Mounties get second win
October 4, 2008
By Chuck Clarino Herald Staff
COLCHESTER - Defense wins football games; just ask the Mount St. Joseph Mounties.
The Mounties made two huge defensive plays in the fourth period and also prevented the Colchester Lakers from scoring three times inside MSJ’s 10-yard line in the second half to pull out a 13-12 nonleague victory here Friday.
Louis Altobell tackled Lakers QB Jack LeClerc just shy of the goal line on a two-point conversion try with 2:38 remaining in the fourth period to preserve MSJ’s narrow lead.
Then Leighton Thayer intercepted LeClerc’s pass with 1:51 remaining to allow the Mounties to run out the clock.
“When Alex Raymond came out of the game, everyone had to step it up,” said Altobell, a junior defensive end. “Our captains were getting us pumped up so that helped a lot and our coaches were getting us going and when we got a couple of goal line stands, it really got us fired up.”
The Mounties lost Raymond, a captain and two-way starter at defensive end and offensive tackle, to an ejection early in the game for unnecessary roughness, so younger players had to fill in.
Meanwhile, linebacker Matt Messier was carted off the field with his leg in a soft cast, while running back and defensive linebacker Johnny Bizon left in the fourth period to a shoulder injury and saftey/running back Ben Benedict was also banged up, so the Mounties defense was patched together, especially at the end.
“I got thrown in at linebacker but I read that quarterback,” said Thayer, who normally plays safety or corner on defense and quarterback on offense. “They put the balls in the air and coach said before the game that the secondary had to intercept. I still feel like I’m part of the secondary, so I took it.”
The Mounties never trailed.
It was an opportunistic play that set up the first Mounties score after they were forced to punt on their first offensive series. But Ben Sexton’s punt was mishandled and Benedict came up with the fumble recovery.
Three plays later, Benedict toted it into the end zone, slashing in from 14 yards. MSJ tacked on the extra point and the Mounties were in front 7-0 with 6:35 remaining in the first.
Colchester answered with a nine-play, 64-yard drive that featured a huge 15-yard penalty that caused Raymond’s ejection, and a 27-yard pass from LeClerc to tight end Tyler Combs that brought the ball to the 13. Devon Grammon carried it in from there, but a host of defenders blocked the extra point to maintain a 7-6 lead.
Colchester was able to move the ball but the attack broke down several times deep in MSJ territory.
On the Lakers’ second offensive series, they moved the ball to the MSJ 30 but fumbled and Altobell recovered.
MSJ began to jam up the running plays and LeClerc had success in the air, hitting his first five passes for 70 yards, but then the Mounties secondary began to poach the while Altobell and Sexton led a pass rush that pressured LeClerc, and the half ended at 7-6.
The second half featured great field position for the Lakers but again the Mounties had their defense working and time and again it saved the day. Big Hannus Mattila helped stuff up the middle, while Sexton and Brian Ribbens made big plays from the linebacker spots, and Benedict, Bizon, Eric Ladabouche, Nolan Rhodes and Thayer made plays wide and in the secondary.
Colchester took the second-half kickoff and drove in eight plays to the MSJ 11. But the defense stiffened and Colchester’s 27-yard field goal attempt went wide.
Colchester drove to the MSJ 7-yard-line on its next offensive series but in four plays couldn’t punch it in.
MSJ’s offensive finally caught fire on the next series.
Bizon broke a 47-yard run and only the speedy Grammo was able to haul him down. Thayer then found Rhodes in the end zone with a 36-yard scoring strike and the Mounties led 13-6 after the point was blocked. But in a series of big plays, one of the biggest had to be the fourth-down QB sneak by Thayer.
Colchester came right back and in lightning fashion drove deep in MSJ territory. But the Mounties made a stand in the shadow of the goal line and the Lakers turned the ball over on downs.
The Colchester defense stopped the Mounties and embarked on one more drive. A 27-yard pass from LeClerc to Shawn Place set them up at the 1 and Jared Vetters bulled in from there. But Altobell came up big with the saving tackle on the two-point try to preserve the lead.
Colchester burned all its time outs during the next MSJ possession and when the Lakers got the ball back, Thayer was able to contribute his big play to give the Mounties their second win of the season.
“It was a great win for us but obviously we looked very ugly at times,” MSJ coach Chip Forte said. “But when we needed it most, they stepped up to the plate. The kids that came in to replace those guys that got hurt were freshmen and young kids. They stepped up big time and this is a huge win for our program.”
Contact Chuck Clarino at chuck.clarino@rutlandherald.com
