After big wins over two of the weakest teams in Division II, U-32 and Spaulding, Brattleboro entered the regular season finale against the Mount Anthony Patriots at Natowich Field on Oct. 21 with a 5-2 record and a chance to clinch the No. 2 seed in the playoffs with a win.
Instead, Ayman Naser and the Patriots wrote a different script. The senior running back rushed for a school record 306 yards on 37 carries and scored three touchdowns as the Patriots defeated the Colonels, 40-23. In the process, MAU retained the Elwell Trophy for another year and clinched the second seed in the playoffs, thus avoiding top-seeded Bellows Falls in the first round of postseason play.
MAU piled up a total of 467 rushing yards as the Colonels' defense had no answer for the Patriots' running attack. On offense, Brattleboro managed only 55 rushing yards and quarterback Devin Speno was contained. Speno went 10-for-19 for 231 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Things started out promising for the Colonels as kicker Jordy Allembert connected on a 35-yard field goal with 4:01 left in the first quarter. After that, it was all MAU as they scored four unanswered touchdowns.
Running back Josh Worthington opened the scoring for the Patriots with a 27-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left in the first. The extra point was no good, but MAU had a 6-3 lead.
After downing a punt on the MAU 1-yard line early in the second quarter, the Patriots drove down the field before defensive back Cam Frost stopped the drive with an interception on the Colonels 23. Naser, playing as a linebacker on defense, then picked off a Speno pass to give the Patriots another crack at the goal line. Penalties and an interception by Colonels defensive back Tristan Evans stopped that drive with 58 seconds left in the half.
Unfortunately, the Colonels gave the ball back on a fumble by running back Charlie Clark on the ensuing possession, and Naser then rumbled in with an 11-yard touchdown run. A two-point conversion try failed, but MAU had a 12-3 halftime lead.
The third quarter belonged to the Patriots with a pair of long drives. The first one ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Naser, while the second one finished with an 11-yard touchdown run by quarterback Tanner Bushee to give the Patriots a 27-3 lead with 2:19 left in the quarter.
The game was effectively over at that point, but the teams traded touchdowns the rest of the way to keep things interesting. Frost had a 20-yard touchdown catch, but the two-point conversion try failed to make it 27-9 in the final minute of the third quarter. Naser then scored on a 5-yard run, but a failed extra point try left the score at 33-9 with 7:51 in the fourth quarter.
Frost then electrified the Colonel faithful with a 67-yard kickoff return that set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Clark. A two-point try failed to make it 33-15 with 6:41 to play. Naser responded with a 69-yard run up the sideline for a 40-16 lead with 5:43 left. Evans then scored the Colonels' final touchdown with a 58-yard reception, and Frost scored the two-point conversion to cut the margin to 40-23 with 5:26 left.
Despite the loss, the 5-3 Colonels will have a home playoff game. They ended up with the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Colchester in a first-round game this Friday night, while Mount Anthony, now 6-2, is seeded No. 2 and hosts No. 7 North Country in its playoff opener.
BF clobbers Mount Mansfield
• Bellows Falls completed its second straight undefeated regular season on Oct. 21 with a 48-14 rout of Mount Mansfield at Hadley Field.
Terriers quarterback Jamison Nystrom ran for two touchdowns and threw touchdown passes to Eli Albee and Walker James. Caden Haskell also ran for a touchdown.
BF clinched the top seed in Division II and will host No. 8 Spaulding in a first-round playoff game this Friday night.
Girls' soccer
• Leland & Gray wrapped up the regular season with a 13-0-1 record and clinched the Southern Vermont League's C Division title and the top seed in the Division IV playoffs.
On Oct. 18, the Rebels rolled over Mill River, 10-0. Abby Towle scored four goals and Mary McDonald, Avery Hiner, Annabelle Brookes, Abigail Emerson, Marley Felker, and Sierra Berrie each added a goal. Ava LeCours and Sam Morse each had an assist.
Towle scored two goals and McDonald, LeCours, and Emerson also found the back of the net as the Rebels beat Windsor, 5-2, in the regular season finale on Oct. 21 in Townshend. Mary Sanderson picked up an assist.
With her six goals last week, Towle became the all-time career scoring leader for the Rebels with 65 goals. The previous mark of 62 had been held by Arin Bates.
As the top seed, the Rebels will skip the first round of the playoffs. They will host the winner of the first round game on Oct. 25 between No. 8 Danville and No. 9 Poultney in a quarterfinal game in Townshend on Oct. 28.
• Brattleboro finished the last week of the regular season with three losses. On Oct 17 at Natowich Field, the Colonels lost 1-0 to St. Johnsbury. Two nights later, Brattleboro dropped a 3-1 decision to Mount Anthony in Bennington.
In the finale on Oct. 21 in Manchester, the Colonels lost to Burr & Burton to finish 2-12. At press time, Brattleboro, the No. 12 seed in Division I, was scheduled to head north to face fifth-seeded Rutland in a first-round game under the lights.
• Both Twin Valley and Bellows Falls ended their seasons this week without garnering a win.
The Wildcats came close to a victory on Oct. 18 against West Rutland, but lost 1-0. Twin Valley then lost the season finale at home, 3-0, to Poultney to finish 0-14. They will sit out the Division IV playoffs.
