Tufts loses its final game

Even if you didn't set foot onto Zimman Field until after the final whistle sounded, you still knew exactly what had happened in Saturday's NESCAC football game between Tufts and Middlebury.

All you had to see was Middlebury's team celebrating with helmets in air, singing its fight song on Tufts' field. And if you missed that, you just had to look at the mugs of disgust, spliced with sadness, and eventually the tears on many of the Tufts' seniors' faces, as they slowly walked out of the team's locker room.

The faces alone told you that Tufts had the opportunity to win a close game, but came up short against the Panthers, falling 10-6.

"It was a tough way to go out," said senior quad-captain Tim Mack, who rushed for 103 yards.

Tufts struggled with penalties all day, ending up with eight total. That translated into 60 yards for the Jumbos, while Middlebury only sustained two penalties for ten yards.

The Jumbos' two biggest penalties came in the first half of the contest. One of those turned out to be detrimental, while the other was amended by a good play.

With the score still 0-0, following a 14-yard rush by Mack, Tufts had the ball first and ten with two minutes left in the first quarter on the Middlebury 35 yard line. Mack was stuffed for a loss of three on first down, bringing up second and 13.

The next play was negated because of a holding penalty that cost the Jumbos' offense ten yards. So instead of running short yardage plays, the offense had to spread it out and two incomplete passes later, the Jumbos were forced to punt.

With the game still knotted up at zero, Tufts appeared to have another shot at points with 4:34 left in the half. On Middlebury's 42, junior quarterback Jason Casey handed the ball off to Mack for a no gain, but once again the Jumbos were called for a holding penalty.

However, this time, the extra down played right into the offense's hands. On the repeat of second down, Casey hit Mack on a five yard out pattern that Mack turned into a 19-yard gain, one yard short of the first down.

"Tim Mack opened up our offense unbelievably," Casey said. "[He did so] with his speed and knowledge."

Tufts eventually moved the ball down to the 17-yard line before using the foot of senior Marcellus Rolle. With four seconds left in the half, Rolle put the 35-yard field goal through the uprights to give Tufts a 3-0 lead, which it would carry into halftime.

In its first possession of the third quarter, Middlebury looked like a completely different team.

Led by senior Matt Wolf, who carried the ball 29 times for 115 yards, Middlebury marched up the field after starting at its own 30-yard line. On each Middlebury series, Wolf would run the ball two to three times and then Middlebury quarterback Mike Keenan would look for receiver Charles Howe in the air.

The combination worked as a 26-yard pass from Keenan to Howe landed Middlebury on Tufts' 14-yard line. Two Wolf rushes later and the Panthers had a lead they would not relinquish. After the extra point, Middlebury was up 7-3.

The following series, Tufts got its last real opportunity to take the lead and put pressure on Middlebury.

Casey, who passed for 214 yards, showed poise all day, sitting in the pocket and locating the open receiver. On the drive following Middlebury's touchdown, Casey did just that on a third and 12 play. He calmly sat back and hit senior Ed Casabian on a fade pattern for a 14-yard gain to Middlebury's 34-yard line.

The next three plays, Mack took over. After rushing for two yards, Mack broke off a ten-yard run, followed by a 28-yard run to the 12-yard line. After an incomplete pass, Mack rushed for another four yards to the eight-yard line.

On third down, the Jumbos' offense opted to pass in the short field and came up short. Rolle came on and hit a 25-yard field goal to push Tufts within one point of Middlebury, 7-6.

Tufts would not score again.

The most heartbreaking moment of the contest came after Tufts' defense forced Middlebury to punt with 7:25 left in the game, giving the Jumbos a spark of life. However, after the ball had almost rolled to a stop, senior Mark Tilki decided to jump on the ball. He was unable to control possession after he touched it and Middlebury dove on it at Tufts' 15-yard line.

"Coach tells us to field everything. I just misjudged it," Tilki said. "I picked it up when I shouldn't have."

On that turnover, Middlebury scored on a field goal with 5:36 left in the game to make the game 10-6.

Tufts got the ball one more time, but after some close completion attempts, Tufts' burned a timeout on fourth and five and then decided to punt.

When Middlebury got the ball back, senior quad-captain Reid Palmer simply stated Tufts didn't execute when it had the chance.

Despite having two timeouts remaining, Wolf was able to run out the clock, sealing Middlebury's 10-6 win.

The Panthers ended their season 4-4, while the Jumbos dropped to 5-3.

Even with the loss, the team did not consider the season a wash.

"This is the best team I've ever been on," Casey said. "The seniors set a great tone. The difference between 3-5 and 5-3 was attitude."