-22) with 2:27 remaining.
• Moss orchestrated a 13-play drive over 2:20 that put the ball on the Mammoth seven-yard line with seven ticks left, but the defense got a hand on the field goal attempt and forced it to clang off the crossbar, as the hosts escaped with the one-point victory.

NOTES

• McClellan logged 60 rushing yards and three touchdowns. His performance moves him into second place in program history with 28 career rushing scores.
• Matt Shaw led the defense with 14 total tackles and Calvin Szoradi chipped in a sack.
• Angstreich caught a team-high nine balls for 102 yards, marking his second 100-plus receiving outing of the campaign.
• The programs met for the 51st time.

Middlebury squares off with Williams next Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff from Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium.