Football teams vie for state title

By Adam Aucoin
RUTLAND HERALD
No matter how many times you get there, there’s something special in the air on State Championship Saturday.

The trio of state title matchups this year run the gamut of experience on the big stage. Some have made it to this day with regularity, while others are experiencing a rare elation.

Two weeks ago, we started with 24 teams and only six remain with dreams of championship glory.

Division II gets the party started at Rutland High School’s Alumni Field at 11 a.m., Division III follows at 2 p.m. and Division I closes the book on the season under the lights at 5 p.m.

Division II

Top-seeded Bellows Falls (10-0) has made the state championship game its second home in the recent years. Saturday will be the Terriers’ fifth trip to the D-II title game in the last six seasons.

“You always want to be playing on the last day that you’re allowed to play,” said Bellows Falls coach Bob Lockerby. “Having endured what we went through last year makes it more special. The pandemic has put people in a whirlwind.”

For their opponent Mount Anthony (8-2), it will be the first time 27 years the Patriots are playing for state championship glory.

“It’s real exciting. The community support has been overwhelming,” said MAU coach Chad Gordon, who was a player on that 1994 Division I championship team that went undefeated and beat Middlebury for the crown.

“None of our guys were even born the last time we won. They’ve only heard about that team. When the playoffs started, it was about them creating their own legacy.”

Those players have done a great job of doing just that. The Patriots have outscored playoff opponents Rice and Spaulding 69-7 to get to the title game.

MAU has been on a roll since a Week 3 loss to Rutland that left it at 1-2. The Patriots made a change at quarterback following that game, going to sophomore Tanner Bushee and moving Braeden Billert to tight end.

That move along with shuffling on the offensive line has done wonders for MAU and it racked up seven straight wins since.

“Those moves gave us our best on-field product. Braeden has really settled in at tight end and Tanner has limited his mistakes at quarterback as the year has gone on,” Gordon said.

The running back has been huge for the Patriots. Ayman Naser has rushed for 775 yards and Hayden Gaudette has run for 416 yards.

“Ayman has turned into that feature back that we’ve been looking for,” Gordon said. “Hayden has been great for us. We call him our ‘closer.’”

Ian White at tackle, Connor Barrett at center and Andrew Gilbert at guard have been huge for MAU on the offensive line.

“They are a well-rounded football team,” Lockerby said. “They’re not the same team we saw (in Week 2).”

That Week 2 game saw Bellows Falls win 45-14. It was one of the many dominant efforts the Terriers have put up this fall en route to their 10-0 mark. Bellows Falls has won every game by at least three touchdowns.

“I have to give a lot of credit to my 10 seniors,” Lockerby said. “They’ve been the glue to our team.”

The Terriers have plenty of experience in their backfield led by Jeb Lober, Jeb Monier and Harrison Gleim. Lober went off in Bellows Falls’ semifinal win against Lyndon, rushing for 212 yards and three touchdowns.

“Their running game is dynamic. Controlling the line of scrimmage will be important,” Gordon said.

Bellows Falls and MAU is one of the better rivalries in southern Vermont and the stakes have never been higher than they will be on Saturday.

Division III

The Division III football championship race seemed like it was two freight trains en route to the same piece of cargo.

That cargo is the D-III championship trophy and one only team will pick it up on Saturday.

Top-seeded Windsor (10-0) has been as dominant as they come this fall. No. 2 seed BFA-Fairfax/Lamoille (7-1) hasn’t been far off that pace.

“The players and coaches are really excited for Saturday and they just want to get to the game,” said Yellow Jackets coach Greg Balch.

“The preparation is necessary, but the week can be long, just waiting for the game to arrive.”

Balch knows the massive challenge that the Bullets give any opponent. His Windsor club knows it firsthand.

The Yellow Jackets kept every opponent to 13 points or less, except Fairfax, who scored 35 points on Windsor in Week 7.

The Yellow Jackets still won that game comfortably, but they know they’ll have to battle be crowned champions.

“(Fairfax) is loaded. They have a lot of depth,” Balch said. “They have a big roster and some big kids.”

The Bullets’ offense puts up points in bunches. Outside of their loss to Windsor and last weekend’s semifinal win against Otter Valley, they’ve scored more than 40 points in every game this fall.

Windsor has scored 40 or more points in six games. The Yellow Jackets are filled with offensive weapons. Chief among them has been quarterback Maison Fortin and running backs Ben Gilbert and Logan Worrall.

“I don’t remember a time where we’ve had this much running back depth,” Balch said.

Their offensive line has played a big part in that success led by center Richie Young and guard Dalton Clifford. Bradley Bowers, Vance Martin and tight end Austin Gauld are great blockers as well.

Fairfax/Lamoille is making its second straight trip to the D-III title game, having lost to Poultney in 2019.

This is Windsor’s third trip to the state title game since 2016, and in the two seasons they didn’t make the finals, they were knocked out in the semifinals.

“There are high expectations and each kid in the program understands that,” Balch said.

Division I

No. 3 CVU and No. 4 Essex are making history on Saturday.

Their Division I state championship matchup will be the first ever D-I title game between two teams from Chittenden County.

To make that a reality both had to pull off semifinal upsets.

The Redhawks (7-2) blocked a last-second field goal to hold off No. 2 Hartford 14-13 last Friday

At the same time, the Hornets used a relentless rushing attack to knock off previously-undefeated No. 1 Rutland 42-28.

As is expected for two teams in a state championship game, CVU and Essex have been rolling as of late.

The Redhawks are winners of six of their last seven since starting the season 1-1. Their lone loss during that stretch was against the Hornets in the final week of the regular season.

CVU has a balanced offensive attack with quarterback Max Destito, wide receivers Alex Provost and Jack Sumner and running back Angelos Carroll leading the way.

Sumner caught two touchdowns from Destito in the win against the Hurricanes.

Essex loves to run the ball under first-year Hornets coach Marty Richards. Running back Oliver Orvis rushed for 222 yards and dual-threat quarterback Ben Serrantonio rushed for 161 yards.

Essex has won four in a row heading into the championship game.

Richards coached on Alumni Field in the D-I state championship game just three years ago when he was finishing up his time at the helm of Mount Mansfield.

That night ended in a Cougars championship. He’s hoping his Hornets get that same feeling on the same field Saturday night.

adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com