By Dan Barile
Eagle Times Correspondent
WESTMINSTER, VT — On a cool fall afternoon, the Bellows Falls offense was on fire during a 38-14 victory over the Brattleboro Bears on Monday, Oct. 23.
Bellows Falls raced out to a 16-0 lead after reaching the endzone on their first two possessions of the game. The Terriers went 70 yards in seven plays on their opening drive culminating in a 10-yard touchdown run by Connor Perry. Following multiple 15-yard penalties against Brattleboro on the following drive, it took the Terriers only three plays to reach the endzone again. Jaden Harper earned the touchdown on an 8-yard run. Terriers’ fullback Stefan James powered the ball across the goal line on both 2-point conversion attempts.
Brattleboro would respond with a touchdown of their own on the next possession. On fourth and 3, the Bears called a halfback sweep and raced 28-yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 16-6.
Despite having under 4 minutes remaining until halftime, both teams would strike again.
Bellows Falls struck first when Connor Perry ran 22-yards for his second touchdown of the game. Wyatt Whidden added the 2-point conversion to give the Terriers a 24-6 lead with only 1:28 remaining. Brattleboro quickly moved the ball through the air on the following possession and managed to capitalize with 13 seconds left on an 8-yard touchdown pass. The Bears added the 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 24-14.
Brattleboro quickly moved the ball down the field again on the opening drive of the second half and looked destined to cut the lead to single digits. However, the Terriers defense stepped-up in the red zone to force fourth & 11 from the 14-yard line. The Bears elected to throw the ball to the endzone, but Brody Davignon made a spectacular interception to bring the drive to a halt.
Davignon’s teammates and coaches were noticeably excited for the freshman defensive back after the great play.
Following the turnover, Bellows Falls seemed to have all of the momentum, and they never looked back. Three plays later, Declan Lisai connected with Reed Hill for a 68-yard touchdown pass. Whidden added the 2-point conversion to give the Terriers a 32-14 advantage. Later in the third quarter, Bryer Barnett added a 14-yard touchdown run as time expired to extend the Terriers lead to 38-14.
Bellows Falls forced Brattleboro to punt on their final two drives and held the Bears to -11 yards combined on both drives.
Barnett led Bellows Falls on the ground with 9 carries for 108 yards and 1 touchdown. The Terriers spread the wealth around in their season finale as they had seven different ball carriers who ran for a total of 246 yards. Bellows Falls also completed two long passes for 98 yards.
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