For Windsor High coach Greg Balch, it still hasn’t sunk in just how special this undefeated season was. The Yellowjackets steamrolled through an 11-0 year, winning by an average score of 42-8 and playing in just three games decided by fewer than four touchdowns.
Windsor nonetheless faced challenges, including the week five loss of top running back Trevor Worrall, who was averaging nearly 18 yards per carry when he went down with a season-ending knee injury at U-32.
The Jacks were also minus several starters late in the year, yet won a thrilling 27-20 game at previously fellow unbeaten rival Woodstock in the regular season finale before outscoring three playoff opponents an aggregate 101-12. It culminated with a complete and dominating performance in the final against Otter Valley, Seth Balch finding Hunter Patenaude for three touchdown passes, Hunter Judd rushing for two rushing touchdowns and a back-breaking kickoff return for a score and the defense forcing six Otters turnovers in a 42-6 win.
It was Windsor’s first undefeated season since going 9-0 in 1969, a year before the Vermont Pricipals Association began crowning divisional champions. The accomplishment still hasn’t quite hit Greg Balch, the team’s fourth-year coach.
“It’s certainly exciting, but it takes a while to absorb these things,” Balch said. “There are a lot of moments to savor from this season.”
Balch was optimistic entering preseason, with many contributors returning from last year’s 5-4 team that reached the quarterfinals. The coach’s confidence was reinforced during the first month of the season, when they outscored three opponents a combined 155-13 and then dominated its first meeting with Otter Valley, 55-13.
“It’s always a concern, when you’re winning by wide margins, that the team might get a big head or lose focus,” Balch said. “That was never an issue with this group. They understood that we were playing teams the first few weeks that were battling injuries or were having a down year.”
The Yellowjackets faced their first brush with adversity in week five, losing Worrall as well as Judd (injured back) in the first half of a tight 28-21 win. Judd returned the following week, but Worrall — who’d run for 519 yards and six touchdowns on just 29 carries — would be lost for the year.
“Nobody panicked,” said Balch. “We lost both guys early in the game and were down 14-6 at halftime. The attitude in the second half was, ‘Let’s take care of this,’ and we were able to win by a touchdown.”
After lopsided home wins against Mill River and first-year program Missisquoi, Windsor prepared to take on rival Woodstock on the road to determine Division III’s top seed in the playoffs.
Balch believed Woodstock — also undefeated, playing at home and perhaps a bit more dominant on paper — was heavily favored by most followers.
In persistent autumn rain, the Jacks executed a 60-yard scoring play on a halfback option pass from Patenaude to Dakota Page, going ahead by one point with less than five minutes to play. After forcing a fumble on Woodstock’s next possession, Judd rumbled in from 39 yards out to help clinch a 27-20 win.
“Our mentality that whole week was, ‘we can’t lose this game,’ ” Greg Balch recalled. “We were incredibly focused and excited. I think most people were picking Woodstock to beat us on that night, and I think our kids felt a little slighted by that. They thought, ‘Hey, we’re pretty good, too,’ and they showed that.”
Earning the right to play two postseason home games, Windsor took care of Polutney/Mount St. Joseph, 37-6, despite playing without nicked up starters Kylor Lato, Jake Tucker and Harrington. All three returned for the Jacks’ 22-0 semifinal win over U-32 that wasn’t as flawless as the score might indicate.
“Between bad kick coverage and a couple turnovers, we kept giving (the Raiders) the ball deep in our own territory,” Balch said. “But our defense really stepped up to keep them out of the end zone.”
In the championship game, Windsor countered a surging Otters passing attack with four defensive backs — the Jacks had often played with three — and intercepted Otter QB Tyler Rowe five times. Meanwhile, Seth Balch found Patenaude for three passing touchdowns and Judd rushed for a season high 170 yards and had three touchdowns, one of them on the ensuing kickoff following Otter Valley’s lone score of the game.
“That was a backbreaker because they’d pulled within 20-6 and it was late in the first half,” Greg Balch said. “They had a good chance to still be in a relatively close game at halftime.”
Instead the Yellowjackets continued to dominate, rolling to the win at Rutland High to cap a perfect season.
Eventually, it’ll even sink in.
“We had tremendous leadership from our players, really from everyone, but especially captains Hunter Patenaude and Caleb Harrington,” Greg Balch said. “And we had awesome support from the parents and the school.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.