This has not been a great season in terms of wins and losses for the Brattleboro Colonels football team. But on a rainy night at Natowich Field last Friday, the Colonels showed they were champs in the character department in beating the Mount Anthony Patriots, 45-7.
The previous week, Brattleboro was not only knocked out of playoff contention with a loss to Essex, they also lost their third quarterback of the season to injury.
Freshman Tyler Millerick needed shoulder surgery following the Essex game. He was subbing for senior Tony Martinez, who dislocated the elbow on his throwing arm the previous week against Rutland.
Both have played this season in place of junior Dan Petrie, who suffered a season-ending injury during a preseason scrimmage.
Against MAU, Colonels coach Chad Pacheco was forced to use senior running back Matt Gaboriault to make his first-ever varsity start at quarterback.
The good news was that senior running back Cheick Diakite was healthy enough to carry the Colonels' offense.
The surprising news was that Martinez was able to play as a receiver and defensive back, albeit with only one good arm and the other covered with padding and a brace.
Even though it was easy to get the Colonels motivated to win this rivalry game and maintain its hold on the Elwell Trophy for another year, and even though the Patriots were winless, the Colonels were still being asked to win a game without several of its key players.
Suffice to say the Colonels were ready for the challenge. They scored on their first three possessions to put the game out of reach by the start of the second quarter.
Diakite ran the ball 25 times for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Gaboriault ran for 84 yards and a touchdown and went 3-for-5 through the air, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Martinez.
Louie Capy also had a huge game as he reached the end zone three times. He had touchdown runs of 4 and 15 yards, plus a 45-yard punt return for a score in the fourth quarter.
The defense also rose to the occasion as they limited the Patriots to just one first down in the opening half. Sacks by Kolton Ravenna and Dylan Bailey, pass breakups by Griffin Lynde and Durin Hoyer, and a Seth Rhodes interception were among the defensive highlights.
Quarterback Ryan O'Neill scored the Patriots' only touchdown on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter.
The Colonels finished the regular season at 3-5 and will host BFA-St. Albans in a Division I consolation game this Friday night at 7 at Natowich Field.
Terriers fall to Bulldogs
• The top two teams in Division II - Bellows Falls and Burr & Burton - faced off at Hadley Field last Friday night and, as was the case in last year's championship game, Burr & Burton came out on top.
Quarterback Griffin Stalcup ran for three touchdowns as the undefeated Bulldogs beat the Terriers, 34-14.
Burr & Burton scored the first two touchdowns on a 2-yard run by Stalcup and a 1-yard run by Connor Simonds. BF cut the lead to 14-6 on a 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter by Jahyde Bullard, but a 4-yard run by Stalcup gave the Bulldogs a 20-6 lead at the half.
BF opened the third quarter with a 58-yard touchdown run by Shane Clark and a Caleb Lisai conversion pass to Clark closed the gap to 20-14.
The Terriers would get no closer, however. The Bulldogs quickly responded as Stalcup scored again on a 22-yard run. Simonds then scored on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Bullard finished with 19 carries for 94 yards, while Logan Cota followed with 87 yards and Shane Clark rushed for 81 yards along with gaining 30 yards receiving.
Clark had a great night on defense too, leading the Terriers with eight solo tackles. Bryce Smith had six tackles, while Jake Lober, Devin Hardy, and Brendan Kendall all had five apiece.
Burr & Burton improved to 8-0, while Bellows Falls slipped to 7-1. The Terriers close out the regular season at Fair Haven this Friday at 7. The Bulldogs, now 27-1 over the last three seasons of play, have this week off and will go into the Division II playoffs next week as the top seed.
Boys' soccer
• Twin Valley finished the regular season at 13-1, with yet another Marble Valley League C Division championship and the top seed in Division III.
Skyler Boyd scored two goals and assisted on three others as the Wildcats beat Green Mountain, 6-2, in the regular season finale at Hayford Field.
Jack McHale added two goals while Joey Rafus and Troy Felisko each scored once. Chad Bernard, Brett Swanson, and Felisko all were credited with an assist apiece, and goalkeeper Logan Boyd made six saves.
Twin Valley was scheduled to host No. 16 Oxbow (0-14) on Oct. 25 in a first-round playoff game.
• Brattleboro ended the regular season with a 3-0 loss at Rutland to finish 6-7-1.
