Colchester — Trailing by fourteen points and with their 25 game winning streak on the line, the two time defending state champion Middlebury Tigers rallied with three fourth quarter touchdowns, stunning the Colchester Lakers 18-14 on Friday night at the Lakers Field.

Colchester dominated the first three quarters, scoring on a pair of touch down passes from quarterback Travis Boutin to utility man Justin Evans.The two connected early, hooking up on a 30 yard with 8:44 left in the first quarter. The score was set up when punter Dakota Navari busted a long run out of punt formation. Then after a Middlebury turnover on their first possession of the second half, Boutin found Evans again, this time from 35 yards out for a 14-0.

But as good as the lead was for the Lakers they had to lament their failure to make it larger. Twice CHS receivers dropped sure TD passes from Boutin, and on a third chance Boutin sailed the ball over the head of a wide open man in the end zone.

Those were costly mistakes and the Tigers finally made them pay. In the fourth quarter the visitors turned the game over to junior wing back Trey Kaufman. After hardly touching the ball over the first 36 minutes Hudson became the work horse in the final twelve, scoring on runs of 20, 34 and seven yards, the last one coming with 1:25 remaining in the game.

With that Middlebury snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and extended their winning streak to 26 games in a row. They’ll look to make it 27 next week at home against South Burlington. Meanwhile the crushing defeat drops Colchester to 2-2 on the season. They will travel to Brattleboro next weekend.