Bellows Falls defeats Springfield

They say in rivalry games, you can often throw out the records. Then, there are also times that these games turn out like the records. Such was the case last Friday night as Bellows Falls scored on their first play from scrimmage, scored often, and ran past archrival Springfield with a final score of 45-6.

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Bellows Falls defeats Springfield BY BILL MURPHY, The Vermont Journal & The Shopper September 30, 2017 football Bellows Falls scored on their first play from scrimmage in this year’s Bellows Falls-Springfield Football Classic. Shane Clark was sent in motion and eventually caught Logan Cota’s pass downfield and ran the remaining yards for a 45-yard touchdown play on the way to a 45-6 Terrier victory. The Terriers host Otter Valley this Saturday at 1 p.m. Photo by Doug MacPhee REGION – They say in rivalry games, you can often throw out the records. Then, there are also times that these games turn out like the records. Such was the case last Friday night as Bellows Falls scored on their first play from scrimmage, scored often, and ran past archrival Springfield with a final score of 45-6. Obviously, this outcome was expected, as the Division II defending champions, pushing for two home field rounds in the play-offs, were coming off a tough 23-6 loss to Burr & Burton and looking to prove themselves against a Division III Cosmos team. Meanwhile the Cosmos, hoping to find their way to the middle of their pack, have faced only the cream of the crop of their division and have been knocked down over and over. On the sidelines, Springfield coach Rich Saypack heard one of his senior players say something along the lines of: “We practiced right during the week, but we didn’t show up today.” Coach Saypack added, “He hit the nail right on the head. We started flat and we stayed flat. We had the desire to beat BF, but we didn’t play that way. We had the ball first and made mistakes, and we kept giving them good field position all night.” Bellows Falls kept taking advantage of that field position and ran up a 33-0 lead by halftime. It was 39-0 by the time Kyle Monier connected on a 59-yard scoring play on a pass to Matt LaChapelle. The Terriers first touchdown on that first play from scrimmage was scored by Shane Clark on a 45-yard pass play and came less than two minutes into the contest. Clark would also score BF’s next touchdown on a 35-yard run, less than three minutes later with 7:20 remaining in the first period. Ryan Kelly had touchdown number three on a 21-yard screen pass in the first quarter. Svent Bassart kicked all three extra points for a 21-0 advantage after the first. football The Springfield Cosmos have run into a number of strong defenses this fall. When they have been able to untrack themselves, Kyle Monier has been one of the offense’s biggest weapons. Monier hooked up with leading running back Matt LaChapelle on a 59-yard scoring pass for the only Springfield points in the loss to Bellows Falls. Photo by Doug MacPhee Griffin Waryas threw a 1-yard scoring pass to Logan Cota, who had thrown the two previous scoring passes. Waryas had a 1-yard sneak to complete the BF scoring prior to halftime. The Purple and White scoring plays in the second half were on a 2-yard run by Hunter Holmes and a 45-yard Clark run. BF hosts Otter Valley in a 1 p.m. afternoon game this Saturday. Prior to the Burr & Burton game, BF lost two important contributors for the season with knee injuries. Two-way performers Brady Clark and Noah Wilkinson both were injured in the victory over Brattleboro. Springfield will be home this Friday night hosting Granville, N.Y. at 7 p.m. All season, we have been letting you know about the early toughness of the Cosmo schedule. The teams the Green and White played in the first four weeks boast an 11-3 mark in Vermont state play, while the opponents during the rest of the schedule are 5-11 overall. The true measurement of how much Springfield has improved is in the weeks ahead. Saypack feels that although his team lost to Bellows Free Academy of Fairfax 28-7 the week before the BF game, there were lessons learned. He said, “I thought we learned a lot we could take away from this game that we can build on. Overall, we were better than we had been and I think with a little confidence we would have had a chance to win.” We will see how that growth against BFA plays out down the stretch of the season.