The Colonels were seeded 12th in the Division I tournament, and were scheduled to travel north to face No. 5 Rice (9-5) on Oct. 25 in a first-round playoff game.
• Leland & Gray went 1-5-1 in their last seven games of the season to finish with a 3-9-2 record.
The Rebels got the 13th seed in Division III and will also be on the road for their first-round game. They were scheduled to take on No. 4 Stowe (7-3-3) on Oct. 25.
Girls' soccer
• Brattleboro finished the regular season with a 2-1 overtime win against Rutland.
The 4-8-1 Colonels earned the No. 13 seed in the Division I tournament and will travel to Hinesburg to face No. 4 Champlain Valley (10-2-2) on Oct. 26 for a first-round playoff game.
• Leland & Gray and Twin Valley were scheduled to face each other in the first round of the Division III playoffs on Oct. 25 in Townshend.
The Rebels finished the regular season with a 4-0 loss to Green Mountain and a 1-0 win over Otter Valley to clinch the No. 5 seed with a 10-4 record. The Wildcats lost to Green Mountain, 1-0, in its season finale to finish 5-7-1 and earn the No. 12 seed.
Leland & Gray swept the regular season series with Twin Valley, winning 4-3 in Townshend on Sept. 7 and 3-2 in Wilmington on Sept. 12.
Field hockey
• Undefeated Bellows Falls picked up the top seed in Division III and will get a bye into the quarterfinal round.
The 13-0 Terriers will host the winner of the Oct. 25 first-round game between No. 8 Milton (2-9-2) and No. 9 Montpelier (0-14) this Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
• Brattleboro didn't qualify for a playoff spot. The Colonels played Springfield to a scoreless tie on Senior Night on Oct. 18 at Tenney Field, and played to a 1-1 tie at Fair Haven.
Senior goaltender Olivia Weeks was the heroine for the Colonels in the Springfield game. She had 10 saves, including stopping a penalty shot, to hold the Cosmos scoreless.
The ties left Brattleboro with a 2-10-2 record to end the season.
117 runners compete in Catamount Half Marathon
• The Catamount Half Marathon was held for the third time in Brattleboro on Oct. 16 with 117 participants. A portion of every race registration supported Youth Services of Windham County.
Jason Dunklee, 42, of Watertown, Mass.,was the top male finisher with a time for the half-marathon of 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 57 seconds. Best overall female runner was Casey Dunn, 29, of Biddeford, Maine, in 1:32:04.
In second place was James Mcevoy, 32, of Brooklyn, N.Y., with a finish time of 1:19:56, while Charissa Biederman, 34 of Hancock, N.H., was second female at 1:41:03. Third male was Keith Schultz, 44, of Brockton, Mass., at 1:32:24 with Marguerite Cawley, 28, of Brattleboro the third female at 1:43:59.
The accompanying 5K race gave family and friends of the half marathoners their chance to compete as well. Top male finishes in that race were John Matthew, 59, of Canton. Conn., in 20:19; Tom Frost, 51, of Rindge, N.H., in 20:42; and Scott Bavaninis, 36, of Florence, Mass., with 21:45. Top three for the women were Susan Rogers, 61, of Brattleboro in 30:24; Jennifer Morlock, 47, of Brattleboro in 30:49; and Jenni Poirier. 32, of Augusta, Maine, at 31:22.
Senior bowling roundup
• The standings remain volatile after Week 8 of the fall season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League. Team 5 (26-14) is still in first place, while Team 1 and Team 4 are tied for second with 23-17 records and Team 6 and Team 3 are tied for third at 22-18. Team 10 and Team 9 are tied for fourth at 19-21, followed by Team 7 (17-23), Team 8 (15-25), and Team 2 (14-26).
Team 6 had the high handicap game (910), and series (2,571). Pamela Greenblot had the women's high handicap game (232), while Sally Perry had the high handicap series (649). Jerry Dunham had the men's high handicap game (263) and series (717).
Dunham rolled a 212 and a 236 and finished with a 636 series. Wayne Randall (222), Fred Ashworth (203 and 210), Marty Adams (211) and Peter Gilbert (200) all had 200-plus games.
Rolling 500-plus series were Warren Corriveau Sr. (528), Randall (557), Fred Bump (515), Ashworth (581), Gilbert (524), Jon Peters (511), and Adams (556).