-In 2025, the North Country Falcons football team went winless, while the Bellows Falls Terriers beat the Falcons, 50-6, last year on their way to winning the Division III state championship.
But the Falcons are not pushovers in 2026. They proved that by taking the Terriers to the limit in the season opener Sept. 4 at Hadley Field before BF finally pulled out a 56-49 victory in a wild, back-and-forth game where defense took a holiday.
BF piled up 608 yards of total offense. Running back Jaden Bazin ran for 253 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. Running back Bryar Barnett gained 125 yards on 17 carries. Quarterback Saul James threw for one touchdown, ran for four more, and had two interceptions on defense. He finished with 106 rushing yards and 60 passing yards, including a 43-yard scoring toss to running back Jacob Kissell.
North Country provided plenty of offensive fireworks to make this a close game. Junior Gemari Thompson had two long kickoff returns for touchdowns, and quarterback Noah Taylor engineered two scoring drives as the Terriers had a 36-28 lead at the half.
After the teams traded touchdowns in the second half, the North Country defense finally stopped the Terriers with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter and forced BF to punt the ball for the only time in the game. The Falcons took advantage and drove in for a touchdown on an eight-play, 94-yard drive to take a 49-48 lead with 3:58 to play.
BF responded with a seven play, 80-yard scoring drive capped off by a 12-yard touchdown run by Bazin. He also ran in the two-point conversion to give the Terriers a 56-49 lead with 2:14 remaining. North Country got the ball back for one last chance to win it, but James picked off a Taylor pass near the Falcons 35 with 1:40 to play to clinch the win for the Terriers.
It was a narrow escape for the Terriers, but BF head coach Bob Lockerby took the glass half-full view of the result.
“I’m happy with my offense, even though it could have been better,” he said after the game. “Disappointed with my special teams and obviously a little disappointed in our pass coverage, all things that I think we can fix. The good news is we came out of here with a win.” Next up for the Terriers is a road game against Fair Haven this Friday at 7 p.m.
Cosmos roll over Bears, 36-0
• Brattleboro lost its football opener against the Springfield Cosmos, 36-0, at Brown Field on Sept. 4. The Bears were in trouble right from the opening kickoff, when the Cosmos recovered a fumble and drove in four plays later for a touchdown on a 1-yard touchdown catch by Dmitri Jasinski.
Still, despite a blocked punt and a slew of penalties, the Bears trailed 6-0 just before halftime. Jasinski then caught his second touchdown of the night, a 6-yard grab from quarterback Maddox Wilson to make it 12-0 with 11 seconds left in the half.
Springfield then took total control of the game when Josiah Martinez began the second half running back the opening kickoff 75 yards. He then scored on a 17-yard run to make it 18-0 just 19 seconds into the third quarter. Jasinski then scored when the Cosmos lined up to punt the ball, took the direct snap, and ran 47 yards for his third touchdown.
Jasinski later added another touchdown reception and Tanner Thurston scored a 1-yard run to wrap up the win. The only blemish for the Cosmos was failing on all six of their extra point and two-point conversion attempts. Springfield is a Division III school, so beating Brattleboro, a Division II team, is a big deal for their program. Brattleboro will regroup and get ready for their home opener this Friday against St. Johnsbury.
Field hockey
• Brattleboro started its first week with a 3-0 loss to the Burr & Burton Bulldogs on Sept. 2 and a 2-2 tie with the Otter Valley Otters on Sept. 5 .
The loss to Burr & Burton was a frustrating one. The Bears almost escaped the first half with a scoreless tie, but Ruby Kiefer got the Bulldogs’ first goal when she deflected a shot from Fiona Corbett off a penalty corner as time expired in the half.
Corbett added an insurance goal just 90 seconds into the third quarter, with an assist from Kiefer, and Kiefer finished the scoring early in the fourth quarter, assisted by Laina Bodo, off a penalty corner. Brattleboro goalie Lily Bogert had 16 saves in her debut between the pipes, while Emma Anderson had five saves in goal for the Bulldogs,
“We came out okay in the third quarter,” said Bears coach Erin Cooke, “We just lost our steam, you could see it, you could see they were just tired.”
