White River Junction
But Hartford’s staple this season has been its resiliency, an ability to figure things out even when momentum is sharply swinging the other way. Despite an early blocked punt, a safety in the second half and 105 penalty yards on 14 penalties called against them, the Hurricanes found themselves ahead, 26-9, when the score clock ticked to zero, sending Hartford to its first D-I championship since 2012.
“This is a great feeling,” said Hartford senior quarterback Gavin Farnsworth. “We’ve been talking about this since preseason, during the summertime. Now that we’re here, it feels great.”
Hartford junior running back Kody Rhodes ran for two touchdowns and caught a TD pass from Farnsworth late in the second quarter. Hunter Perkins put the Hurricanes on the scoreboard on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line for his sixth touchdown of the season.
“They were what we expected,” Hartford head coach Matt Trombly said. “We knew what we were going to get. … It’s nice. These guys beat us last year and the past couple of years. It was nice to beat these guys. I wouldn’t call it a rivalry game, but it’s pretty close.”
No. 1 Hartford (9-0, 9-1 overall), D-I’s top seed for the first time since the 2012 championship season, will play the winner of today’s semifinal game between No. 3 Champlain Valley (7-2) and No. 2 St. Johnsbury (7-2) next weekend at Rutland High. Game time for next weekend’s final is still to be determined.
“This is a group that we knew had potential,” Trombly said. “Way back in August, we knew what kind of group it was going to be.
“It comes down to them believing in each other,” he added. “This is a group that we haven’t had in a while. They all like being together. They like playing together. There’s none of that drama that goes on sometimes in a locker room. This is a collective group. That’s what it takes to win this thing.”
Middlebury (6-4) made its eighth straight semifinal appearance Friday night. The Tigers defeated Hartford, 21-0, at home in last season’s semis to knock the Hurricanes out of the playoff contention. It’s a game Farnsworth still remembers well.
“We knew it was going to be a big game; we were pretty excited about it,” Farnsworth said. “Personally, last year I was sitting when we lost. That was a bummer for me. So I’ve been talking about this since last year. It was pretty emotional in the start of (the game). I’m happy we got the win.”
The Tigers struck early in the first quarter, taking advantage of favorable field position as Middlebury senior Doug Delorenzo blocked a punt after Hartford’s opening drive to put his team within striking distance. Trey Kaufmann finished off a nine-play drive to give Middlebury the early 7-0 lead.
Hartford marched back down the field and ran three unsuccessful plays inside the 5-yard line before Perkins provided an answer. But the Hurricanes kicking game, which was 1-for-3 on PATs, missed the ensuing kick to allow Middlebury to preserve its 7-6 lead.
The Hurricanes offense had figured itself out, however, scoring two more times before halftime to build an insurmountable lead. Hartford’s defense also stepped up, forcing the Tigers into eight consecutive three-and-outs after the first quarter.
“Hartford just started getting rolling,” Middlebury head coach Dennis Smith said. “Yeah, we started out well, but we were going to have to sustain that. There was a period that we weren’t, and they had the momentum going there. Those two quick scores before the half were a real killer.”
Still, it wasn’t pretty. The Hurricanes’ first play of the third quarter was a high snap that sailed over Farnsworth’s head and into the end zone for a safety. Hartford’s second drive after halftime was littered with three bad snaps that forced Farnsworth to fall on a loose ball or jump high for a snap that would have otherwise gone behind him.
Hartford found a way to win in spite of it all, relying on its defense to keep Middlebury out of the game. Hartford added insurance late in the fourth quarter after Tigers’ Cody Pomainville bobbled a punt return that Hartford recovered on the 1-yard line. Rhodes scored on an walk-in to put the game away.
“I don’t think we played well up front,” Trombly said. “It’s just one of those things. We battled that problem (penalties) last year. I think a couple of those calls were targeting calls. We’ve never gotten them since I’ve been here. All of a sudden we got two tonight. … We’ve been fighting that battle for a long time. It is what it is.”
Hartford’s rivalry with Middlebury, if you can call it that, has evolved into something of an association between the two programs and winning. The Tigers have been known for keeping past Middlebury successes against the Hurricanes on their home scoreboard during warm-ups, according to Trombly, and Farnsworth said the win feels better knowing that Middlebury was on the other end of it.
But Smith said the rivalry has grown into one of respect, particularly against such a familiar foe.
“You always want to play each other because you know the teams are going to have a good game, no matter what the record is,” Smith said. “We’re not as big as some of these other schools in Division I. There’s respect there. If I’m not going to win, I have no problem seeing Hartford win.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.