By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
NORTHFIELD, Vt. — Last weekend, State Championship Saturday was all about important defensive stands locking up wins. It was fitting that that’s how the 22nd annual North-South All-Star Football Game was decided as well.
In a game between the best senior high school football players from the northern and southern halves of Vermont, the North needed one more stop to hold off the South.
Only picking up two yards on the first two plays of the drive, the South went to the air. Both passes from Brattleboro’s Devin Speno fell incomplete and the North survived to win 34-27 on a windy, bitter cold Sunday afternoon at Norwich University’s Sabine Field.
The North looked to have the game in-hand, leading by 20 points heading into the fourth quarter, but the South had made a game of it again with two unanswered touchdowns.
North coach Jeff Stein’s club wasn’t going to let the South finish the improbable comeback.
“We were frustrated in how we let that happen. They came out and they were determined to never give up,” said Stein, the head coach at Mount Abraham.
“We had a great pass rush and the coverage was there. We were making (the South) scramble. Any time you get a quarterback scrambling, it does bad things for their offense.”
The South had to make multiple comebacks to keep up with the North throughout the day.
The North jumped out to a 14-0 advantage in the opening quarter, scoring on both of its first two drives. BFA-Fairfax quarterback Cooper Harvey took one in from 29 yards on the first drive and Rice’s Mathias Mazanti found the end zone from 7 yards on the next North possession.
The South was doing itself no favors taking care of the ball. Windsor’s Maison Fortin was picked off by Missisquoi’s Ray Fournier and the next drive Speno was picked off by Colchester’s Caleb Levasseur.
“The first quarter was rough and put us in a 14-0 hole,” said South coach Chad Gordon, who led Mount Anthony to its first state title in 28 years last week. “Every kid out there is an all-star. They all had a great attitude and effort.”
The effort showed in the fight the South showed throughout the game. They started clamping down defensively and broke through on the scoreboard right before the half with a 28-yard connection between Speno and Rutland’s Jonah Bassett in the left side of the end zone.
The teams traded scores out of the half. After a South punt, Mazanti shined on a two-play drive for the North, picking up big yards after the catch on a pass from St. Johnsbury’s Quinn Murphy and then rushing it in from 8 yards on the next play.
“I unfortunately had the privilege of playing him two times during the regular season,” Stein said. “I knew what the kid had and what he’d bring to the table. That’s what these kinds of games are about, giving a kid like that time to shine.”
The South responded with a touchdown a few drives later and had great field field position due to special teams work. Rutland’s Jaheim Hughes blocked a North punt and Middlebury’s Cole Schnoor recovered the ball on the North 10-yard line.
The South made quick work of the drive, scoring on three plays, finished off by a 1-yard rush by Bellows Falls’ Caden Haskell.
The North came back with a four-play drive, on all passes, that was capped by a Murphy-Alex Provost connection in the right side of the end zone and two plays later added on with an interception return for a touchdown by Essex’s Tanner Robbins.
“I just wanted them to keep having fun and keep going at it,” said Gordon of the message to the team when the South went into that late hole.
Two long drives resulted in South touchdowns, following the pick-6. Mount Anthony’s Ayman Naser scored on the first drive after the interception and Burr and Burton Academy’s Michael Crabtree scored on the next South drive.
Speno passed for 167 yards and Fortin passed for 69 yards for the South. Naser toted the ball 11 times for 72 yards on the ground, with Crabtree following at 50 yards. Bassett had seven catches for 108 yards.
On the North side, Murphy passed for 135 yards. Mazanti had 69 receiving yards and Harvey rushed for 60 yards.
The North win snapped a two-year run of South victories.
At halftime, it was announced that Windsor’s Greg Balch will be the 2023 Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl coach for Vermont this upcoming summer. The New Hampshire coach is Plymouth’s Chris Sanborn.
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adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com
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