Vermont High School Sports Fall 2021 recap

The 2020-21 high school sports season in Vermont was marred by COVID and the lack of an atmosphere that rocked the venues every night.  In the fall of 2020, the season was shortened and so was the amount of fans who could be in attendance; no fans were even allowed in the wintertime and, while things had gotten back to normal during the spring, it was still complicated.

That may be why the fall of 2021 was more important than any season in a long time...for all of us.

This fall, I went to more sporting events than I can remember going to since I left high school (that was in 2007; yes, I'm that old).  Over a dozen soccer games, two field hockey matches and a single game in Volleyball and Football.  At the same time, I followed the entire season up and down, including championship Saturday.  So with that in mind, here's my take on the Fall 2021 season.

Volleyball

I would like to call Vermont high school volleyball the "Redhawk/Hornet" invitational as those two teams have won every boys and girls state championship since it became a varsity sport.  So if you were to tell me that one of the two teams I saw on October 7 were going to win the title this year, I would've been 99% certain it was Essex.

But that's what you get when you have a small sample size.

While the Essex and CVU girls met for the state title (won by the Hornets), The boys from Burlington showed up and took down both the Hornets (semifinal) and Redhawks (title game) and won their first volleyball state title.  Seeing the team win on Saturday night in such an impressive fashion, along with the number of varsity teams in both boys and girls volleyball (10 boys, 15 girls), I have a feeling there will be more students looking at the sport in future years.

Field Hockey

As I mentioned, I went to two games this season.  The first, a tie between Essex and Burr and Burton; the second, my pick for the game of the season between two teams who would become state champions in their respective divisions:  Mount Abraham (D2) and South Burlington (D1).  

Both teams looked strong in their October 19th showdown and paved the way for their success in the playoffs, though we never got to figure out which one was better that day.  The Wolves took care of Bellows Falls for the D1 title and the Eagles got by Hartford in D2.  I also have to give a shout out to the D3 state champs Windsor who defeated Lyndon in their title game on Saturday.

Girls Soccer

Due to working on Saturday, I couldn't have made it out to Burlington for the D1 state title game between CVU and South Burlington and I really wish I had been there.  I had followed the Wolves girls since the start of the season, been to at least 4 of their games (regular season and playoffs) and have a player on the team who is a relative of mine.

Just so happens that young lady is also the goalkeeper who helped bring the title to SB for the second year in a row.

Was I hoping that game didn't go to PKs?  Yes.  Was I worried that CVU were going to come out on top?  Definitely (the RedHawks took the first two meetings 1-0 in Hinesburg and 2-1 in South Burlington).  But when I saw the final and the video of Mercedes Rozzi making the final save, I was so elated.  Not that I had any doubts that Rozzi would do what she did (and she didn't either if you saw the highlights), but it was an amazing moment for those girls and I was glad to be part of some of it this season.

NOTE:  Shout out to the Rice (D2), Stowe (D3), and Proctor (D4) girls who also won state titles on November 6th.

Boys Soccer

So I might have been a bit bias on the girls side and my hope is that I won't be as bias when talking about the boys D1 season.  I mean, I've seen a bunch of matches involving both South Burlington and Essex this season that I had a feeling those two teams would meet for the state title at Buck Hard Field and it actually happened.  Then again, I was part of the 2006 boys soccer program at Essex (as a manager/statistician), so let's see how I play this out.

During the season, I was at both regular season contests between the Hornets and Wolves.  The two teams were evenly matched throughout the season; at Essex, it was two goals in less than a minute that propelled the Hornets to victory.  At Munson Field, both teams scored less than 5 minutes apart in a 1-1 tie, and at Burlington, the same thing happened; two goals in a span of 5 minutes.  You couldn't script how even these matches have been.

Then came what happened with 30 seconds left in the game.

I've seen the replay, and what happened between SB goalie Chandler and Essex's Salkic, and I'm reminded of a moment between the Hornets and BFA-St. Albans in 2018 when a similar play happened.  The goalie goes to make a play and runs into an offensive player.  The official called a foul on the goalie on that play and, unfortunately, the same thing happened here.  Should it have been a red card to a player who is making his second varsity start?  Probably not.  But based on history, the right call was made.

