-The Bellows Falls Terriers are now one victory away from winning the Division III state football championship for the second straight year.
Third-seeded BF punched its ticket for the title game with a 32-8 win over the No. 2 Mount Abraham/Vergennes Eagles in a Nov. 6 semifinal game in Bristol.
Like so many of the Terriers’ games this season, this one was decided early. On BF’s second play from scrimmage, running back Jaden Bazin displayed his power and speed with a 55-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles tried to even the score and got deep into BF territory with a long drive that got the ball near the goal line, but a fumble on fourth down resulted in a recovery by BF lineman Steven Joslyn on the 4-yard line.
The Terriers capitalized on the turnover with a 14-play, 96-yard scoring drive that ended with another touchdown run by Bazin. Trailing 16-0, the Eagles again put together a long drive that led to a Cole Gagnon touchdown run and, with the two-point conversion, cut the BF lead to 16-8.
It was all Terriers after that as quarterback Jacob Kissell ended a BF drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to running back Bryar Barnett, and a third straight two-point conversion gave the Terriers a 24-8 lead at the half.
The BF defense clamped down hard on the Eagles, holding them to just 40 yards in the second half as lineman Cooper Lovell had two sacks and forced a fumble and Bazin intercepted a pass.
Bazin had another touchdown run in the second half and finished his night on offense with 227 yards on 27 carries for three touchdowns, while Barnett had 67 yards on 10 carries. Carter Harper had two carries for 11 yards and two receptions for 28 yards.
Looking ahead to the title game
• The 8-2 Terriers will now face the top-seeded Otter Valley Otters at Burlington’s Buck Hard Field on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. for the state championship.
The 8-1 Otters clobbered the fourth-seeded Springfield Cosmos, 48-6, in an Nov. 8 semifinal in Brandon. Springfield was the only team to defeat the Otters during the regular season, a 19-14 home loss on Oct. 16, but the Otters quickly quashed any hopes of another Cosmos upset by taking a 41-6 lead by halftime.
BF and Otter Valley did not face each other this season, but there are no mysteries regarding these two teams.
Both excel at running the ball, and both have 1,000-plus yard rushers in Bazin and Otter Valley’s Colby Benoit. BF has a slight edge with Barnett joining Bazin as the Terriers’ second option running the ball, along with the great offensive line that has dominated opposing defenses.
Both teams will be led by their backup quarterbacks, as BF’s Kissell has filled in for the injured Saul James for most of the season. Max Potter stepped in for the Otters’ injured signal caller, Nolan Quenneville, in the quarterfinals and showed in the Springfield game that he is as dangerous with his passing as he is running the ball.
Both teams are solid defensively against the run, but the Otters have a better pass defense and are the top overall defense in Division III. The 19 points scored by the Cosmos in their regular season game against the Otters was the most given up by their defense this season.
The two Bellows Falls losses this season were against Division II teams Fair Haven and Lyndon. Aside from the 56-49 win over North Country in the season opener, the BF defense has held teams to two touchdowns or less in five of their 10 games.
Bellows Falls will be seeking its 14th state football championship since 1971. Football is a relatively new sport at Otter Valley, with state titles won in 2005 in the now-defunct Division IV and in 2015 in Division III.
A pair of retirements in the BF football community
• Bellows Falls alum George Lucia (Class of 1967) will be leading the officiating crew for one of the three state football championship games this Saturday in Burlington. After 52 years officiating football games in Vermont, 50 of those years at the varsity level, he is retiring.
He was a good athlete for the Terriers, good enough to play for the Vermont squad in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl in 1967. Little did he know he would go on to officiate three Shrine games, not to mention being a high school baseball umpire for 35 years and a softball umpire for 30 years.
Lucia also coached and served as commissioner of the Connecticut Valley Pee Wee Football League for several years, doing his bit to help carry on the tradition of Bellows Falls football.
No matter whether it was a baseball diamond or a football gridiron, Lucia performed his duties with fairness and integrity. In a time when finding and keeping good high school officials is getting increasingly difficult, it will be hard to fill his shoes.
• Another stalwart of the BF football community has also retired. Long-time public-address announcer Dan Shaughnessy will be stepping down after 16 years in the press box at Hadley Field.
Shaughnessy was honored in a halftime ceremony at the Bellows Falls-Milton game on Oct. 29, his final game behind the mike. At the end of the game, the BF coaches and players lined up to shake his hand and thank him for his many years of supporting Terriers football.
Soccer all-stars announced
• The Vermont Soccer Coaches Association announced the all-state teams for each division, along with all-tournament teams and coaches of the year for each league.
The Twin Valley girls had several honorees in Division IV as midfielders Joslyn Codogni and Avery Brown and defensive back Carla Sprague made the all-state team, while Sprague and Brown were selected to the all-tournament team.
The Division IV boys’ all-state team was filled with local players. Leland & Gray selections included forward Kendrick Ewing and midfielders Spencer Claussen and Lucas Gleason.
Twin Valley was represented by midfielders Brayden Brown and Nico Gerding and defensive backs Landon Brown and Alex Sullivan. Claussen, Gleason, Sullivan, and Landon Brown were all-tournament team selections.
Brattleboro midfielder Colby Robinson was named to the boys’ Division I all-state team.
• The Southern Vermont League named their Coaches of the Year. Twin Valley’s Buddy Hayford won boys’ C Division honors while Leland & Gray’s Beth Wells was the girls’ D Division honoree.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 10 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League on Nov. 5 at Brattleboro Bowl saw Assisted Living (41.5-8.5) still in first place by a wide margin. In The Worx (29.5-20.5) had a 5-0 week to move into second place, followed by Four On The Floor and Rolos (both 29-21), Stuff Happens (23.5-26.5), SDWM (22-28), Gutt-ER-Done (21.5-28.5), and Girls & Boys, Slow Moves, and Single Pin (all 18-32).
Darlene Ladabouche had the women’s high handicap game (236) and series (667), while Warren Corriveau Sr. had the men’s high handicap series (676). Assisted Living had the team high handicap game (868) and In The Worx had the high handicap series (2,489).
Kevin Napaver had the high scratch game (258) and series (649); he also had a 213 game. Corriveau and Peter Deyo both had a 622 series as Corriveau had games of 213 and 203 and Deyo had games of 215, 205, and 202. Chuck Adams had a 586 series with games of 212 and 202, Robert Rigby had a 583 series with a 224 game, and John Laamanen had a 503 series with a 195 game. Notable games included Rich Wescott (205) and Milt Sherman (189).
Ladabouche had the women’s high scratch series (466), with games of 191 and 161. Carol Gloski (193) had the high scratch game; she also rolled a 150. Notable games included Diane Miller (167 and 165), and Nancy Dalzell (162 and 159).
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.