-For the second straight week, the Brattleboro Bears football team was shut out as the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers rolled to a 47-0 win in the Bears’ home opener Sept. 11 at Natowich Field.
The Bears struggled mightily to move the ball. They had only two first downs in the game — on receptions by Kymarion Hall at the end of the second quarter and Hunter Roth late in the fourth quarter. The only time the Bears advanced the ball past the 50 yard line came on a long kickoff return by Lucas Zizoglio on the Bears’ final possession of the game.
St. Johnsbury led 34-0 by halftime as the Toppers scored on their first five possessions. While the Toppers scored only twice in the second half, Brattleboro could not mount any sustained drive until the end of the fourth quarter, and still came up empty.
“We couldn’t get anything going offensively,” said Brattleboro head coach Chad Pacheco. “Right now, it’s about blocking. Who wants to do it? That’s the question right now and we haven’t been able to do that consistently up front.”
St. Johnsbury opened the game with a 15-yard touchdown pass by sophomore Gavin Huntington-Monroe to senior Henry Semp with 6:50 left in the first quarter.
A high snap on a Bears’ punt attempt set up the Toppers on the Bears’ 10, and junior Maddox McFarland took advantage of the mistake on the next play with a 10-yard touchdown run. Kicker Liam Bresnahan missed the extra point, but made up for it on the next possession with a 52-yard touchdown catch. His extra point then made it 20-0 with 4.5 seconds left in the first.
Hall gave his team good field position to start the second quarter with a kick return to the Bears’ 37. Again, the Brattleboro offense sputtered, and when the Toppers got the ball back, Huntington-Monroe got his third touchdown pass of the night with a 35-yard strike to Semp to make it 27-0 with 8:47 left in the half.
After another stalled Bears drive, St. Johnsbury pushed the lead to 34-0 as Huntington-Monroe again threw to Bresnahan for a 50-yard touchdown reception with 5:39 remaining in the half. From that point, the Toppers had the game well in hand. Touchdown runs by Andrew Harden (9 yards in the third quarter) and Bernie Fredieu (2 yards in the fourth quarter) rounded out the scoring for the Toppers.
Pacheco said after the game that Brattleboro has the toughest schedule in the state this season, and he was not exaggerating. St. Johnsbury played for the Division I title in 2025. Still to come for the Bears are the reigning champs in Division III (Bellows Falls) and Division I (Middlebury), and 2025 playoff semifinalists Burr & Burton, Rutland, and Hartford.
With the Terriers coming to Natowich Field this Friday for the Bears’ homecoming game at 7 p.m., Pacheco said he hopes his team can “come out, make some plays, and make a game of it.”
Slaters top Terriers, 21-8
• Fair Haven’s defense shut down a BF team that scored 56 points in its opening game as the Slaters downed the visiting Terriers, 21-8, on Sept. 11.
The Slaters held BF to just 112 yards on 36 plays and did not allow a single offensive score. The Terriers’ only touchdown came on an 85-yard kickoff return by senior Brody Davignon in the second quarter. Jaden Bazin scored the two-point conversion for an 8-7 lead with 4:07 left in the half.
Davignon’s touchdown would be the only points of the night for BF as their lead vanished when the Slaters scored in the ensuing drive for a 14-8 advantage at the half. Fair Haven squashed any hope of a Terrier comeback with a 15-play, 90-yard scoring drive for a 21-8 lead with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter.
Bazin led the Terriers with 15 carries for 51 rushing yards, while Bryar Barnett ran for 49 yards on 11 carries. Fair Haven ran 20 extra plays and piled up 198 more yards than BF. Fair Haven quarterback Easton Adams ran for two touchdowns and threw to Sam Kyhill for another score.
The loss dropped the Terriers to 1-1, while the Slaters improved to 2-0.
Girls’ soccer
• Leland & Gray reached the finals of the Green Mountain Tournament at Dorsey Park in Ludlow, but for the fourth straight year, Otter Valley came away with the title with a 3-1 victory on Sept. 12.
Tegan Boynton scored all three goals for the Otters. Addison Eldridge had the lone goal for the 2-3 Rebels. Leland & Gray reached the tourney final with a 2-1 win over Green Mountain in overtime on Sept. 11.
• Brattleboro suffered a pair of losses in the Lady Patriot Classic in Bennington. In the Sept. 9 tourney opener, the Bears were hammered by Burr & Burton, 9-0. In the Sept. 12 consolation game, host team Mount Anthony edged the Bears, 2-1.
• Eighth-grader Avery Brown scored a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes to give Twin Valley a 2-1 road win on Sept. 9 over Mill River. The Wildcats then beat Bellows Falls, 3-1, on Sept. 12, to improve to 4-0 on the season.
