White River Junction
The cards were stacked against Colchester before Friday night’s opening kickoff.
Sophomore quarterback Nick Porter led the offense with three first-half touchdowns as top-seeded Hartford dominated its way to a 48-6 victory over the Lakers in a D-I quarterfinal.
Kody Rhodes scored another two touchdowns, one in the air and another on the ground, as Hartford built a 33-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
“I feel like this is different than any other year,” Porter said. “We really want it this year. We’ve really put in the work, and I think it’s our time.”
The victory sets up a semifinal rematch next Friday against No. 5 Middlebury at Hartford High after the Tigers defeated No. 4 Essex, 17-14, on Friday night. The Hurricanes fell to Middlebury in the semifinals, 21-0, on the road last season.
Things are very different a year later. Hartford head coach Matt Trombly, in his third season with the program, led his team to an undefeated regular season in Vermont play (7-0) and its first No. 1 seed since 2012. After a .500 season in year one and a semifinal appearance in year two, Trombly said his team is hungry for more as the program tries to continue to move in the right direction.
“I was honestly very concerned about playing them again,” Trombly said. “They’re very tough up front, I think. We just happened to get some big plays on them. I think they’re one of the tougher teams up front that we’ve played all year. Coming in, I was a little nervous. I didn’t think the outcome was going to be quite the way it was.”
Porter scored on Hartford’s first play of the game after the Canes forced Colchester into a three-and-out on its opening drive. A sweep play from left to right found the Hurricanes sophomore alone on the right sideline.
“It was wide open,” Porter said. “The linemen don’t get the credit they deserve. When it’s wide-open like that, you get so happy.”
Porter scored again seven minutes later, putting a spin move on a Colchester defender trying to drag him out of bounds and dodging a tackle before his momentum carried him into the end zone.
Rhodes scored on Hartford’s next drive, running right up the middle from the Lakers’ 5-yard line. The Hurricanes were up 20-0 in the second quarter before Colchester could piece together its initial first down.
Porter and Rhodes each scored in the third quarter before Hartford’s second unit entered the game, as Trombly looked to give his starters a breather. Justin Koloski and Trevor LaBrecque also scored later in the game for the Hurricanes.
Colchester quarterback Alex O’Connell, who threw two interceptions, found running back Matt Hesford late in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers their only score.
“We’ve got some guys banged up, so we’re trying to get guys rest when we can,” Trombly said. “Tyler Hamilton, who plays the same spot on offense, is banged up. Nick’s got the majority of the carries there. … I think everybody is banged up across the state. We just wanted to take care of our guys.
“Gavin (Farnsworth) is in a knee brace. He’s a little ginger. We were trying to survive tonight without being in a worse situation.”
Trombly admitted that his team’s game plan, particularly on offense, is barely a secret anymore. Undefeated records and No. 1 seeds have ways of putting targets on teams’ backs. But there are times, Trombly said, when the Hurricanes still feel treated like underdogs.
This postseason run is just as much about proving people wrong as it is about putting the Hurricanes atop the Vermont football pedestal.
“Offensively, we do what we do,” Trombly, who played at Hartford for former longtime coach Mike Stone said. “What we do is no secret. … We’ve done it for 28 years. There’s no secrets. Everyone knows what we do. We just try to do it as best we can.
“This is a special group of kids,” he added. “They totally believe in each other. … This is a good group that enjoys being together. They’ve played together for a long time, so having that many seniors who’ve played together, it’s cool. Now they know it’s their turn to make a run at it.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.