-The Brattleboro boys' cross country team completed the regular season by capturing the Southern Vermont League (SVL) A Division title on Oct. 17 at Bellows Falls Union High School.
The Bears narrowly edged Burr & Burton, 34-37, with Thetford Academy finishing third with 70 points. Mount Anthony was fourth with 85 and Woodstock was fifth with 153.
Brattleboro's Nico Conathan-Leach won the 5K race in 16 minutes, 7 seconds. Burr & Burton's Isaiah Lewit was second in 16:29 and Brattleboro's Willow Sharma was third in 16:59.
In addition to the 1-2 punch of Brattleboro's senior runners, the key to the Bears' win was the performances by their next three runners as sophomore Liam Conathan-Leach (10th, 17:56), sophomore Jackson Ferriera (11th, 18:00), and senior Jonas Ackerman-Hovis (12th, 18:02) all finished in the top 15.
Other Brattleboro finishers included Walter Korb (21st, 19:17), Conor McColgan (22nd, 19:27), Charlie Vaughn (27th, 19:54), John Duncan (35th, 20:23), Milo MacArthur (51st, 22:37), Jude Anders (54th, 23:14), Dylan Bouchard (65th, 24:38), Max Becker (70th, 26:25), Eli Kitzmiller (74th, 29:11), Charlie Kiehle (75th, 30:56), and Peter Burke (80th, 43:34).
The depth of the Bears this season that gave them the SVL title will be tested Oct. 25 in the Vermont State Division I Championship meet at Thetford Academy.
Bellows Falls had three runners in the boys' event: Louis Sunflower (66th, 24:44), Gabe Winther (77th, 31:15), and Atlas Bezanson (81st, 1:03:47).
In the girls' race, Brattleboro had one runner. Sophomore Amanda Montalva finished 25th in 24 minutes, 15 seconds. Sydney Remenar, one of seven Burr & Burton runners to finish in the top 10, won the event in 18:46. The Bulldogs won the girls' team competition with 18 points, followed by Woodstock with 57 and Thetford with 63.
The 2.5K middle school event saw Brattleboro's Jack Schibley finish third in the boys' race in 10:28, with Beau Wetherby of Bellows Falls finishing fifth in 10:55. Brattleboro was third in team scoring, behind first place Manchester and second place Woodstock. The girls' race saw Brattleboro's Kaylin Richards finish third in 12:18.5, and teammate Grace Rosa finish fourth in 12:22. Brattleboro finished second to Thetford in team scoring.
• At the SVL-B Championships in Springfield on Oct. 17, Green Mountain's Desi Broadley continued to dominate, winning the girls' race in 19:26.13, 43 seconds ahead of Selah Majorell of Mount St. Joseph.
GM fell one runner short of posting a team score, but received strong performances from senior Gillian Robb (seventh place) and sophomore Sarah Birmingham (17th). Broadley, a junior, will defend her individual state title at the Vermont Division III State Championships at Thetford Academy on Oct. 25.
Playoff pairings announced for soccer, field hockey
The Vermont Principals' Association released their playoff brackets for field hockey, and boys' and girls' soccer on Oct. 19.
• Bellows Falls got the top seed in Division II field hockey with an 11-2-1 record. They will host eighth-seeded Middlebury (2-10-1) in a quarterfinal game on Oct. 24
Brattleboro got the No. 7 seed in Division II with a 2-11-1 record. The Bears travel to Brandon on Oct. 24 for a quarterfinal game against second-seeded Otter Valley (11-3).
• In Division IV boys' soccer, Twin Valley, who finished the regular season undefeated at 14-0, got a bye into the quarterfinals and home field advantage in the semifinals. The Wildcats will face the winner of the Oct. 22 first-found game between eighth-seeded Sharon Academy (8-5-1) and ninth-seeded Leland & Gray (6-6-2) on Oct. 25 at Hayford Field.
In Division I, Brattleboro was seeded 12th with a 6-8 record. At press time, the Bears were set to face fifth-seeded Rutland (9-5) in a first-round game on Oct. 21.
• The Brattleboro girls' soccer team earned the No. 4 seed in Division I with a 10-3-1 record. The Bears will host 13th-seeded Burlington (3-10-1) in a first-round game on Oct. 22 at Natowich Field.
