SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Miscues early proved to be too much for the Woodstock High football team to overcome as it fell to Bellows Falls, 54-20, in the VPA Division III state championship at South Burlington High on Saturday afternoon.
The Wasps found themselves behind 26-6 early in the second quarter due in part to offensive mistakes, including an interception from senior quarterback Aksel Oates, a broken-play-induced turnover on downs and penalties. Woodstock’s defense also struggled to keep the Terriers at bay.
Despite the early deficit, Woodstock had its chance to cut the Terriers’ first-half lead to one possession with under five minutes remaining.
A 20-yard touchdown reception from junior running back Jake Blackburn made the game 26-14, and he followed that score with an interception on Bellows Falls’ ensuing drive to give his squad the ball back right around midfield.
But the Wasps were unable to capitalize on the turnover, giving the football back on downs, marking the beginning of the end of their championship hopes.
The Terriers proceeded to march down the field and scored on a 9-yard rush from senior running back Pat Connors and added a two-point conversion to go back up 20 points at 34-14 with 14 seconds left in the first half.
Bellows Falls followed up its first-half-ending touchdown with another one to open the second half on a 26-yard rush from sophomore running back Jaden Bazin to complete a double score and go up 40-14 about four minutes into the third quarter, which was pretty much all she wrote for Woodstock.
“We knew coming into it (that) it was going to be a little bit of a track meet. We knew they were going to be tough to stop,” said Wasps coach Ramsey Worrell. “Once they got ahead of us and really got momentum going — we needed to kind of stay ahead of them a little bit to apply pressure, and we just couldn’t do that.”
Woodstock’s sideline boss also noted that his squad felt the absence of sophomore running back and defensive back Cole Little, who suffered an injury during the week, though Worrell added that sophomore running back Taylor Underwood did a good job in his place.
“We shot ourselves in the foot too many times in the first half,” Worrell said. “I thought we had some opportunities. … I felt like we were moving the ball, I felt like we had guys open — we just couldn’t keep momentum going.”
The Wasps’ trouble sustaining momentum was apparent from the first few snaps of the game. Woodstock was flagged for a false start after picking up its first first down of the game. Oates was picked off by Connors two plays later.
The Terriers turned the interception into a touchdown four plays later on a 1-yard sneak from senior quarterback Declan Lisai to go up 6-0 after their two-point conversion attempt failed.
On their second drive of the game, the Wasps moved the ball up to around midfield, but a drop on a deep pass, followed a few snaps later by a turnover on downs on a broken play due to a bobbled snap, stopped Woodstock in its tracks.
Bellows Falls took advantage again, almost immediately. On the second play of the Terriers’ possession, Connors rushed for a 50-yard touchdown and, after a successful two-point conversion, went up 14-0 with 5:05 left in the first quarter.
Down 14 points early, the Wasps punched back. Senior wide receiver Asher Emery took the ensuing kickoff back about 80 yards for a score, but the game stayed at 14-6 after a failed two-point attempt.
The Terriers took Woodstock’s quick special teams strike in stride and delivered a quick score of their own on their next offensive possession. On the fourth play of the drive, Connors found paydirt again, this time from 41 yards out to go up 20-6.
Bellows Falls forced a punt on the Wasps’ next drive and then, with the ball back, went up 26-6 after a 15-yard score from Bazin.
While the Wasps attempted to climb back into the game, thanks to Blackburn’s score followed by a two-point conversion that made it 26-14 and his interception that followed, they could not continue to close the gap in the final minutes of the first half.
Up 40-14 in the third quarter, the Terriers forced a punt and went on a long drive that concluded with under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth, capped by a 10-yard Bazin rush to take a 46-14 lead.
Each squad would score once more to lock in the bout’s final margin.
After the game, Worrell said he loved and was proud of his squad, especially the seniors, who made the state championship game three straight years, winning last season and losing just four games in that span.
“You don’t do that without a really good run of seniors and some really dedicated kids and hardworking kids,” Worrell said. “Twenty years from now, when they look back at this journey that they went on this year and the last four years, they should have a lot of fond memories, and I hope that they focus on that.”
