Cosmos hold off Blue Devils

Springfield jumped out to a 26-0 lead and then had to squirm a bit as Poultney executed its game plan better in the second half to cut the lead to 26-14, but that’s where it ended in the Division III opener for both teams at Brown Field Friday night.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100904/SPORTS/709049871                 # # # # Cosmos hold off Blue Devils  •  By POODY WALSH Herald Correspondent - Published: September 4, 2010  •  SPRINGFIELD — Springfield jumped out to a 26-0 lead and then had to squirm a bit as Poultney executed its game plan better in the second half to cut the lead to 26-14, but that’s where it ended in the Division III opener for both teams at Brown Field Friday night.  •  “We just had a bad first half,” Poultney coach Dave Capman said, “but some kids stepped up in the second half and we made a game of it.”  •  It was the first game for Springfield coach Jack Cohun and there was no doubt in his mind why the Cosmos won this game — it was the offensive line.  •  “Last week in a scrimmage we didn’t know what the cadence was, but tonight one of the referees told us that the first half by our offensive was one of the best he had seen,” Cohun said as he listed off the names of offensive linemen Zack Merriam, J. J. Short, Alec Benoit, James Stillings and Max Blake.  •  “Those guys opened the holes and made our offense move,” he said.  •  It was also a very clean first half penalty-wise, but three facemasks and a horsecollar call gave Poultney some hope of coming all the way back.  •  “We out played them in the second half,” Capman said.  •  The reason the Blue Devils were able to get back into the game becuase the running game came around in the second half.  •  It was when the Blue Devils were forced into passing situations that trouble came as the Cosmos intercepted three.  •  The strength of the Springfield offensive live was in evidence on the Cosmos first possession as they went 61 yards with the opening kickoff as Kirk Perham had a nifty 19-yard pass to Taylor Fontaine and Billy Wheeler picked up a first down with an 11-yard scamper before Perham took it in from the 2.  •  A quick kick caught Poultney by surprise on Springfield’s next possession, sending the Blue Devils back to their 19. From there they got one first down, but had to punt and Springfield then marched to the Blue Devils 11 from where they had a third and four.  •  Perham tried to hit Fontaine in the flat, but the pass went by him and Travis Vladyka was surprised as the ball came right to him and bounced off his pads. Springfield ran the same play again and the Perham-Fontaine duo was successful this time.  •  The Cosmos tacked on two conversion points in a strange way as Mitchell was hit from the side on an off-tackle play and coughed the ball up, but right into the hands of Stillings, who carried it in.  •  Springfield scored twice more before the half as James Rabeiro when up the middle from the 11 to make it 20-0.  •  The final score for Springfield was a 30-yard pass and run play from Perham to Aaron Wallace, but it might not have happened if two Poultney defenders didn’t collide trying to avoid one of the officials as Springfield made it 26-0 at the break.  •  While the situation did not look good for Poultney, the Blue Devils held the Cosmos in check in the third quarter and scored one themselves as they went 55 yards, aided by a 15-yard horsecollar penalty and march in with hard-working John Fairbanks taking it in from the one.  •  Nick Prior passed to Tyler Rice for the conversion points and the Blue Devils were showing some excitement along the bench  •  Poultney tried an on-side kick, but it failed as Fontaine gobbled it up. However, the Blue Devils held the Cosmos on downs and pushed in another score, with Fairbanks taking it over to make it a 26-14 game. But there it ended as the Cosmos nursed the clock.  •  Both teams are on the road Saturday as Springfield goes to Oxbow and Poultney to Windsor.  •