-Thirteen is a lucky number for the Bellows Falls Terriers football team.
With their 54-20 victory over the Woodstock Wasps in the Division III state championship game on Nov. 15 at South Burlington High School, the Terriers won their 13th state title since Vermont began having high school football playoffs in 1970 - a Division I title in 1971, Division II titles in 1981, 1984, 1985, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2016, and 2021; and Division III titles in 1993, 1994, 2010, and 2025.
Those 13 championships - more than any other school in Vermont - is a testament to the proud tradition of football in Bellows Falls.
Continuity is another big factor in building that success. There are no secrets about what a Bellows Falls football team will do on the field - they run the ball on nearly every play from scrimmage. But year in and year out, the Terriers manage to develop good running backs and equally good offensive lines to give them the space to run. Those skills get honed starting in the Connecticut Valley Pee Wee Football League, where for nearly six decades, so many BF kids have begun learning the game. By the time they reach the middle school level, they have a firm grasp on what's expected of them on the field.
That helps to explain why the 10-1 Terriers had the top-ranked offense of all 30 teams in Vermont this season, with 369 points scored in 11 games. Those are numbers you might associate with teams that sling the ball downfield, but those points were mostly generated by senior running back Patrick Connors and sophomore running back Jaden Bazin.
Against Woodstock in the championship game, Connors carried the ball 22 times for 265 yards and four touchdowns, while Bazin had 25 carries for 202 yards and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Declan Lisai also had a TD run as the Terriers dominated from start to finish.
A team having a pair of 200-plus yard rushing performances in a single game doesn't happen often. However, it was all in a days work for starting offensive linemen Rylan Ernst, Steven Joslyn, Brock Lovell, Cam Perry, and Ben Rumrill, along with tight end Jake Tostrup and fullback Stefan James, who together paved the way for BF's success in the running game all season long.
The BF defense was solid for most of the season, but was often vulnerable defending against the pass. In the final game of the regular season on Oct. 26, Woodstock beat BF, 60-52, in double overtime as Woodstock QB Aksel Oates threw for 335 yards. Aside from a loss to U-32 in the opening game of the season, the Wasps had scored at least 35 points in every other game leading up to the Division III final.
In the Nov. 15 rematch, the Terriers' defense held Oates in check, limiting him to 130 passing yards and two touchdown passes to Jake Blackburn and Brody McGaffigan. Asher Emery had an 81-yard kickoff return to account for the Wasps' other touchdown.
BF built up a 34-14 lead by halftime. Lisai scored on a quarterback sneak, Bazin had a 15-yard TD run, Connors had touchdown runs of 50, 41, and 9 yards, and sophomore Jacob Kissell and junior Andrew Goyette both caught two-point conversion passes from Bazin and Lisai, respectively, to account for the first-half scoring. Connors also had an interception on defense on Woodstock's first possession of the game, which set up Lisai's touchdown in the first quarter.
Bazin scored BF's only touchdown in the third quarter, and added another one on a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter before Connors ended the Terriers' championship day with an 87-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth. That score was set up by an interception by Goyette.
There was much to savor from this championship season that was made possible through the work of the 10 seniors who'll be graduating in the spring - Lisai, Connors, James, Tostrup, Rumrill, Cam and Connor Perry, Reed Hill, Garrett Haskell, and Colton Coburn.
At the same time, BF head coach Bob Lockerby has a core of returning players expected back for 2026, led by Bazin, sophomore quarterback Saul James, and junior running back Bryar Barnett. The underclassmen know what is expected of them. BF has not missed the playoffs since 2011. The drive for Banner 14 will soon begin for this group of Terriers.
North-South Senior Game set for Nov. 23
• Now that football season is officially over in Vermont, the page is turned to the North-South Senior Game, which will be played Sunday, Nov. 23, at 2 p.m., at Norwich University's Sabine Field.
The annual all-star football game pits the top seniors from southern Vermont against their counterparts from the northern tier. It also serves as the informal audition for the Vermont squad that will play in the 2026 Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl.
Fair Haven coach Adam Perry will lead the South team and five Bellows Falls and Brattleboro players are on the roster. Running back Patrick Connors, lineman Cam Perry, and tight end Jake Tostrup will represent the Terriers, while running back/linebacker Colby Bristol and lineman Lucas Speno are Brattleboro's representatives.
Each of Vermont's 30 high school football teams has at least one player in the game. The North has a 12-11 lead in the series which began in 2001, and has won the past three meetings, including a 33-14 victory in 2024.
