White River Junction
One, the Hilltoppers are no ordinary sixth seed. Two, Jake Cady is no ordinary quarterback.
Cady dismantled Hartford’s secondary with surgical precision in a 30-0 road win over the Hurricanes, responsible for 469 total yards — 388 in the air — while going 24-for-31 on completions and adding 81 yards and on 18 carries on the ground. He accounted for four touchdowns — two in the air, two on the ground.
The victory, St. Johnsbury’s fifth in a row dating back to late September, advanced the Hilltoppers to the D-I semifinals for the third straight season.
Hartford, which made back-to-back appearances in the D-I championship game in 2016-17, failed to advance to the state semis for the first time since 2014. The Hurricanes managed 44 yards of offense in the first half, 215 in the game and never moved within striking distance of the end zone.
“They played well. They outplayed us tonight, for sure,” Hartford head coach Matt Trombly said. “Based on what we’ve done all year long, we knew we had to add some different stuff. We tried to throw some things on there that we’ve been practicing all year that we haven’t showed. Some things worked; some things didn’t.
“We played hard all the way to the end. They just outplayed us.”
Cady, a senior, topped the 3,000-yard passing mark for the season in the third quarter. The Hilltoppers will face No. 2 Rutland in the D-I semifinals next week.
“I went into this game with a lot of confidence,” said Cady, who also threw an interception in the first half. “Our defense has been playing (well); our offense has been firing all year. It was a great win for us.
“This summer, I did a bunch of off work, worked on my mechanics, my feet, stuff like that,” he added. “I’ve been looked at (by colleges) all summer, all the camps I went to. I’ve got some small Division I schools looking at me, all the way down to Division III. I’ll have a better idea when the season is over.”
Cady lit up Hartford in a thrilling, high-scoring contest — a 35-33 Hartford victory — in week 1, finishing the game with 361 passing yards and three touchdowns.
The quarterfinal rematch was no different; Cady led the Hilltopper offense into the end zone on back-to-back drives to open up the first quarter. He found his favorite target, Hunter Palmeri, for a 38-yard strike just 1 minute, 28 seconds in, then scampered 5 yards on the next drive with 4:43 remaining in the opening stanza to build a 14-0 lead.
The problem with those expecting a high-flying rematch was that Hartford’s offense had no answers. St. Johnsbury closed out October with three shutouts in four games, showcasing an improved defense from the one that started the season.
“Our defense has come a long way,” Cady said.
The Canes — with a banged-up backfield and a general lack of depth — never found any traction. Nick Porter returned to the lineup after missing the last two games of the regular season with a leg injury. Trombly said he wasn’t 100 percent, but Porter wanted to try to play.
“We’re pretty thin across the board,” Trombly said. “Being a little banged-up, and not having a lot of subs to give guys breaks, that was pretty evident tonight.”
St. Johnsbury led, 20-0, at halftime following a 10-yard throw from Cady to Palmeri with 1:58 left to go in the half. Cady added to it with a 1-yard run up the middle in the third quarter. Trey Alercio finished the scoring with a 30-yard field goal with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter, a kick that bounced off the top of the crossbar and through the uprights.
Palmeri finished the game with 10 catches and 230 yards for St. Johnsbury. Hartford’s Reece Thompson led the Canes with 96 yards on the ground.
Seven players graduate from Hartford’s roster next spring, including Thompson, Porter, Dylan Tucker and lineman Nick Cameron. Max Pfeiffer, Colton Schaal and Riley Packard also graduate. Quarterback Cole Jasmin will return next year, as well as running back Zach Burek.
Trombly is most concerned about his program’s numbers. Participation, he said, has dipped dramatically over the last few seasons, leaving a coach entering his sixth season uncertain about his team’s future.
“I think numbers, again, are going to be a big concern for us,” Trombly said. “I look at our numbers, kids that are leaving, kids that are coming up, it’ll be interesting to see how things really pan out, if we get some kids that come out of the woodwork and really want to play.
“That’s our biggest concern, where we’re going to stand as far as numbers-wise. I think we finished the year with 27 kids on the roster. Three years ago, I think we were around 70, maybe 65. Our numbers have been drastically cut, almost in half. We really have to figure out an answer for that and see what the right thing to do is.”
Hartford finished its season 5-4 overall.
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or 603-727-3306.