Mary Cady and Kennedy Unaitis scored for the Bears in the Otter Valley game, while the Otters got a goal from Georgia LaPorte off an assist from Bella Bovey and another goal from Maci Gatchet. Sofia Kerr made 13 saves for the Otters and Lily Bogert had three saves for Brattleboro.
The Bears have only three seniors on the team this season, Cooke said, with “a lot of juniors and then a bunch of freshmen. I’m excited to see what we can put ourselves together with this year.”
• Bellows Falls also played Burr & Burton on Aug. 31, and the Terriers came away with a 4-3 win. Avery Maxfield scored a pair of goals and Elyse Thurber and Anabell Bazin also scored as BF rallied from a 3-2 deficit going into the final quarter. Brook Parker had seven saves in goal for the 2-0 Terriers.
Girls’ soccer
• Sophia Hallock scored three goals, two of them on penalty kicks, as Leland & Gray beat Rivendell, 5-1, in the Aug. 31 home opener in Townshend. Addi Eldridge scored the other two goals. Ninth-grader Charlee Poplawski made her first varsity start in goal, replacing injured junior Sophia Hall, made seven saves.
The Rebels followed up that victory with a 4-1 home loss to Springfield. The Cosmos arrived an hour late due to transportation issues, but came out strong and dominated play throughout, despite having just 10 minutes to warm up.
In the first half, Kaia Gray scored for the Cosmos in the ninth minute, but Kalia Webb scored the equalize for the Rebels off a corner kick L&G in fhe 34th minute. The Cosmos then took the lead for good with a goal from Jamie Whipple with just 47.6 seconds left in the half. The second half belonged to the Cosmos as Harper Palmer scored on a penalty kick in the 45th minute and Addie Snide scored in the 74th minute.
• Bella St. Pierre scored all six goals for Mill River in a 6-3 win over Bellows Falls on Sept. 1 under the lights at Dorsey Park in Ludlow. The game was tied 1-1 at the half before both teams went on a scoring spree.
Bellows Falls bounced back with a 5-1 win at Poultney on Sept. 3. Gracie Patterson and Arianna Jensen scored in the first five minutes of the game. Patterson scored her goal and Abby Nystrom added another to give BF a 4-0 halftime lead, and Theresa Marquise scored five minutes into the second half. Lana Armstrong scored Poultney’s lone goal later in the second half.
• Brattleboro opened the season Sept. 2 with a 5-0 loss at Burr & Burton. The Bulldogs led 1-0 at the half with Nova Woodard scoring on an assist from older sister Phoenix Woodard. In the second half, Phoenix Woodard scored on an assist from Emma Daley. Penelope Cyr then scored three goals in the second half, assisted by Phoenix Woodard, Fraiser Bergman, and Nova Woodard.
• Twin Valley beat Proctor, 3-2, on Sept. 1, and defeated Randolph, 4-2, on Sept. 4 to start the season with a 2-0 record.
Cross country
• The Southern Vermont League season opened Sept. 1 as Bellows Falls hosted an eight-team meet. Both Brattleboro teams finished third as Burr & Burton won the girls’ meet while Thetford took the boys’ meet.
Green Mountain’s Desi Broadley was the girls’ individual winner. The defending Division III state champion covered the 5-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 11 seconds, more than a minute ahead of runner-up Mary Sluka of Woodstock.
Brattleboro’s Maayan Coleman finished eighth in 23:33. Other runners who scored for Brattleboro were Grace Rosa (12th, 24:08), Louisa Eichalberger (19th, 26:32.5), Nya Lawson-Westfall (22nd, 26:51), and Victoria Douglas (31st, 30:00). Bellows Falls had just two runners — Annabell Bazin (20th, 26:37) and Sophia Jaouen (29th at 29:35).