I know the SB fans might not like what happened and the call did lead to the title-clinching goal from the Hornets, but the bottom line is it doesn't take away how great of a year these boys had.  Having seen them more than any other team this season, I was impressed with their hard work and determination throughout the season.  Nenninger had a great year and while he wasn't in goal at the end, Bertmann did enough to help his team get to the top of the division.  So while the season didn't end the way it did, it definitely wasn't a lost season and I'm glad they were able to get to the title game.

As for Essex, I guess you can say this year was a redemption year.  After losing the title in 2020 (controversial or not) to Burlington, they came back and nearly dominate the division, it just shows how hungry they were to get back to Buck Hard Field.  Keeping up with them all season, I was impressed with how their goalie Seavers looked, nearly shutting out every team they faced.  The offense was amazing with Marquardt leading the way and their defense in front of Seavers made certain there weren't many chances for their opposition.  Congrats to the Hornets boys on their first state title in over a decade.

NOTE:  shout-out to Milton (D2), Enosburg (D3) and Mount St. Joseph's (D4) on their boys soccer championships.

Football

Most of the dominant teams in Vermont high school football this season came from the southern part of the state.  Rutland and Hartford were the top 2 teams in D1, Mount Anthony and Bellows Falls met for the D2 title (won by the Terriers) and Windsor defeated Fairfax in the D3 title game to finish an undefeated season.  

Now, notice I mentioned the D2 and D3 title games, but not D1.  That's where the term "Any Given Sunday" comes in.

I have followed the high school football season all year, though I have only been to one game.  But this brings up another one of those if you were to tell me moments:  If you were to tell me what the D1 state title game would be this year, then I probably would've made the trip to Essex for the Hornets' regular season finale vs. CVU than stay close to home in SB for the Seawolves/MMU game.  After both teams pulled off major upsets on Nov. 6 (28-14 Essex over Rutland and 14-13 CVU over Hartford), we had an all-Chittenden county title game in D1, though the game was played in Rutland...which, in turn, became a winter wonderland.

Through the snow, Ben Serrantonio, Oliver Orvis and the Hornets came out to play as they have done over the last five games (all wins) and stopped the Redhawks when it mattered most (a 2-point try that would have tied the game and a four-and-out following an onside-kick recovery) and took the D1 title for the first time since Air Burnett (named after coach Charlie) in 2009.

Congrats to Essex (as well as Bellows Falls and Windsor) on their state title run and getting it done with a new head coach (Mr. Richards, who was at MMU before).

Controversy

While this season was so special in many different places, I can't leave this situation untouched.  Over the course of the fall, we saw a few instances of racial, sexist and other hate comments and actions make their way to Vermont high school sports.  No matter what people believed happened in Winooski (Boys Soccer), South Burlington (girls volleyball) or in other parts of the state where these claims were made, no one should be discriminated based on race, gender or sexual identity.  To the people affected by this, know you are loved by all of us and make certain you don't allow these situations to affect the rest of your year (whether you play sports or not).

Conclusion

The Vermont high school fall sports season was truly one of a kind, no matter which sport you follow.  The soccer seasons ended with a lot of nail-biting finishes that had a lot of people pacing or on the edge of their seats.  The boys volleyball championship proved that anyone not named Essex or CVU can find success in the sport.  Field hockey saw South Burlington and Mount Abraham find success en route to their state titles in D1 and D2, respectively.  High school football has seen a lot of championship contenders in the south, but with CVU and Essex in the D1 title game, it goes to show that every game matters.

Fall has officially wrapped up (and you can tell based on how cold it is getting in the state).  Now the question is how does the winter sports season look during these trying times.  But that's a question for another time.

For now, let's enjoy what we've seen from August to November and congratulate the champions of the fall sports season.

