By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The Springfield Cosmos scored on the first two possessions of the game and never looked back during a season-opening 35-6 victory over Missisquoi Valley at Brown Field.
” We had a great camp, a great preseason, and a solid week of practice,” Springfield Head Coach Todd Aiken said. “We’ve got an exciting younger group of kids who were itching to get in the game. It was good to see them get their feet wet and get a real taste of varsity football.”
Sophomore running back Josiah Martinez had a big night for the Cosmos, beginning with a 30-yard touchdown run on the opening drive.
After forcing a turnover on downs, Springfield quickly marched down the field again. Senior quarterback Cam Williams found paydirt this time on an eight-yard scamper. Martinez converted the two-point try on the ground to give Springfield a 14-0 lead with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter.
Both teams almost went scoreless for the remainder of the half until Missisquoi gave the Cosmos good field position after an unsuccessful fourth down attempt in its own territory. Springfield capitalized three plays later when Martinez found the endzone again on a 23-yard run. Martinez added the two-point conversion to give the Cosmos a 22-0 advantage with 38 seconds remaining in the half.
Despite Martinez’s first half heroics, Missisquoi booted the ball deep to him to open the second half. The Thunderbirds immediately regretted this decision when Martinez took the kickoff 80 yards for his third touchdown of the night.
Martinez added Springfield’s final score of the night when he sprinted 19-yards to the endzone with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter to give the Cosmos a 35-0 edge.
With less than a minute to play in the game, Missisquoi finally got on the board when they connected on a 61-yard touchdown pass.
“It was a game we went into knowing we needed to win but also a game that we expected to win,” Aiken said. “However, to Missisquoi’s credit, they are big and athletic. Their durability wasn’t in their favor last night. We always hit and we’re physical, and that was our advantage last night.”
Aiken added, “There are some things we need to clean up. It wasn’t a pretty game, but most first games aren’t because they’re your first real look. We have a lot of positive things to build on and a few areas to clean up.”
Offensively, Martinez led Springfield with 90 rushing yards and four total touchdowns (three rushing, one kick return), and Williams had 51 yards rushing, 45 yards passing, and a rushing touchdown.
Defensively, Dillan Lacasse and Dmitri Jasinski led the Cosmos with eight tackles each, Riley Snide and Landon Truell followed with five tackles apiece, Williams had four tackles, and Martinez had a tackle for loss and an interception.
“In practice you can tell they’re brothers (Martinez and Williams) because there’s that battle,” Aiken said. “They complement each other so well and they’re a thrill to coach. We’re really lucky to have a dynamic duo like that in the backfield.”
Springfield (1-0) has a big test this week when they host the defending Division 3 State Champions Windsor (0-1) on Friday at 7 p.m.