With an 11-3 record, Bellows Falls got the No. 7 seed in Division III and a first-round home playoff game. The Terriers will host No. 10 Woodstock (6-9) on Oct. 22.
Leland & Gray got the No. 9 seed in Division IV with a 3-9-2 record. At press time, the Rebel girls were set to have a 125-mile bus ride north to face No. 8 Caledonia United (4-9-1) in a first-round game on Oct. 21.
Twin Valley was seeded 13th in Division IV with a 3-11 record. At press time, the Wildcat girls were set for an Oct. 21 road match against No. 4 Poultney (9-5).
Bears lose a heartbreaker to MAU
• The Brattleboro Bears football team were poised to win their first game of the year on Oct. 17 against their rivals, the Mount Anthony Patriots. The Bears put forth their best effort of the season and led 7-6 heading into the final minute of the game at Spinelli Field in Bennington.
However, instead of the Bears hoisting the Elwell Trophy - the spoils that go to the winner of the Route 9 Rumble - it was Patriots placekicker Rowan Behan who was the hero when he booted a 24-yard field goal with 0.5 seconds left to play to give Mount Anthony a 9-7 victory.
Behan missed a 27-yard field goal attempt and an extra point earlier in the game, but his second field goal attempt gave MAU the trophy for the second year in a row and the fourth time in five years.
This game was a defensive battle, with neither team finding the end zone in the game's first half and each scoring once on their respective first possessions of the third quarter.
Brattleboro converted on third down once in the opening drive of the game but punted the ball away after the second set of downs. It didn't take long for them to get it back, however, as MAU quarterback Jonathan Crossman threw a jump ball into the hands of Brattleboro cornerback Carson Kelley.
After a Brattleboro three-and-out, the two teams began to trade long drives. MAU found the red zone multiple times thanks to strong running from senior captain Asa Reis, who finished the night with 110 yards on 16 carries, but Brattleboro's defense kept them out of the end zone after multiple goal-line stands and the aforementioned missed field goal.
A long gain on a completion to senior Sean Cozza set the Bears up at the MAU 35-yard-line, but a holding penalty killed the drive and forced Brattleboro to punt for the fourth time in the first half. Mount Anthony drove all the way from their two-yard-line on the ensuing drive to get back into the red zone.
The Patriots took advantage of Brattleboro's corners playing almost 15 yards off the ball, with junior Logan Baker having gains of 45 and 12 yards on quick hook catch-and-runs. The drive then unraveled for MAU, as Baker dropped a pass standing all alone in the middle of the end zone and Talin Bartholdi would get flagged for offensive pass interference after catching a pass in the end zone.
While it seemingly was Brattleboro who went into halftime with the momentum, that didn't stop the Patriots from coming out strong on the opening drive of the second half. With Reis and Bartholdi each chipping in a run of over 20 yards, the Patriots found the end zone on a quarterback keeper by Crossman from two yards out. Behan missed the extra point to keep the score at 6-0.
The Bears responded quickly, finding the end zone themselves after just four plays. After some solid running to begin the drive, quarterback Logan Casey heaved a ball down field to Cozza, who slipped his defender to the outside at the last second and took Casey's pass 58 yards for the Brattleboro score. With junior kicker Hunter Roth adding the extra point, the Bears took their first lead of the entire season, 7-6. For the second time in three weeks, Cozza went over 100 yards receiving, with 109, and now leads the Bears in receiving yards (261) after just three weeks at the position.
After another Brattleboro stop inside of their own red zone, they posted another long drive that included a 34-yard completion to junior Charlie O'Connell for just his second reception of the season. The drive abruptly ended, however, when Casey was intercepted by Behan after trying to once again find Cozza deep down field.
The Patriots would mount a long drive once again, but Bartholdi fumbled the ball away once again, with Luke DiZoglio recovering for Brattleboro. MAU was, at times, their own worst enemy, losing 70 yards through penalties and turning the ball over three times.
Despite averaging just 1.6 yard per carry, the Bears were generally successful in using the run game to set up manageable third down situations. John Harrison led the team in attempts with 16 carries for 29 yards. It was the first time all season that a player other than Colby Bristol had led the team in carries.
