SOUTH BURLINGTON — The South Burlington Wolves spotted the Essex Hornets a quick 6-0 lead,  but then roared back to beat their long time rivals 21-6 on Friday night on Munson Field

Essex marched the ball 60 yards on their opening possession with senior running back Jordan Hines doing most of the work and senior quarterback Cam Quinn finishing off the drive with an 18 yard touchdown pass to wideout Anthony Hope. But Hope’s point after attempt sailed wide and the Hornets settled for a 6-0 lead.

The Wolves countered with an excellent first drive of their own, but they failed to convert on a fourth down play turning the ball over on downs inside the Hornets 20 yard line. But Essex immediately turned the ball back on a bad snap and given the second chance SB responded with quarterback Kevin Papariello connecting with wideout Andrew Cunningham on a 20 touchdown pass play on the second play of the second quarter to tie the game at six.  McKenna Cooper’s extra point gave the Wolves the lead.

Given the ball again on another Essex turnover SB doubled their lead as running Ryan Tarte connected with Cunningham on a 58 yard halfback option pass play … Cooper’s PAT pushed their margin to 14-6 with seven minutes left in the first half. It stayed that way until Tarte raced seven yards into the end zone to seal the win with 1:45 left in the game.

Essex got a big night from Hines running the ball, but kept shooting themselves in the foot elsewhere with turnovers and sloppy play. They are 0-1 and will play next week at St. Johnsbury.

The Wolves pick up their first win with their new nickname and travel next week to Colchester.