In my last 5 things, I noted the strong performances from teams in the southern part of the Vermont high school football realm. So, it wasn't any surprise that part of the state had the most dramatic and exciting performances from Week 5 of the season. Here are this week's 5 things.
1---Rutland/MAU play offensive classic
It was a back-and-forth matchup in Bennington as Mount Anthony had their homecoming game vs. Rutland. Asa Reis and Grady Gallagher made big plays on offense, but it was Gio Spalleri finding Cellan Wood (a BFP breakout performer) for the go-ahead score late in the 4th quarter and an INT from Jon Crossman that gave the team formerly known as the Raiders a 42-39 win, spoiling the Patriots festivities.
2---This season's best player is...just a sophomore?
Bellows Falls may be in D3, but after defeating the defending D2 state champions Friday night, they're 5-0 on the season. One of the biggest reasons for their success is Sophomore RB/DB Jaden Bazin, who scored 5 TDs and came up with an INT on defense in the Terriers' 52-27 win over Fair Haven on Friday Night. As the great Jack Healy of NSN noted, Bazin did "Everything except play in the band and sell popcorn in the stands."
3---SJA rebounds from Rutland loss in dominant fashion
While they did face a rebuilding Seawolves team on Saturday, seeing St. Johnsbury up close gave me a chance to see one of the contenders in Division 1. Maddox McFarland looked great both running and throwing the ball; Vincent Palmeri made guys miss all day and the defense kept Burlington/South Burlington under duress throughout their 49-7 win at Munson Field, a venue the Hilltoppers hope to get back to next month.
4---D2 Hartford outplays D1 Middlebury
It was a battle of undefeated teams in Middlebury, but it was Hartford who came out firing on Friday night en route to a 28-13 win over the Tigers. Rex Baning had another great game with 2 total TDs while the Hurricanes D held Middlebury to 7 points in the first half. At the moment, it might come down to Rutland in 2 weeks to try and stop Hartford from ending the year undefeated.
5---More realignment? 8-Man football? The future of the sport.
Every week, once the final games finish off (or in this case as BFA/Colchester was going on), I'll head on the X app to recap the week's action. On the Week 5 Recap Show, we had a discussion about the future of the sport in the state of Vermont.
This came after NSN's Eric Berry had posted on his blog (top post) his idea of realigning the teams into 4 divisions. I encourage all who see this to look at Eric's post, then tap the other link to check out the space from Saturday for my thoughts on the situation.
