State Championship Takeaways

By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
The best senior high school football players in the state are preparing to put a bow on the 2022 season on Sunday with the North-South game at Norwich University.

They’ll have a tall task on their hands trying to match the intensity of this past Saturday.

All three games provided plenty of intrigue and drama that kept that packed stands at Rutland High School’s Alumni Field engaged throughout.

When it was all set and done, Division I CVU, Division II Mount Anthony and Division III Windsor were crowned state champions

It was great day of football on a beautiful mid-November day in Vermont. Here’s a handful of my takeaways from State Championship Saturday.

DEFENSE STEPS UPThere’s a common saying in sports that defense wins championships.

That was proven to be correct on Saturday, where all three state championships were won on the back of quality defense.

Mount Anthony came up with one of the biggest defensive plays in its program’s history to capture its title.

The Patriots had just scored in double overtime and all they needed to do was stop the vaunted Bellows Falls rushing attack four times to celebrate a championship.

First rush, four yards. Second rush, four yards. Third rush, one yard. All BF needed was a repeat of its third down effort and we’re headed to triple overtime.

That wasn’t to be as MAU stuffed the Terriers at the one-yard line to win the title, their first in 28 years.

That play set up a day filled with defensive excellence.

In the Division III game, Windsor recovered multiple fumbles in the second half to pull away in what had been a tight game with BFA-Fairfax/Lamoille up until that point.

CVU needed its own defensive focus in the waning moments of the D-I final against Middlebury. The Tigers had the ball on the Redhawks’ 8-yard line and had two shots at the end zone.

Both times, CVU covered well and the ball fell incomplete to propel the Redhawks to their first state championship in program history.

All three state champions have offenses that few in the Green Mountain State could match his fall, but when they needed it the most, it was the defense that ruled the day.

PERFECTION Two teams were looking to find perfection on Saturday, but only one succeeded and that was Windsor, who finished off its second straight undefeated season.

It looked like the Yellow Jackets were primed to repeat ever since the opening week when they survived their toughest regular season contest against Fairfax. It was fairly smooth sailing from there with a couple teams giving them a test, but each time Windsor would pull away.

Many of the standouts from last year’s state championship returned this year among them quarterback Maison Fortin and running backs Logan Worrall and Travis McAllister. These guys, and many of their championship teammates, know the pressures of the state championship stage and thrived within it.

Winning back-to-back titles is impressive in its own right, but doing so with a pair of undefeated seasons makes it even more incredible.

Only a handful of teams have accomplished the feat of two perfect seasons in a row.

The Yellow Jackets did it fairly recently, going perfect in 2016 and 2017. Across those two playoff runs, Windsor allowed a combined 19 points.

Middlebury accomplished it in 2013 and 2014, never allowing more than a touchdown in any playoff game over those two storied seasons. The Tigers were on the brink of making it three straight perfect seasons, but they were beat by a one-loss Rutland team in the 2015 finals.

U-32 did succeed in having three straight perfect seasons, doing so in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The third of three titles was the most difficult to clinch as the Raiders trailed Mount Abraham in the fourth quarter, but Jeff Butterfield picked off a pass and scored later in the fourth to secure the win.

Hartford has accomplished the back-to-back perfect seasons, doing so in 1992 and 1993 and again in 2011 and 2012.

FUTUREOne high school football season is over, so it’s always fun to look forward to the next.

It will be interesting to see how many of the six teams that played on Saturday make it back to that stage again. Five of the 2021 finalists succeeded in that this fall.

CVU will returns its quarterback Ollie Cheer and a handful of standout skill position players so the Redhawks could be right back in the thick of things.

Middlebury also returns its quarterback in Jacob Kemp. The Tigers are losing some of the talent in their backfield, but are always strong.

Mount Anthony is also losing talented running backs, but the Patriots’ younger players shined when they were given the opportunity this fall. MAU can rest easy knowing it has another year of standout junior quarterback Tanner Bushee.

Bellows Falls graduates many of its talented offensive players, but as we know, the Terriers just reload every year. Junior Walker James was already impressive this year and should make an even bigger mark next fall.

Most of the offensive studs for Windsor are seniors, but junior Brody Osgood showed flashes of what the future could look like for the Yellow Jackets in the state championship game.

Fairfax has been to the state championship game the last three seasons, so it wouldn’t be a shock if the Bullets have another shot at glory next fall.

adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com

Follow on Twitter: @AAucoin_RH