Too much Millerick.
Senior quarterback Tyler Millerick ran the ball 17 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 239 yards and three more touchdowns as the Brattleboro Colonels rallied from a 19-0 deficit to beat the Bellows Falls Terriers, 49-26, in the high school football season opener at Hadley Field on Aug. 30.
It was a rousing start for the Colonels, who were making their Division II debut against BF, one of the traditional powerhouses in the division.
Millerick has been a varsity quarterback since his freshman year, when a rash of injuries thrust him into the starting job. He showed his athleticism and his courage from the start, but now Millerick has four seasons of experience under his belt.
He and his teammates did not panic after the Terriers took a 19-0 lead after the first quarter. BF's Jack Burke took the game's opening kickoff deep into the Colonels' territory.
It took a shoestring tackle by Brattleboro's Chris Frost to keep Burke out of the end zone. However, the Terriers got there anyway, as tight end Dylan Clark reeled in a 17-yard pass from senior quarterback Griff Waryas. The point after kick was no good, but BF had a 6-0 lead with 10:13 to play in the first.
On defense, Clark picked off a Millerick pass on Brattleboro's first series and set up BF's second touchdown - a 15-yard run by sophomore Harrison Gleim. Jeb Monier's point after kick was good for a 13-0 lead with 9:02 to play.
McGregor Vancor got BF's final score of the first quarter, catching a short pass from Waryas and racing up the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. With another missed extra point kick, it was 19-0 with 1:06 left, and Brattleboro looked finished.
Instead of rolling over, the Colonels scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take the lead. Millerick used a variety of play fakes to fool the BF defense, as he either kept the ball and ran, or he caught the BF secondary napping and got the space he needed to complete his passes.
Junior tight end Henry Thurber caught Millerick's first touchdown pass and junior kicker Reed Sargent booted the first of his seven extra points in the game as the Colonels cut the lead to 19-7 with 10:36 to play.
Senior receiver Tyler Higley got a touchdown grab with 5:33 remaining and, after a BF fumble, Millerick ran for a touchdown to a 21-19 lead with 3:54 left in the half. Suddenly, Brattleboro had the momentum and it was BF that was staggering.
Brattleboro pushed the lead to 28-19 on another Millerick touchdown run with 6:51 left in the third quarter before BF answered with a 5-yard touchdown run by Jed Lober. With the extra point, the Terriers trailed 28-26 with 2:03 left in the third.
After that, it was all Brattleboro. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Millerick connected with sophomore receiver Aaron Petrie for a 65-yard touchdown.
Frost then single-handledly finished off the Terriers. On defense, he intercepted a Waryas pass and ran it back 70 yards for a touchdown to make it 41-26 with 7:27 to play. On offense, Frost scored on a short run with 3:13 left to put an exclamation mark on one of the Colonels' best performances in years.
At the end of the game, the Colonels celebrated as if they won a state championship.
Maybe they knew about this historical tidbit unearthed by Brattleboro Reformer sports editor Shane Covey: Only two teams in the last two years have scored more than 30 points against BF in a regular season game, Fair Haven in 2017 and Burr & Burton in 2018. Both went on to win the Division II state championship in those years.
Burr & Burton is now in Division I, and Fair Haven is in a rebuilding year. It's way too soon to be thinking about a playoff run, but if the Colonels keep playing like this, maybe there's a chance for something special to happen.
Waryas finished with an 11-for-18 passing night for 176 yards as BF never got its running game untracked. Lober led the Terriers with 59 yards on 18 carries. Vancor had four receptions for 86 yards and Clark had five catches for 63 yards before he was sidelined with leg cramps for much of the second half.
Petrie led the Colonels receiving corps with four catches for 155 yards, while junior Trinly Warren had three receptions for 71 yards. Frost ran for 67 yards.
The 1-0 Colonels will play at Windsor on Saturday afternoon, while the 0-1 Terriers host Mount Anthony on Friday night.
Field hockey
• Bellows Falls began the 2019 season on Aug. 30 with its 58th straight victory, but unlike most of the previous 57, the Terriers had to work hard for this one.
