Redhawks Rally in Mud Bowl

By Joe Cribari

CVU’s varsity football team received its first in-league loss of the season Friday night in Middlebury. The Redhawks fell to the Tigers 27-6.

The field was atrocious – chunks of sod flying up, players sliding, running in place. By the third quarter, it was difficult to see the players’ numbers. Running was a challenge, but Tyler Barnes still managed to plow through the mud, dragging defenders.

CVU’s defense did a good job of holding the Tigers to only 6 points in the first half. Twice towards the end of the half the Tigers were in striking range – both times the Redhawks stopped them.

The stands were filled on both sides of the field. CVU’s fans were decked out in red, with painted faces, signs, banners, bells, horns and cheers -- it was a great showing of support.

Members of CVU’s brand new cheerleading squad were on the scene ‘unofficially’ cheering with some help from fellow students in the stands alongside them. The cheerleaders will make their official debut on Spirit Day at CVU next Saturday, October 16th.

The rally came in the final moments of the game. With just over one minute remaining, the Tigers were leading 27-0 and had possession, threatening a shut-out. In this slippery mess, the Tiger’s quarterback fumbled the ball and CVU’s Brendan Davitt came up with it on Middlebury’s 40 yard line.

The Redhawks were not going to win this game, but that was not evident based on the determination of the offense as they stepped back onto the field. After two incomplete passes intended for Taylor Gingras, quarterback Konnor Fleming connected with number 88 on a third and ten. Taylor had the wits to get out of bounds at the 6-yard line to stop the clock. The coverage on Gingras was tight. Four seconds were left on the clock. It looked as if the Redhawks would go out of this game with a zero. The ball was snapped . . . Fleming dropped back . . . good protection by the line . . . Gingras, lined up left, ran into the end zone and cut right . . . the ball was thrown and – TOUCHDOWN! The clock went to 0:00. “I didn’t want us to go out of here with a shut out,” Gingras said.

Middlebury’s scoring came on pass plays from quarterback Brendan Burrell to Marshall Hastings and Bryan Ashley-Selleck, and runs by Burrell & Dillon Robinson.

The Redhawks host the defending Division II State Champions Colchester Lakers next Saturday October 16, 2010. This will be the first matchup between these two teams since the 2009 state championship game. It will be Spirit Day at CVU and a huge rally of Redhawks fans is expected to help boost their team to keep playoff hopes alive.