Burlington Free Press Mascot/Nickname Bracket

 On Monday, the Burlington Free Press sports page started a special tournament to find the best high school mascot/nickname in the state of Vermont.  64 schools were put into the bracket and seeded 1-16.  The first round started today and will go into Thursday, but as someone who is intrigued by brackets and tournaments, I had to go deeper into it.

For this topic, I'm going to use divisions 1-4 for each "Region" of the bracket, although the school may not actually be in said division.  Also, I won't take into account past nickname (SB Rebels, Rutland Raiders) and just go with the current ones.  The criteria for my picks involve three topics:  logo likeness, twitter hashtags (in some cases) and the significance of the nickname/mascot within the school.  There also may be some bias with different nicknames or schools involved.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the bracket.

Division 1

Mount Anthony Patriots vs. Burlington Seahorses --- BHS are one of the few schools who have a mascot at their games, while MAU have a nickname that is near and dear to my heart (New England fan here).  I have a feeling Burlington will take this one based on local interest, but my pick is the Patriots.

Mount Mansfield Cougars vs. North Country Falcons --- MMU's #CougarNation is a catchy name for their fanbase and get my pick in this round, even though NCU has the more intriguing logo in this matchup.

St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers vs. Brattleboro Colonels --- This one is tough based on the logos, as both schools use special letters (SJ vs. B).  The colonel swords on the B for Brattleboro gives them the edge over St. J in that category and is my pick.

Rutland Ravens vs. Rice Green Knights --- Rutland just changed their nickname to the Ravens, but it's nothing new.  Rice were the little Indians until 2005, but the Green Knights name has worked out for them.  I'm going with Rice here.

South Burlington Wolves vs. Middlebury Tigers --- the SB community have recognized the Wolves nickname after the change from the Rebels and their logo is better than Middlebury's (at least the one put up in the bracket).  The Wolves get the check mark in this round.

Burr and Burton Bulldogs vs. BFA St. Albans Bobwhites/Comets --- One of the schools that have two different nicknames/mascots for their boys and girls teams, BFA-St. Albans use two unique names for the sports teams.  However, the logo for BBA is better (BFA has no logo up on the bracket site...yet) and that's enough for me to give them the win.

CVU Red Hawks vs. Essex Hornets --- CVU has the better logo and the name is more unique than the Crusaders nickname that they used until 2006.  But this is where the bias comes in as an EHS alum.  #HornetPride all the way.

Spaulding Crimson Tide vs. Colchester Lakers --- This one goes to Colchester as the Laker nickname is a unique look and the logo recognizes the state's greatest mythical creature (at least I hope that's what it's suppose to look like).

Division 2

Enosburg Hornets vs. Green Mountain Valley Gumbies --- There are too many members of the bee family when it comes to nicknames at Vermont schools, so picking Enosburg would be tough.  But it's made tougher by the fact that their going up against the Gumbies nickname.  GMVS is the winner.

Lyndon Vikings vs. Vergennes Commodores --- This one was tricky because both logos are strong and, while the Viking nickname is not as unique in the sports world, it is special in this state.  In this matchup, I have to let my bias get to me again (being at Lyndon for college) and go with LI.

Springfield Cosmos vs. Milton YellowJackets --- Another bee mascot in this matchup with Milton, while Springfield has a nickname fans can enjoy saying.  The Cosmos win this round.

Fair Haven Slaters vs. BFA-Fairfax Bullets --- The Bullets nickname may not be as special as it once was, while I'm still trying to figure out what a slater is.  But after looking at the logos, I have to go with Fair Haven.

Hartford Hurricanes vs. Bellows Falls Terriers --- Hartford has a spiffier logo and the Hurricane name is unique for a state that don't see them often.  But the logo of BF is special and gives them the pick.

Montpelier Solons vs. Mount Abraham Eagles --- Mount Abe's nickname isn't that unique (so many Eagles) and the logo isn't as cool as Montpelier's.  So the Solons are my pick here.

