Middlebury College quarterback Will Jernigan ran for three touchdowns and the Panthers posted a 28-12 NESCAC win against the Hamilton College Continentals at Hamilton's Steuben Field on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

The teams were playing in the Old Rocking Chair Classic for the 41st time. The Continentals last kept the Chair in 1995 when they won 23-20. Middlebury has prevailed every year since then as the Panthers' win streak against Hamilton has increased to 25 games.

The Continentals (2-6 NESCAC) wrap up their season with one more conference game at Bates College on Saturday, Nov. 13 at noon. Hamilton racked up 27 first downs and 406 yards on offense. The Continentals were 12 of 21 on third down conversions and 3 of 6 on fourth down, and had the ball for more than 43 minutes, but Hamilton's downfall was its four turnovers.

Middlebury (3-5) averaged 7.1 yards per play on offense. The Panthers' defense picked off two passes, recovered two Continental fumbles, blocked a field goal attempt and sacked the quarterback four times.

Matt Banbury '23 was 15 of 27 passing for 241 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another 51 yards and a score for Hamilton. The touchdown pass was Banbury's second and the scoring run was his first with the Continentals. Joe Park '23 led the team with 70 yards rushing. Will Budington '22 led all players with six catches for 98 yards and Drew Granski '22 added three receptions for 80 yards. Budington is eighth in the conference with 3.6 catches per game.

James Bourque '24 was credited with a season-high eight tackles for Hamilton. Alex Street '23 and George Johnson '23 chipped in seven stops apiece.

Jernigan was 13 of 18 for 156 yards passing and ran for 108 more. Kwesi Adu-Diawuo made a game-high 11 tackles and Jack Pistorius added 10 along with a fumble recovery and an interception. Tomas Kenary came up with three sacks, Peter Merlini had another and Sam Wilson picked off a pass.

Middlebury took a 14-0 lead into the locker room at halftime on the strength of two big plays. Pistorius returned an interception of a Joe Cairns '25 pass 32 yards for a touchdown with 12:10 left in the first quarter and Jernigan romped 84 yards for another score with 22 seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Continentals had the ball for more than 24 minutes and the Panthers ran just 11 offensive plays during the opening half. Hamilton came up short on a number of great opportunities in the first 30 minutes. The Continentals turned the ball over on downs at the Middlebury 30, had a 24-yard field goal blocked, threw an interception at the Panther 14 and lost a fumble at the Middlebury 19.

The Panthers went up 21-0 after they received the second half's opening kickoff and drove 82 yards in 10 plays. Jernigan punched it in from the Hamilton one with 11:49 to go in the third quarter.

The Continentals fumbled on their next play from scrimmage and Middlebury recovered at the Hamilton 20. The Panthers eventually turned the ball over on downs and the Continentals drove 89 yards in 15 plays for their first points. Banbury threw for 28 yards and ran for 45 more on the drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock. On second down at the Middlebury 15, Banbury faked a handoff to Park, dropped back to pass and was chased from the pocket. He shed a tackle near the line of scrimmage and dragged a defender into the end zone for the 15-yard touchdown run with 3:38 left in the third.

The Panthers immediately responded with their own touchdown drive. Jernigan capped the eight-play, 78-yard march on a five-yard run with 52 seconds remaining in the third. Zach Levy's extra-point made it 28-6.

Hamilton completed the scoring on a four-yard touchdown pass from Banbury to Kamau Hopewell '25 with 4:56 to go. The play completed an 80-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter. On third-and-goal Banbury flipped a pass to his right to Hopewell who caught it at the six and dove for the right pylon with two defenders draped all over him. Hopewell leads the Continentals with four touchdowns this season.

The ensuing onside kick by Sam Thoreen '22 was recovered by Middlebury at its own 32 after the ball bounced off several players. Hamilton had one more chance to cut into the Panthers' lead after Middlebury went three-and-out. The Continentals drove 43 yards down to the Panther 17, but Banbury's pass on fourth-and-eight fell incomplete with 1:09 left.

Hamilton honored its 12 seniors prior to the start of the game.