MEDFORD - Following a stunning, record-setting performance in the Tufts University football team's 65-34 win over MIddlebury College yesterday, senior wide receiver
Phil Lutz has been named as this week's New England Football Writers' Division II-III Gold Helmet Award recipient.
Lutz caught 10 passes for 237 yards and six touchdowns in the game, breaking Tufts' single-game records for yards, TD receptions and total touchdowns. He had two long touchdowns in the first five minutes of action and four by halftime, already setting a new Tufts record. He helped the Jumbos accumulate 639 yards of total offense.
After a defensive stop by the Jumbo defense on Middlebury's first possession, Lutz scored on Tufts' first play of the game. Taking a pass from sophomore QB
Michael Berluti, he broke one tackle, athletically averted another and darted the rest of the way for a 63-yard touchdown at 13:21 of the opening quarter. Three minutes later, Lutz leaped to grab a ball over the middle and then out-ran three Panther defenders for a 44-yard touchdown giving Tufts a 14-0 advantage at 10:19 of the first.
Lutz's 12-yard TD catch put Tufts up 28-7 at 6:31 of the second quarter. Middlebury would score twice quickly to pull within 35-20. However, after the Jumbos took over with 1:22 left in the first half, Lutz capped a 75-yard touchdown drive with a three-yard score for a 35-20 Tufts lead with 12 seconds remaining. He then scored on a 70-yard catch, his longest of the season, on the second play of the second half for a 42-20 Jumbo margin. His sixth TD was a seven-yard score at 5:27 of the third making it 55-20.
In addition to the three single-game records, today's performance gave Lutz three Tufts and one New England Small College Athletic Conference single-season records. He broke his own school records with 78 catches and 1221 yards, with the yardage also setting a new league mark. His 14 receiving TDs this fall are also a new Tufts record.
This is the second time a Jumbo player has earned the Gold Helmet this year. Berluti was selected on October 2 following the Williams game.
The Jumbos (6-3) put up 65 points against a Middlebury team that had come into the game with a 7-1 record.
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