However, that success didn't translate to their final drive of the game, however. With just over two minutes left on the clock and with the Patriots holding just one more time out, the Bears had the opportunity to run the clock down and seal the victory. Instead, another three-and-out gave the ball back to Mount Anthony with less than a minute on the clock just shy of the 50-yard-line.
The Patriots subsequently went on their best offensive drive of the night. Crossman started it off with a 14-yard scramble, and a hook-and-ladder play gave Mount Anthony another 16. After a pair of incompletions, Crossman found junior Timothy Crawford Jr. at the Bears 6, with Crawford Jr. stepping out to set up the game-winning field goal.
The 0-7 Bears will finish the season this Friday at 7 p.m. when they host the winless North Country Falcons at Natowich Field.
BF dominates Mount Mansfield to remain perfect
• While the home crowd may felt some hope after the Mount Mansfield Cougars cut Bellows Falls' 8-7 lead early in the second quarter, it was hard not to feel like it was only a matter of time before the undefeated Terriers took control of the contest. BF would proceed to do just that, adding four touchdowns in the second quarter en route to a 60-28 victory over Mount Mansfield on Oct. 18 in Jericho.
After forcing a quick three-and-out to open the game, Bellows Falls handed the ball off to standout sophomore Jaden Bazin, who took the ball 70 yards down the right sideline for his 20th touchdown of the season. Pat Connors ran in the two-point conversion to give the Terriers an early 8-0 lead.
The Cougars bounced back and responded with an 18-play drive which took them deep into Terriers territory. They were unable to punctuate that drive with a score but quickly regained possession when they jumped on a fumble by Bellows Falls.
Mount Mansfield made things interesting three plays later when speedster Mike Alston turned a broken play into a 70-yard score for an 8-7 lead. Despite Alston's big play, a miracle was not in the cards. Bellows Falls responded with touchdowns by Connors, quarterback Declan Lisai, Stefan James, and Bazin to take a commanding 40-7 halftime lead.
Bellows Falls extended its lead to 54-7 in the 3rd quarter following a short touchdown reception by Andrew Goyette and a 90-yard rushing TD by Bazin. Mount Mansfield responded by finding the end zone three times through the air against the Terriers' reserves, but BF was able to mitigate the damage with a rushing touchdown by Connor Perry in the final frame.
Bazin (184 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and Connors (139 yards, one touchdown) dominated the game on the ground for Bellows Falls, but the Terriers also integrated an uptempo passing attack as Lisai went 6-for-6 with a touchdown pass, with a pair of completions to Jake Tostrup and Goyette, and catches by Bazin and Connors. Backup quarterback Saul James added another completion to Jacob Kissell.
Bellows Falls (7-0) will look to finish the regular season unbeaten when they head to Woodstock (6-1) on Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 7 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Oct. 16 saw Slo Movers (22-13) have a 5-0 week to move into first place. Wayne's World (21-14) also had a 5-0 week to slide into second place, while the leader for most of the season, Ricochet (20-15), had a 0-5 week to move into a tie for third with Pinocent Bystanders (also 20-15), followed by 3 Plus One (19-16), Strike Away (18-17), Stayin' Alive (17-18), SOS (14-21), Lucky 7 (13-22), and Strikers (11-24).
Diane Cooke had the women's high handicap game (263) and Nancy Dalzell had the high handicap series (652), while Milt Sherman had the men's high handicap game (272) and series (715). SOS had the high team handicap game (876) and Pinocent Bystanders had the high handicap series (2,494).
Sherman had the men's high scratch series (669) with games of 257, 225, and 185, while Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 515 series. Notable games included Peter Deyo (228 and 204), Gary Montgomery (200), and Charlie Marchant (183).
Carol Gloski again had the women's high scratch series (481), while Cooke had the high scratch game (195). Dalzell had a 182 game, Gloski had a 170 game, Debbie Kolpa had a 164 game and Donna Corliss rolled a 163.
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at news@commonsnews.org. Football coverage was provided by Thaddeus Sawyer of WTSA Radio and Dan Barile of springfieldareasportspage.com.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.