Redhawks bound for title tilt with Rutland at St. Johnsbury
Middlebury Union came to Hinesburg to face Champlain Valley Union in the second round of the state Division 1 football playoffs this past Saturday, Nov. 2.
Maybe it was a Halloween lag because, although this game came two days after Oct. 31, it was by far the scariest contest the Redhawks have faced this year. CVU, which had scored early and often in its previous games this season, didn’t get on the scoreboard until midway through the second quarter in this contest.
George Taylor fights off a pair of would-be tacklers in Champlain Valley’s 21-7 win over Middlebury in the second round of the state championship.
Finally, at the 7:57 mark in the second quarter, sophomore quarterback Orion Yates lofted a long pass to senior Dylan Frere. Frere had gotten past the Tigers’ secondary and scampered home for a 7-0 lead.
The scares didn’t stop there. However, in the end, CVU prevailed 21-7, which is a close-shave win when the Redhawks have been scoring big and shutting down their opponents’ defenses so far in 2024. They will face No. 2 Rutland at 5 p.m. at St. Johnsbury Academy on Saturday in the state Division 1 title game.
Just 13 seconds into the second half against Middlebury, things got really hair-raising when, like the haunted house performer who springs out of a closet with an axe, a Yates’ pass was blocked at the line, springing straight up in the air.
The spectators gave a gasp at this shocking development and, when the ball came down, an audible moan, as the Tigers’ Tucker Morter grabbed it, racing 35-yards to make the score 7-7.
The score stayed stuck at 7-all, for almost all of the third quarter and most of the fourth. With just over four minutes left in the game, Frere took a Yates pass on a 69-yard rumble and his second touchdown of the night.
A minute later, senior George Taylor put a cherry on the win, with a 69-yard scoring reception of his own.
After the game Yates talked about how Taylor had called his own number on CVU’s final score, convincing the quarterback that his defender was playing him too tight.
“I look over at George. He’s like, ‘Do it.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t look good.’ He’s like, ‘Yes, do it.’ I’m like, ‘All right, fine,'” Yates recounted enthusiastically after the game. “He called his shot.”
Taylor’s score made it 21-7, a lead which stood up for the game’s final three and half minutes.
The game was a “wake-up call and a gut check” coach Rahn Fleming said. He told his players, “Now, we know what we are all the way to our core. We’re scrappers. We know what it is to win by a whole bunch. Now, we know what it is to be in a dog fight. We can win dog fights.”
The game reminded Fleming of the Burr and Burton game last year when the Bulldogs knocked the Redhawks out of the semifinals 34-27.
That game had turned on the Bulldogs capitalizing on the Redhawks’ greatest strength, which was their aggressive defense. CVU must have learned its lesson because, against the Tigers, it was the Redhawks who capitalized on Middlebury’s aggressive defense by finding open receivers whose defenders were playing too close, playing to stop the run.
“They were attacking aggressively, very aggressively, all game long on defense. A couple of times they attacked, and we found open field behind them, and Orion had just enough time and just enough presence of mind,” Fleming said. “There’s an epic feeling to it when your greatest strength becomes your greatest weakness.”
The Redhawks were able to win this gut-check game because they played together, he said.
Asked what it feels like being in the championship game again for the second time in three years, the coach responded verily, as in the phrase “it feels very, very, very good.” Actually, there were more “verys” in Fleming’s response, but you get the idea: The coach and his team are very thrilled to be in the title game this Saturday.