Three generations, more than 60 years of gridiron glory

(This story has been corrected. Dave Allard went to a football columbine to try out for the CFL, not the NFL.)

When the Champlain Valley Union High football team played at Bellows Free Academy-St. Albans on Friday, Sept. 20, there was at least one person in the Bobwhites’ stands whose loyalties might have been divided.

Don Allard grew up in St. Albans and was part of a BFA-St. Albans team many consider one of the best high school teams in Vermont history, going undefeated in 1958 and 1959 and winning two consecutive state championships.

However, his grandson, junior Stuart Allard of Charlotte, plays linebacker and tight end for the CVU Redhawks.

After more than 60 years with deep ties to BFA-St. Albans, Don Allard said his loyalty was “kind of neutral.”

Don Allard said he played on a Bobwhite team with a lot of good athletes, but one of his teammates stands out in the minds of many who remember those days — Ollie Dunlap.

Dunlap “is regarded as one of the best, if not the premier running back in the state’s history, leading BFA-St. Albans to state football titles in his junior and senior years,” said Dave Allard.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 215-pound halfback ran the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat, Don Allard said.

BFA-St. Albans’ football team was coached by Bob White, whose coaching prowess is memorialized in the school’s mascot. The school had a 31-game winning streak, which is pretty remarkable considering it was just a seven-game season, with no playoffs, in those days.

Old timers will tell you that this Bobwhites team “always won by 30-0 because we had the great Ollie Dunlap,” Don Allard said.

His son Dave Allard said that Dunlap attracted national attention. Although his father was a great football player, he didn’t get that kind of press.

Michigan State came to a St. Albans’ game to scout Dunlap, Dave Allard said. They were impressed, but they also noticed a tight end named Don Allard. Michigan State decided to offer scholarships to both players.

When Don Allard was growing up, his family didn’t have much money. He was the oldest of nine children, raised in what he called “a five-room shack.”

The kitchen light was a bare bulb hanging from an electric cord.

When they went to Michigan State as freshmen, Don Allard traveled with Ollie Dunlap’s family. His parents couldn’t afford to take him back and forth, so he traveled back home by getting rides with other students who lived in the Northeast, and his parents would pick him up at their homes.

But Don Allard doesn’t see his family’s economic status as a drawback. “Being poor was not a negative experience. Going through that transition can be good for you, if you treat it right,” he said.

Although he might have been a bit intimidated before he got to the Michigan State campus about his lack of skills and coaching, Don Allard said he quickly got over that. He was strong and fast. He was 5 foot 10 inches, weighed 210 pounds and could clean jerk 315 pounds and bench press 335 pounds, which was pretty good in 1959 when most teams were not doing weight training.

Dunlap only lasted for one quarter at Michigan State because of academic issues, but he went on to play for minor-league professional football team the Toronto Rifles and was a member of the Washington Redskins practice squad.

“He later mentored youth and boxers in the Washington, D.C., area, including Olympic and world champion Sugar Ray Leonard,” Dave Allard said. Dunlap was inducted into the Washington (D.C.) Boxing Hall of Fame and the Vermont Principals Association Hall of Fame in 2013 and was awarded a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from the U.S. Congress.

Don Allard had really good football seasons for two years at Michigan State, but in the spring season of his sophomore year, he suffered a serious neck injury.

He didn’t go back to school for a couple of years, while he worked for the railroad. Don Allard said he was attracted by the allure of making some relatively good money.

He did go back to finish his degree.

Don Allard was surprised to get a letter from the Dallas Cowboys asking him to come for a tryout. Assuming they hadn’t heard about his injury, he didn’t go.

He returned to Vermont and took a job teaching and coaching at BFA-St. Albans. He was told him he could either be a wrestling coach or a hockey coach, two sports he had no experience in.

“I can’t skate,” Don Allard said, so he took the wrestling gig.

Using the skills he learned in football, but particularly aggressiveness, he coached BFA-St. Albans to four state wrestling championships.

Dave Allard also experienced some gridiron glory of his own. He went to Rice and then to Trinity College, a Division 3 school.

“I looked at some bigger schools, but I wanted to play as a freshman,” Dave Allard said.

During his four years, the Bantams only lost four games.

After college, Dave Allard tried out at a CFL combine. The original 80 athletes were cut down to 12 players, and he made the cut. When the second cut was made to four players, he didn’t make it that far.

In the 1990s, with no Internet and no way to understand what opportunities were available, that was as far as he pursued professional football.

Stuart Allard didn’t start playing football until his freshman year, but he caught on quickly. Playing as a linebacker and on special teams, the neophyte footballer was called up from the junior varsity in his first season for the 2022 for the playoffs. It was a wonderful time to join the Redhawks’ varsity as CVU won its first state championship.

Stuart Allard hasn’t regretted the decision to take up football since. The junior would love to play in college.

“Whether it’s Division 1 or Division 3, it doesn’t matter to me. I just want to keep playing,” he said. “I’d like to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather and my dad.”

Stuart Allard said he believes he’s one of the best linebackers in the state, and he would like to see his name on the Vermont All Stars’ first team at the end of the season.

And, of course, win another state championship.