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Ten unbeaten teams lead Vermont's 3 grid divisions

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Created on Friday, 16 September 2011 16:26

Written by Bill Murphy

And then there were ten. That is presently the number of undefeated football teams competing in the Vermont football ranks. Four of those teams stand atop both Divisions I and II, while there are only two unbeaten teams remaining in the Division III ranks. The unblemished teams in Division I and III meet opponents who have already beem saddled with at least one loss this week. Division II has the highlight games over the weekend with two showdowns set with teams who have not lost facing each other. Then in probability, Division II is the division that has the greatest number of teams capable of winning the state championship in a division. The division could in some ways resemble a circus, and we are thinking about a Merry-Go-Round in particular.

North Country and Milton host Friday night games which are guaranteed to halve the number of unbeaten teams in the loop. One of the biggest questions still remaining in Division II is whether offense or defense is the prevalent way of success. Over the last few years, shootouts have certainly been prevalent when top teams have come together, but there have certainly been some extremes on each  side in the first two weeks of 2011. Fair Haven is at North Country and neither team has been tested to this point in time. The early schedule has been nice to both elevens and they have been able to excel on both sides of the ball. Bob Davis' team has outscored their opponents 123-6, while Ryan Audet's Slaters have had an 87-32 advantage. Those scores show a small advantage to NC, but the Slaters appear to have had a little bit tougher slate in the first two games to even things out. In the other big encounter, Rice is at Milton. Both of these teams had an offensive game and a defensive game. Rice was a 42-0 winner in week one, but needed to capitaize on a second half turnover to down a scrappy Bellows Falls team in week two 13-8. Like Rice, Milton put plenty of points on the board in week one in a 43-36 slugfest effort outlasting Lyndon. They scrambled to score in week two, when they claimed a mammoth overtime win against Burr + Burton 12-6. Clearly no other unbeaten team has faced the difficulty of the Yellow Jackets schedule in the first two weeks and it continues with the meeting versus Rice Friday night.

Of the four unbeaten teams in Division I, South Burlington and Champlain Valley Union are likely to get the biggest tests this week. The Rebels will have home field advantage on Friday night in the match-up with Bellows Free Academy of St. Albans The Bobwhites lost in last years title game against Hartford and are considered to be a contender again, although most people expect the Rebels to have the answer in this early season showdown. CVU goes on the road to meet a winless team, but their opponent is no ordinary winless team. Essex, a perennial contender, is 0-2, but those two defeats are by a total of nine points. They fell 31-28 at undefeated Middlebury last week. This game is also on Friday night. CVU coach Jim Provost saw his team fall to the Hornets a year ago when the two teams met for the first time in an out of division match.  "This one should immediately become a Division I rivalry," he forecasts. You know despite their record they will be ready. They always have pride, but so do we. This should be a really good game," he forecast. That makes already for four prime time games on the September 16th dance card. The two remaining Division I teams with unblemished marks, Hartford and Middlebury, will move to 3-0 unless a mighty upset occurs. Wins by either Mount Mansfield, who host the Hurricanes on Saturday, or  Mount Anthony, who travels to Middlebury Friday night would really shake up the ranks and put the winning team in the play-off running.

There are only two 2-0 teams in Division III and Windsor is expected to stay that way. The Yellow Jackets host Mount Abraham in Hanover, New Hampshire on their premier turf field. Mount Abe is respectable, but the Jacks speed is hightlighted on the turf. Bellows Free Academy of Fairfax is the other III entry running with the unblemished and they will have their hands full at Mill River. Minutemen coach Art Peterson says "we are getting better each week. Saturday was the first time we have beaten Oxbow when I have been coach, so that's progress. We tackled poorly in the opener against Windsor, but we are getting better now." When Peterson was asked by the Northeast Sports Network whether the big game with the Bullets would be high scoring, his response was "we don't want to get into a shootout with them." Petersen also thinks he may have one of two underrated teams in the division. "I don't know what other teams expected of us, but we have a band of seniors, who have come up through the system and are competitors. We'll see how they play. I think Winooski has a pretty good team too," he offerred. BFA proved they are one of the big boys a year ago so this should be a battle worth watching Saturday afternoon.

Beyond the ten unbeaten teams, the ranks are then broken down with thirteen 1-1 teams and ten 0-2 teams. If there is justice in this world, everyone will find a way to win a game, but as all know that is not the way things usually happen. Playing out the contests in Division I, where remember eight teams will make the postseason, Colchester (1-1 and is new to the I ranks) is jockeying for a spot in the postseason. On Friday evening they host Burlington (0-2). In another match-up that could possibly decide a play-off spot before all is said and done, Rutland is at Brattleboro (both teams are 1-1) Friday night. The only other Division I team with a win the first two weeks is St. Johnsbury. The Hilltoppers will be at home Saturday afternoon facing winless Spaulding in the final Division I game of week three.

Besides the powers colliding in Division II there are three other important encounters taking place. Burr + Burton (a front runner in most peoples' minds despite the 12-6 overtime setback at home versus Milton) takes on new Division II entry Bellows Falls in the Falls on Saturday. All the Terriers have seen so far is one undefeated team after another and now they get a chance to meet a once beaten team in the Bulldogs who cotrolled them a year ago 26-8 in a cross division test. Lyndon, also 1-1, has a Friday night trip to (0-2) Springfield and U-32 (0-2) is at Otter Valley (1-1) in a day contest on Saturday rounding out Division II. Springfield coach Jack Cohun has had both sickness (starting quarterback out with illness last week) and injuries (back-up QB hurt on games third play) and a general shortage of players hurt the Cosmos move to Division II. "The best thing which has happened to us is that several freshmen have been able to get a bunch of experience. Our guys are playing hard, but thus far we have simply been outmanned," the mentor offered.

In Division III, there are six 1-1 teams and with only two unbeatens that puts all six smack dab in the middle of the race for a play-off spot. Many people are beginning to believe that Winooski might be one of those post season teams eventually. They are 1-1 after two home games to dateand travel to Rutland Saturday to meet a still young Mount Saint Joseph Academy team that most likely will take another year to be competitive. Another Saturday game finds two 1-1's trying to make a statement as Montpelier will be at Poultney. On Friday night, Woodstock hosts Oxbow. The Wasps have started 0-2 and really need a win to jump back up the ladder, while a win would give Oxbow a winning record after three weeks.

When the sun sets on Saturday, one-third of the football campaign in Vermont will be in the books and one and all will even have a better idea of how things are starting to stack up.