BF fell to Green Mountain, 7-0, on Oct. 18, and lost the season finale to Fair Haven, 9-0, on Oct. 22, to also finish 0-14. The Terriers will sit out the Division III playoffs.
Boys' soccer
• On Oct. 18 in Bennington, the Colonels played Mount Anthony to a 1-1 draw. The Patriots put 18 shots on the Brattleboro goal, but Colin Bevin had the only shot that got past goalkeeper Paul “The Wall” McGillion. That goal came midway through the second half. Tate Chamberlin got the Colonels' only goal in the 33rd minute of regulation time.
Brattleboro finished the regular season with a 2-1 loss to Rutland on Oct. 20. The 6-7-1 Colonels are seeded No. 10 in the Division I playoffs and will head north to face No. 7 St. Johnsbury in a first-round game on Oct. 26.
• Leland & Gray upset Twin Valley, 1-0, on Oct. 18 in Townshend. Alex Parker-Jennings scored the lone goal of the game early in the first half, set up with a long pass from Parker Richardson.
With the win, the Rebels finished the regular season at 4-10 and earned the No. 12 seed in the Division IV playoffs. The twist is that the Rebels' first-round game will be against Twin Valley on Oct. 26 at Hayford Field in Wilmington. Twin Valley finished the season at 8-5-1 and earned the No. 5 seed in Division IV, setting up the third meeting of the season between these longtime soccer rivals.
• BF finished the season with a 0-14 record, losing the regular season finale to Twin Valley, 4-0, on Oct. 21. They are the No. 15 seed in Division III and head north to face No. 2 Stowe in a first-round game on Oct. 26.
Cross-country
• Brattleboro warmed up for this Saturday's state championships at Thetford Academy with a couple of big regional meets. On Oct. 14, the Colonels ran in the Connecticut Valley Conference championship in Keene, New Hampshire.
Ava Whitney finished ninth in 20 minutes, 32 seconds to lead the Colonel girls, followed by teammates Tillie Farwell (29th), Katherine Normandeau (39th), Meredith Lewis (52nd), and Allie Hutchins (55th). Rin Woodcock finished 34th in 19:43 to lead the Colonel boys, followed by teammates Miles Ackerman-Hovis (38th), Michael Slade (42nd), Jack Webster-Rose (67th), and Jonas Ackerman-Hovis (69th).
On Oct. 20, the Colonels journeyed to Northwood Park in Rutland for the Southern Vermont League's large schools championships, which were swept by Burr & Burton, while Thetford's teams both finished second. Whitney was the only member of the Colonel girls to finish in the top 10 with an eighth-place performance in 21:30. Rutland's Erin Geisler was the top girls' finisher, setting a record for the 5K loop in 19:56.
Brattleboro had no boys crack the top 10, as they finished sixth in the team scoring. The Colonel girls finished seventh in the team scoring.
Field hockey
• Bellows Falls swept the season series with Brattleboro, winning 6-0 at Sawyer Field on Oct. 17 and 7-0 in Westminster on Oct. 19.
In the first game, Ava LaRoss had a pair of goals and Sadie Scott and Jules McDermid each had two assists for BF.
The second game was even more frustrating for the Colonels as they held the Terriers scoreless for the first 14:59 of the first quarter, only to give up a goal in the final second. That opened the floodgates for four more goals in the second quarter and two more in the third.
Emma Bazin and McDermid each finished with two goals, and Hannah Terry, LaRoss, and Scott added a goal apiece. Hadley Gleim and McDermid each earned an assist.
The Terriers lost their regular season finale to the Burr & Burton Bulldogs, 3-1, on Oct. 22 in Manchester. LaRoss scored for BF in the first minute of the game, and Burr & Burton responded with three unanswered goals from Owyn Humphrey, Piper Morgan, and Alex Faucher to beat the Terriers for the first time since 2019.
With the loss, BF finished with an 11-2-1 record and the No. 4 seed in the Division I playoffs. They will host No. 5 Colchester in a quarterfinal game in Westminster on Oct. 28.
With a 2-0 loss to Woodstock on Oct. 21, Brattleboro finished its season with an 1-11-1 record, and will sit out the Division II playoffs.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 8 of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League on Oct. 20 saw first place Keglers 4 (28-12) have a 1-4 week but still maintain a five-game lead on second place Trash-O-Matic (23-17). Split Happens (22-18) remains in third place, followed by Lucky 7 and The Strikers (both 20-20), Good Times (19-21), Old Farts (15-25), and Slow Movers (13-27).
Carol Gloski had the women's high handicap game (241) and series (638), while Wayne Randall had the men's high handicap game (225) and series (652). Trash-O-Matic had the high team handicap game (867), while The Strikers had the high handicap series (2,426).
In scratch scoring, Chuck Adams led the men with a 578 series that featured games of 211 and 208. Robert Rigby had a 574 series and had the men's high game with a 228. Gary Montgomery had a 531 series with a pair of 181 games, while Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 515 series with a 198 game.Jerry Dunham had a 516 series with games of 184 and 181, while Randall had a 511 series with games of 188 and 186.
Gloski had the women's high scratch series (496), with games of 188, 155, and 153. Josie Rigby rolled a 159, Nancy Dalzell had games of 159 and 158, Sally Perry had a 157 game, Pat Bentrup had a 155 game, and Pam Greenblott rolled a 153.