Vermont high school soccer has its big day
• For years, the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association (VBCA) has ended the boys' and girls' high school basketball season with a day-long celebration of the sport featuring four all-star games highlighting the top seniors in the state.
The boys' and girls' soccer players in Vermont have never had anything like that, until this season. The Vermont Soccer Coaches Association (VSCA) decided the state's top seniors deserved something similar and, on Nov. 2 at Norwich University, debuted the Green-Gold Senior Classic.
As with the VBCA's event, eight teams were created to play in four all-star games. However, the VSCA put a twist on the format by not using geography as a way to divide up the players.
The Division III/IV girls' game saw the Green beat the Gold, 3-2. Twin Valley center back Alejandra Bevilacqua was on the Green team.
The Division III-IV boys' game saw the Green defeat the Gold, 2-0. Twin Valley midfielder Tucker Magnant and Green Mountain's Conner Stevens were on the Gold team, while Leland & Gray midfielder Ethan Clark was on the Green team.
Brattleboro forward Reese Croutworst played on the Gold team in the Division I-II girls' game. No Brattleboro players played in the Division I-II boys' game.
All in all, it was a good day for Vermont high school soccer and perhaps the start of a new end-of-season tradition for the sport.
Withington Rink is open for the season
• The Nelson Withington Skating Facility at Living Memorial Park in Brattleboro is now open for the season, which will run through Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Public skating takes place at the following times: Monday: 7 to 9 p.m. (Dollar Night), Tuesday and Wednesday: 10:30 a.m. to noon (adults only), Friday: 10:30 a.m. to noon and 7 to 9 p.m. (adults only), Saturday: 1:30 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. (Dollar Day), and Sunday: 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.
Daily visit tickets are $4 for students, $5 for adults (add $1 for non-Brattleboro residents). Season passes are still available at the Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department Main Office, 207 Main St. The cost is $45 for students, $55 for adults, and $90 for families. For non-residents, the cost is $60 for students, $70 for adults, and $125 for families. Skate rentals are available at the rink for $3 per rental, with a wide variety of sizes of both figure skates and hockey skates.
If you have a Brooks Memorial Library card, you can sign up to get two free ice skating vouchers with free skate rental valid anytime during the 2025-26 season. Reserve a voucher with your library card at brookslibraryvt.org.
Ski and snowboard season begins in Vermont
• Killington Resort prides itself on being the first ski and snowboard area to open in the Eastern U.S. each year, and on Nov. 12, they kept that status when they opened up some of their expert terrain for their season pass holders. The general public got their first crack at the mountain the following day.
Weather conditions were perfect for making lots of snow, and Killington said in a news release that it was able to start with 175 snowguns during the first window of cold weather earlier this month and ultimately had 225 snowguns making enough snow to again claim the title of being the East's first resort to open.
The big southern Vermont resorts won't be far behind. Mount Snow in West Dover and Okemo in Ludlow are planning on opening for the season on Nov. 22, while Stratton has a projected opening date of Nov. 26, and Magic Mountain in Londonderry is shooting for a Nov. 28 opening.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 11 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Nov. 15 saw Wayne's World (36-19) hang on to first place, with 3 Plus One (34-21) close behind in second place, followed by Slo Movers (30-25), Ricochet (29-26), Pinocent Bystanders and Stayin' Alive (both 28-27), Lucky 7 (27-28), Strike Away (25-30), SOS (21-34), and Strikers (12-38).
Debbie Kolpa had the women's high handicap game (240) and Candida Wall had the high handicap series (663), while John Laamanen had the men's high handicap game (264) and series (673). Pinocent Bystanders had the high team handicap game (861) and series (2,466).
Kevin Napaver had the men's high scratch series (653) with games of 256 and 222, while Chuck Adams had a 616 series with games of 230 and 201, and Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 611 series with games of 219 and 217. John Walker had a 576 series with games of 208 and 192, Gary Montgomery had a 564 series with games of 216 and 199, and Robert Rigby had a 539 series with a 224 game. Milt Sherman had a 524 series, Laamanen had a 514 series, Rick Westcott had a 508 series, and Stan Kolpa rolled a 193.
Kolpa had the women's high scratch series (458) and game (167). Diane Cooke had a 161 game and Carol Gloski and Nancy Dalzell both rolled a 160 game.
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 assisted by Dan Barile of springfieldareasportspage.com.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.