In the boys’ race, Brattleboro’s Liam Conathan-Leach finished fourth in 17 minutes, 18 seconds. Jackson Ferreira placed sixth in 17:56, and Conor McColgan, Walker Korb and Henry Hobbie finished 12th, 13th, and 14th with times of 19:26, 19:44, and 20:01 respectively. Louis Sunflower was BF’s top runner (48th, 23:25), followed by Jason Doxsee (55th, 25:16), and Joel Robertson (57th, 27:28). The Terriers did not have enough runners for a team score.
Boys’ soccer
• Twin Valley blasted Otter Valley, 10-2, on Sept. 1 at Hayford Field in Wilmington. The Wildcats took a 9-1 lead in the first half and cruised from there. Brayden Brown and Alex Sullivan had three goals each for the Wildcats, while Niko Gerding scored two goals. Landon Brown and Jordan Denny had a goal apiece. Landon Brown’s goal was assisted by his brother Brayden. Max Levelle had both goals for the Otters.
The Wildcats then traveled to Dorsey Park in Ludlow to face Mill River on Sept. 3, and improved their record to 3-0 with a 6-3 victory. Twin Valley broke a 1-1 tie with goals from Brayden Brown and Alex Sullivan to take a 3-1 halftime lead.
Sullivan picked up two more goals in the second half and Gerding would add another, but Mill River’s Desmond Thomas Price kept the game interesting with a pair of goals in the second half. Mill River outshot Twin Valley, 15-11, but Wildcats goalkeeper Davis Cole made 12 saves to preserve the win.
• Like Twin Valley, Brattleboro is also off to a 3-0 start to the season. The Bears beat Mount Anthony, 6-2, at Natowich Field on Sept. 2, and defeated Woodstock, 3-1, on Sept. 4.
BOC announces fall paddling schedule
• The Brattleboro Outing Club’s Paddling Program has several trips planned for the fall, beginning Thursday, Sept. 10, at Lowell Lake in Londonderry. Meet at 9 a.m. at West River Provisions on Route 30 in Jamaica.
The Saturday, Sept. 12 trip will be a “Leader’s Choice” outing. Meet at 8 a.m. at the south end of Hannaford parking lot on Putney Road. A trip to Somerset Reservoir is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 23. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Coffee House at the junction of Route 9 West and Route 100 South in Wilmington, or at the ‘car-top’ parking area at Somerset at 9:30 a.m.
The final outing of the season is Saturday, October 3, at South Pond in Marlboro. Meet at Royal Diner in West Brattleboro at 9 a.m. If coming from the west, meet at the South Pond ramp. Paddlers are responsible for their own food, water, and paddling safety gear. Car and boat pooling is possible from the meeting locations. For more information, contact Larry McIntosh at Lmacyak@gmail.com or text 207-703-6668.
Senior bowling roundup
• The fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League began Sept. 3 at Brattleboro Bowl. There’s a three-way tie for first between In the Worx, Gutt-ER-Done, and Assisted Living (all 4-1), followed by Slow Moves and SDWM (both 3-2), Girls & Boys and Stuff Happens (both 2-3), and Single Pin, Four On The Floor, and Rolos (all 1-4).
Nancy Dalzell had the women’s high handicap game (235) and Carol Gloski had the high handicap series (652). Mike Pavlovich had the men’s high handicap game (278) and Jerry Dunham had the high handicap series (691). SDWM had the team high handicap game (909) and In The Worx has the high handicap series (2,479).
Kevin Napaver had the men’s high scratch series (671) with games of 239, 236, and 196, while Robert Rigby had a 581 series with games of 221 and 192. Warren Corriveau Sr. and John Walker both rolled a 575 series; Corriveau had games of 219 and 189 while Walker had games of 225 and 183. Pavlovich had a 566 series with a 243 game, Peter Deyo had a 563 series with games of 202 and 190, Gary Montgomery had a 524 series with a 191 game, and Rich Pietro had a 500 series with a 183 game. Jerry Dunham rolled a 184.
Carol Gloski had the women’s high scratch series (517) with games of 188 and 181, while Andrea Papanek had a 506 series with a 201 game. Dalzell had a 174 game, and Darlene Ladabouche rolled a 160.
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.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.