• Bellows Falls ended the week with a 2-3 record. The Terriers lost at Arlington, 4-1, on Sept. 8.
Boys’ soccer
• Springfield outshot Leland & Gray, 34-8, in their Sept. 8 game in Townshend, but the Rebels came away with a 2-1 overtime victory.
Lucas Gleason scored both goals for the Rebels, including the game-winner just 26 seconds into the first overtime period. Frank Flood had 15 saves in goal for the Rebels, allowing only a second-half penalty kick by Mateo Fuentes.
The next day, in West Rutland, the Rebels were shut out by the Golden Horde, 2-0. Peter Guay had two unassisted goals for the Horde.
• Twin Valley keeps rolling along. On Sept. 8 in Chester, the Wildcats shut out Green Mountain, 6-0. Alex Sullivan had three goals, Niko Gerding added two more, and Brayden Brown also scored for the victors. Twin Valley goalkeeper Davis Cole was scarcely tested, making just three saves.
The Wildcats then blanked Randolph, 8-0, on Sept. 10, to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Cross country
• Green Mountain senior Desi Broadley was the winner in the girls’ race at a multi-team meet at Thetford Academy Sept. 8. Broadley finished the 5K course with a time of 21 minutes, 3 seconds, beating out Hartford’s Sylvia Johnson by 1:20.
Burr & Burton had the winning girls’ team score, Brattleboro finished sixth. Brattleboro senior Maayan Coleman was the Bears’ top finisher, placing 13th in 25:15. The Bears’ top five included ninth-graders Louisa Eichalnerger (26th, 27:56) and Victoria Douglas (33rd, 30:54), sophomore Nya Lawson-Westfall (28th, 28:00), and junior Luca Barkow (34th, 30:56).
Sophomore Annabell Bazin, continuing to do double-duty between field hockey and cross country, was the lone Bellows Falls runner, finishing 24th in 27:47.
In the boys’ race, Thetford’s Peter Horan was the winner in 17:36. Brattleboro junior Liam Conathan-Leach was fourth in 18:15. The rest of the Bears’ top five included juniors Jackson Ferreira (12th, 19:18) and Walker Korb (24th, 21:01), ninth-grader Jack Schibley (22nd, 20:52), and sophomore Dylan Bouchard (28th, 21:20).
Bellows Falls sophomore Fabian Patterson (30th, 21:27) and Leland & Gray ninth-grader Jeddon Berger (39th, 22:17) were the other top local finishers. Brattleboro was third behind Thetford and Burr & Burton in the team scoring; Bellows Falls was sixth.
Field hockey
• Bellows Falls shut out Otter Valley, 2-0, on Sept. 12 in Westminster. The 3-0 Terriers got their first goal from Callyn Lisai, assisted by Avery Maxfield, in the first quarter. Kenna Applegate added an insurance goal in the fourth quarter, assisted by Lisai.
• Brattleboro lost a pair of road games last week to fall to 0-3-1. The Bears traveled to Woodstock on Sept. 8, and lost, 6-0. Betta Cirovic scored four goals for the Wasps. Goalie Lily Bogert had 11 saves for Brattleboro. On Sept. 10, Fair Haven shut out the Bears, 2-0. Bogert had eight saves for Brattleboro.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 2 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League on Sept. 10 at Brattleboro Bowl saw Assisted Living (9-1) have a 5-0 week to take sole possession of first place. Gutt-ER-Done (8-2) is in second place, followed by In the Worx (6-4), Girls & Boys, Slow Moves and Rolos (all 5-5). Single Pin (4-6), SDWM and Stuff Happens (both 3-7), and Four On The Floor (2-8).
Diane Cooke had the women’s high handicap game (245) and series (676), while John Walker had the men’s high handicap game (247) and Robert Rigby had the high handicap series (687). Assisted Living had the team high handicap game (896) and series (2,572).
Kevin Napaver had the men’s high scratch series (707) with games of 245, 233, and 229, while Robert Rigby had a 663 series with games of 236, 227, and 200, and Chuck Adams had a 609 series with games of 223, 204, and 182.
Eight men had 500-plus series: Peter Deyo (591, with games of 203, 198, and 190), Rich Pietro (566, with two 190 games), Walker (564, with games of 224 and 183), Warren Corriveau Sr. (557, with games of 215 and 182), Milt Sherman (530, with a 203 game), Rich Westcott (532, with a 187 game), and Skip Shine and Mike Pavlovich (both had a 502 series, with games of 190 and 186, respectively). Noteable games included Fred Ashworth (192) and Wayne Randall (189).
Cooke had the women’s high scratch series (484) with games of 181 and 169. Andrea Papanek had the high scratch game (192), and Carol Gloski rolled a 179.
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.