Two late scores in the second half gave BF a 2-0 win over the Woodstock Wasps in a game that got shifted from Woodstock to Westminster due to a lack of bus transportation.
The two teams played a scoreless first half that was dominated by the goalies. BF's Abby Joslin (six saves) and Woodstock's Maggie Parker (eight saves) each made several outstanding stops.
The scoreless trend continued in the second half but, after a time out, BF got on the board with 18:52 left in the game when Maya Waryas flicked in a shot past Parker. The Terriers got an insurance goal with 15:37 to play as Ashlin Maxfield tipped in a crossing pass from Meagan Kelly.
BF's defense held Woodstock to just three shots in the second half, while the Terriers put nine shots on the Woodstock goal.
Compared to some of the lopsided wins of last season, BF coach Bethany Coursen said she was glad her team got tested in their first game. The Terriers have quite a few new players this season, and Coursen said they shouldn't think about the previous 57 wins.
“We're 1-0, and that's all that matters right now,” she said.
Girls' soccer
• Bellows Falls took advantage of a shorthanded Windsor squad and played the Yellowjackets to a 1-1 tie in the Terriers' home opener on Aug. 30.
Windsor outshot the Terriers, 30-7, and dominated play for long stretches. However, BF controlled the midfield and did not give the Jacks very many quality scoring chances.
Windsor took the lead in the 20th minute when Evelyn Page scored off an assist from Olivia Rockwood. Bellows Falls answered in the 36th minute with a goal from Emma Graham.
It remained 1-1 through the second half and a pair of 10-minute overtime periods.
Goalkeeper Adi Prior made five saves for Windsor, while BF goalkeeper Corina Mitchell had six saves.
Boys' soccer
• Twin Valley shut out Rivendell, 4-0, in their season opener on Aug. 30 at Hayford Field.
Jack McHale got two goals for the Wildcats, and Lucas Messing and Colin McHale each added a goal.
Owen Grinold, Casey Sibilia, Jack McHale, and Messing all were credited with one assist each, and goalkeeper Jack Kehoe made seven saves to earn the shutout victory.
Senior bowling roundup
The spring/summer season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League ended last week with Team DDL (59-31) as the season champion. Team BDR (54-36) finished in second, and The Great Lakes (53-37) came in third.
Team MNR and Team 5 (both 51-39) finished tied for fourth, followed by 3 Stooges (50-40), Tres Amigos (45-45), Team JKL (42-48), The Dentists (40-50), Stayin' Alive (33-57), Tornadoes (32-58), and Stars & Strikes (31-59).
Pamela Greenblot had the women's high handicap game (259) and series (641). Les Wigdor had the men's high handicap game (272) and Ken Flagg had the high handicap series (697). DDL had the high team handicap game (656) and Tres Amigos had the high handicap series (1,853).
In scratch scoring, Warren Corriveau Sr. rolled a 202 and a 202 to lead the men the fourth straight week with a 552 series. Wigdor rolled a 236 and 189 as part of his 550 series, while Duane Schillemat rolled a 189 as part of his 527 series. Marty Adams had a 201 game, and Jerry Dunham rolled a 181.
Greenblot had the women's top scratch game score of 212, part of her 500 series. Sonya Shippee had a 170 game.
Green Mountain Club seeks new members
• The Brattleboro section of the Green Mountain Club had a busy summer.
Club members hauled bear-proof foodboxes to the two campsites in the sector of the Long Trail they maintain in the Stratton/Winhall area. They also built a new privy at the Douglas shelter. That job required hauling about 3,000 pounds of lumber by foot for nearly a mile.
Members also put on a party on Aug. 10 for a group of “through-hikers,” or folks who are hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. It's called “trail magic,” where unsuspecting hikers are greeted with a banquet of food.
Joe Cook, a GMC member and one of the first to hike the Appalachian Trail from end-to-end, said the club provided a feast of sweet corn and other vegetables from his garden, grilled hot dogs, and four cases of beer for the 12 through-hikers who showed up that August afternoon.
The Brattleboro section has about 100 members, and Cook says they could use a few more people that can help with trail maintenance and other club projects. Visit www.brattleborogmc.com for more information.