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Rutland Raiders Win D1 Football Championship Over Tigers 35-7

photo by Mike Cameron Coach Mike Norman and Raider Tight End Austin O'Gorman are congratulated by Tiger coaches John Nuceder and Dennis Smith after the 2015 Vermont Principals Association Division Championship Game held in Rutland and won by the Raiders on Saturday November 7, 2015

Tuesday November 10, 2015

By Mike Cameron

They knew each other well.  You might say inside and out.  The Tigers of Middlebury and the Rutland Raiders Division 1 Football Programs.  Two excellent programs and two excellent coaching staffs.
   Both schools have built legendary high school football legacies here in Vermont.  Rutland has had the edge in post-season-head to head contests in the past twenty years..
    They met once again this past Saturday afternoon at 5 pm. as the final game in a day long Vermont Principals Association Championship trifecta.  Two winners Division 2 and Division 3, Burr and Burton and Otter Valley had already been crowned.   
   Then according to many it was time for the 'Main Event' of the day, the Division 1 showdown between undefeated Middlebury and 10-1 Rutland, a team who's only loss came to a powerful out of state opponent.
   The showcase for the event, Rutland's Alumni Field's artificial surface was in perfect shape on a perfect evening for football.  There was a chill in the air but few of the fans anticipating this battle felt chilly.
There was an early low hum in the big crowd, the buzz of anxious chatter about things to come.   
  It took 32-games in a row and part of a 33rd before Tiger fans would believe that their amazing reign as Division 1 Vermont State Principals Association Champions was coming to an end.  Two minutes were left on the clock and the season was about to end.  Rutland's Raiders would be the winner in a 35-7 win.
  It was a battle royal right from the opening kick off.  The line of scrimmage was the bone of contention and Middlebury held their own in-spite of numerous holding penalties against the Raiders.
 The key deciding factor in this one was the play of Rutland's Senior Captain and quarterback, Andy Kenosh and his favorite wide receiver Cam Sade.  Sade has an amazing vertical leap for a high school player and displayed this talent on a TD play in the first quarter. Kenosh was 16 of 21 in the game.  This coupled with the determined runs by Caleb White who was a force to reckon with, but Middlebury  would not fold.  
   The Tigers were stopped on their opening drive of the game.  Rutland went to work and scored with Kenosh mixing up his read options with runs, short passes and dives.  The Tiger defensive made some adjustments but by this time Rutland was up 14-0. The Tigers defensive line would not give up the big yardage but Rutland was getting plenty of third and short opportunities and they were converting.
   The Tigers were led on defense by Nick Beauchamp, Wyatt Laberge, Chris Grier, and Bruce Wright and Brady Larocque along the forward wall.  Jerry Neimo and Andrew Gleason made some nice stops at the corners.   Ali-Abdul-Sader made several defensive plays in the secondary along with Jack Hounchell and Cort Fischer.  Gleason also played both ways for Middlebury.
   This was another tough night to get the call for Gleason but he did a great job with limited game snaps playing for the injured Oakley Gordon who was on the sidelines urging his team on and helping to flash signals to players.  Middlebury was able to grind out 215 yards in total offense.  Rutland had 424.
   The Tigers gave future opponents a look for next year in the third quarter when fleet footed Chase Messner ran a nice crossing pattern over the middle and Gleason hit him right on the numbers full stride.  Messner ran away from even the fastest Rutland defenders and score from mid-field to give the Tigers their only TD of the game.  The boot was good.  The Score at the time was 28-7.
    The Raiders stormed right back for more with 1:25 left in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.  A final catch and pile-in by Jim Mee made it 35-7 and a new Division 1 Champ was about to be crowned.
  Earlier in the day Burr and Burton won the Division 2 Championship with a 28-7 win over Bellows falls and Otter Valley took the Division 3 Crown with a win over U-32 of Montpelier 33-14

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