Inexperience at key positions on both the offense and defense really showed for the MX 11 in their first ISL game against Thayer.  A miscue on the opening kickoff led to an early safety and a 2-0 lead for Thayer.  The defense kept us in the game, as the offense could never find any type of rhythm.  Every time the offense would break a long run there always seemed to be a fumble or a penalty flag on the ground.
 
Early in the second quarter, a turnover gave Thayer the ball inside our 35 yard line.  Thayer would score on a 14 yard run for an 8-0 lead. The defense stiffened again and held Thayer scoreless until just before halftime when a personal foul on a punt gave the ball back to Thayer inside our 40.  Thayer scored on a 2-yard run to take a 14-0 lead at the half.
 
Coming out in the second half the defense again led the way neutralizing Thayer's offense in the third quarter but the offense continued to sputter and never reached the opponents red zone.  A fumble on a punt early in the fourth quarter would give Thayer great field position and set up a touchdown pass.  Thayer would add one more score near the end of the quarter for a final score and Thayer victory 27-0.
 
The defense was the story of the day, with our inside linebackers Jack Canniff '18 and Alek Kebabjian '20 becoming our two top tacklers, against the formidable inside run game of Thayer.  Our defensive end trio of Owen Henderson '18, Burnham Lewis '18 and Kam Landry '18 and defensive line trio of Aidan Conway '18, Derek DeLaine '19 and Wes Capitani '20 all played well on the day.  The Zebras take the field again on Friday, September 29th at Rivers at 2:30PM.