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CATAMOUNTS WIN OPENER
What opened as aerial show ended in a defensive slugfest, but the University of Vermont Football Club held on to win their debut 17-12 over the Northern Berkshire Kings at Applejack Field in Manchester, VT. The game, played at the semi-professional level under the direction of the Northeast Independent Football League, was the first football game played entirely by UVM student-athletes in 33 years.
The Catamounts opened on defense, and yielded no yards on a three-and-out drive by the Kings. After a 3-yard punt return by sophomore wide receiver Doug DeLuca, the Catamount offense went to work. On the seventh play of the drive junior quarterback Rob Kimmel hit junior tight end Tim Snow over the middle for a 12-yard touchdown. Kimmel was 3-for-3 on the drive for 60 yards, all to Snow, and the Pat Willis extra point gave Vermont a 7-0 lead.
Another three-and-out by Vermont’s defense gave the Cats the ball again at their own 25. After a short loss and a penalty, Kimmel dropped to pass on a second-and-19 and was struck in the knee by a Berkshire helmet. Kimmel left the game 3-for-4 for 60 yards and a touchdown and did not return.
Sophomore Drew Trombley’s first pass for the Cats was intercepted by Berkshire and returned to the UVM 22. On the next play, King’s quarterback Patrick Knight threw into blanket coverage, but wide receiver Justin Fox tore the ball away from cornerback Bryan Onyekaba, and shot into the endzone for a Northern Berkshire touchdown. The two-point conversion failed and UVM led 7-6.
There was miscommunication on the ensuing kickoff and, while the Catamounts waited to see if the ball would roll out of bounds, Berkshire pounced on the ball and recovered it at the UVM 24. The Kings went to work with another short field, but UVM held tough and sophomore defensive tackle Henry Beckwith sacked Knight on a fourth-and-goal to end the drive.
On the next play, junior halfback Dustin Degree gained eight yards and then fumbled. The ball was scooped up by the Kings and returned 28 yards for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, and the Kings led at the end of the first quarter, 12-7.
Vermont answered on the next drive. After DeLuca ran the kickoff back to the UVM 36-yard line, he hauled in a 37-yard pass from Trombley to put the Cats at the Berkshire 10-yard line. Two plays later, sophomore running back Dan Chase blasted in from the five giving the Cats the lead again, 14-12.
Late in the first half, a DeLuca 35-yard punt return gave UVM the ball at the Berkshire 17. Unable to move much further, senior Pat Willis added a field goal for a 17-12 halftime lead.
While the Catamounts continued to move the ball in the second half, they were unable to put up any points. Willis missed a 31-yard attempt at the beginning of the third quarter and had a 33-yarder blocked in the fourth.
Berkshire threatened once more late in the fourth quarter. With 5:35 on the clock, Knight threw two incompletions and then connected with Fox on the left sideline for a 38-yard gain to the UVM 15. But after moving only one yard afterward, Knight was sacked by sophomore defensive end Justin Rhuda to end the drive with 2:17 left in the game.
Junior running back Nate Goddard iced the win for UVM after the two-minute warning with three consecutive rushes and a first down. Trombley took a knee, and the Catamounts got their first football victory since 1974.
After the game, Catamounts Head Coach, Darren Haynes, said, “It’s great to get such a hard fought victory to start not only our season but our program as well. That being said, you could definitely tell that we’ve only had nine practices. We had a lot of setbacks today. We lost our starting quarterback, we gave up a touchdown on a fumble, lost a kickoff, had a field goal blocked, and had a few too many penalties. But in every case, we found the resolve to keep fighting, and I’m proud of these young men for showing the maturity to win a game like this one.”
UVM has a week off before hosting the Vermont Ravens at Burlington High School on September 8. This week the Club will be hosting tryouts for incoming freshmen and transfer students at the Redstone Campus.
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