Harwood Highlanders vs. Lamoille Lancers --- Another tricky one as both logos are great and the nicknames are special, using ones with the same starting letter as the school name.  I gave the edge to Harwood here for it's black and yellow color scheme.

Missisquoi Thunderbirds vs. U-32 Raiders --- The Raider nickname may have lost its flow after Rutland's change, but even if you don't consider that, the Thunderbirds are a more unique nickname.  Missisquoi gets the check mark here.

Division 3

Randolph Galloping Ghosts vs. Leland & Gray Rebels --- Another matchup with a nickname that may not be special anymore with the Rebels.  The Galloping Ghosts nickname is great, but also controversial (google it kids).  I'll still give Randolph the pick in this round.

Poultney Blue Devils vs. Williamstown Blue Devils --- Here's a first, two teams with the same nickname going head-to-head.  The difference; Poultney had no logo on the bracket, so Williamstown is my pick.

Thetford Panthers vs. Stowe Raiders --- As I said in the U-32 matchup, the name change in Rutland hurt the Raider name a bit.  But the logo Stowe uses keeps it from being irrelevant against Thetford, who's logo is good, just not good enough in this matchup.

Peoples Wolves vs. Mill River Minutemen --- Another tough one as both logos are great and each nickname is significant to the school.  In the end, I'm going with Peoples in the round.

Woodstock Wasps vs. Windsor Yellowjackets --- Another matchup of teams with similar nicknames (two bee-type insects), so another tough pick for me.  After careful consideration, I had to give Woodstock the nod.

Rivendell Raptors vs. Otter Valley Otters --- VT bias comes into play here as Rivendell is actually located in New Hampshire, but are a member of the VPA.  Even without that, a team nicknamed the Otters is more intriguing than the Raptors, so Otter Valley gets the win.

Lake Region Rangers vs. Hazen Wildcats --- Hazen has a great logo, but the Wildcat name is overused in sports.  At the same time, the Ranger name (while used by some pro sports teams) is a special name and gives Lake Region the edge here.

Oxbow Olympians vs. Green Mountain Chieftains --- The Olympian nickname is such a unique one that even if you don't put in the issues with the Chieftain name (Google it, kids), Oxbow would still get my pick.

Division 4

Proctor Phantoms vs. Richford Falcons/Rockets --- Richford is another school with multiple nicknames for their boys and girls teams.  Even with that, Proctor gets my pick as their nickname and logo are better.

Twin Valley Wildcats vs. White River Valley Wildcats --- The battle of the wildcats, but this one is easier for me to pick.  White River Valley's logo is more special than Twin Valley's, so it gets the check mark in this round.

Sharon Phoenix vs. Craftsbury Chargers --- The Phoenix is such a special logo that I couldn't give Sharon the nod in this one.

Winooski Spartans vs. Mount St. Josephs Mounties/Green Wave --- No matter the name, MSJ's logo is more in your face than Winooski's, so the Green Wave (or Mounties, if you prefer that) are my pick here.

West Rutland Golden Horde vs. Long Trail Lynx --- West Rutland gets my pick here as the Golden Horde nickname is one that you don't see anywhere else (perhaps for a good reason?)

Twinfield Trojans vs. Northfield Marauders --- Another one where I give the win to the team with the better logo.  This time, it's Northfield with the pick.

Arlington Eagles vs. Mid-Vermont Christian Eagles --- The final matchup with schools that have the same nickname.  After doing some research (aka, finding the logos), MVCS gets my pick.

Vermont Commons Flying Turtles vs. Blue Mountain Bucks --- BMU have a good logo, but VT Commons have the nickname (and perhaps logo) of the tournament with the Flying Turtles.  They get my pick in the final first round match.

There we have it.  My picks for every first round match in the BFP Mascot tournament.  I tried my best to give each school a look, but sometimes my memory of certain schools and their logo/nickname can be foggy, so I went with what I had.  Hopefully my views can give you some thoughts on each matchup and help you make your picks.  Remember, voting continues until Thursday and my hope is that a lot of people get out there and vote for their favorite school.  Good luck and enjoy the ride.