By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Coming off a tough loss against Woodstock and without star running back Josiah Martinez, Springfield knew it had a challenge on its hands against a Mill River team riding high after a 27-0 victory over Windsor.
Despite the challenge, Springfield rose to the occasion and grinded out a 14-6 victory on Saturday at Brown Field.
Both teams struggled to move the ball in the opening quarter, but Mill River managed to capitalize on strong starting field position after a punt return brought them to Springfield’s 25-yard line. The Minutemen found the endzone four plays later when quarterback Toby Pytlik scampered 13 yards for the score.
With Mill River still leading 6-0 with less than five minutes remaining in the first half, the Cosmos offense finally found its stride after taking over at their own 13-yard line. Springfield earned two first downs on the ground before Cam Williams connected with Dillan Lacasse through the air on consecutive plays. Dmitri Jasinski capped off the drive with a 28-yard rushing touchdown and added the two-point conversion to give the Cosmos an 8-6 advantage with 2:20 remaining until halftime.
“We went into half up 8-6, but I anticipated it being a little bit more in our favor at that point,” Springfield Head Coach Todd Aiken said. “That’s a credit to Mill River. They have a good team and they’re tough.”
The score remained at 8-6 entering the fourth quarter, though Springfield quickly moved the ball to Mill River’s 3-yard line at the beginning of the period after several successful running plays. With their backs against a wall, the Minutemen recovered a fumble to bring the drive to a halt.
With just over six minutes remaining in the game, and facing 4th-and-3 from their own 15-yard line, the Minutemen faced a difficult decision. Mill River elected to go for it, but the decision came back to haunt them as the Cosmos stuffed them for no gain. It took Springfield only two plays to capitalize as Cam Williams found paydirt from 6 yards out. The Cosmos extra point attempt missed, keeping Mill River within one score at 14-6.
Mill River refused to go away quietly, advancing the ball all the way to Springfield’s 7-yard line on its next possession. This was as far as the Minutemen would advance, however, as Dmitri Jasinski forced a fumble on the following play. Trevor Carl pounced on the ball for the Cosmos and the offense was able to run out the clock to secure the victory.
“We made some adjustments at halftime,” said Aiken. “The boys got fired up and put together a good second half. They were a little bit tougher and cleaned up some mistakes.”
Dmitiri Jasinski paced Springfield offensively with over 100 yards rushing. The Cosmos defense stifled Mill River, holding the Minutemen to just 99 yards for the game.
“We were pretty stout defensively,” Aiken said. “We made some key stops and had some big takeaways.”
Springfield (3-1) travels to Poultney (1-2) for its next game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
