By BOB FREDETTE
[email protected]
POULTNEY, Vt. — Poultney tailback Levi Allen promised to buy chicken wings for the Blue Devils defensive line if they got a safety in a playoff game against Woodstock last week.
They did, and Allen delivered.
On Saturday Poultney’s offensive line delivered the Devils and Allen to the championship game Allen was forced to sit out last year with an injury. They opened gaping holes all day and Allen and Caden Capman combined for 343 rushing yards in a 40-16 blowout of Windsor in the Division III semifinals.
Poultney will face BFA-Fairfax in the finals next Saturday at Rutland High School at 2 p.m.
Allen ran into the title game with 245 yards and two touchdowns, with Capman running for three more and passing for yet another to Allen. Capman ran for 99 of Poultney’s 383 yards on the ground.
BFA took a 6-0 decision at Poultney in Week 2 and Allen says he expects the kind of physical game the teams played when BFA won 6-0 in Week 2 at Poultney.
Saturday’s contest was a good primer for that.
“The big thing in this game was who was going to be more physical and we were more physical,” Allen said.
The line of Jacob DeBonis, Ryan Alt, Colby Hutchins, Jacob McMahon and Lane Gibbs, plus tight end Thomas Dunbar, set the tone early as Poultney marched 61 yards on its first possession to score on Capman’s 4-yard run.
“Our offensive line played great,” Allen said.
Poultney went on to score on its first four possessions while the defense stuffed Windsor with the help of a DeBonis fumble recovery and tackles for big losses by Allen and Heith Mason.
“That was our goal,” said Devils coach Dave Capman, “to … be physical and we did in this game.”
Poultney walked over Windsor earlier in the year when the Jacks repeatedly turn over over the ball. For the most part Poultney took care of the Jacks offense without any assistance while the game was still in question.
They held team that had won four of its last five games to 201 yards. Poultney had 405.
Windsor was showing some life on its second possession when Ben Gilbert fumbled and DeBonis recovered. The 9-1 Blue Devils turned it around on a 64-yard march that Capman ended with a 1-yard plunge for a 13-0 lead.
Allen had 64 yards in a brisk, four-play drive which he ended with a 10-yard run as the lead was built to 20-0.
Allen sniffed out a Max Clifford screen pass to Connor Hart and dropped Hart for a 7-yard loss and after Windsor was forced to punt, Capman took the ball, picked his way through defenders in the middle of the field and scored from 51 yards as the lead became 28-0.
Windsor scored just before halftime as Caleb Meagher finally broke loose. The Windsor tailback dashed 31 yards and despite his later being tosssed for a 6-yard loss by Mason, the Jacks eventually scored on Clifford’s 3-yard pass to Austin Gauld. Clifford ran in the conversion for a 28-8 halftime score.
That was as close as it was going to get as the Devils sandwiched scoring drives around a nifty interception. Lucas DuPell tipped a Clifford pass in the secondary and Alt nabbed it and ran it back into Jacks territory. That led to a 5-yard TD run by Allen, who had earlier caught a 10-yard scoring pass from Capman.
With the score 40-8 Mason had an interception.
Meagher (78 yards) ran 25 yards for a score against the Poultney second string with 41 seconds to play.
The Yellow Jackets finished a season that started at 0-4 with a 4-6 record.
Woodstock beat Poultney 28-21 last season without Allen, who missed the bulk of the football season and the entire basketball season.
But the Devils will go to next Saturday’s finals fully loaded.
“We’re excited about that,” said Capman. “The kids really wanted to get back there after last year.”
And Allen might want to think about promising some more wings.
Vermont Football Tournaments
Division I
Semifinals
Burr and Burton 54, Middlebury 39
St. Johnsbury 31, Essex 7
Finals
Saturday, Nov. 9
at Rutland High School, 5 p.m.
Game 7: No. 1 St. Johnsbury (10-0) vs. No. 3 Burr and Burton (9-1)
Division II
Semifinals
Brattleboro 41, Fair Haven 6
Bellows Falls 26, U-32 14
Finals
Saturday, Nov. 9
at Rutland High School, 11 a.m.
Game 7: No. 1 Brattleboro (10-0) vs. No. 3 Bellows Falls (8-2)
Division III
Semifinals
Poultney 40, Windsor 16
BFA-Fairfax 20, Otter Valley 6
Finals
Saturday, Nov. 9
at Rutland High School, 2 p.m.
Game 7: No. 1 Poultney (9-1) vs. No. 2 BFA-Fairfax (9-1)
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