Vermont high school football: What we learned in Week 2 of the 2022 season

Who stood out in Week 2 of the 2022 Vermont high school football season? What were some of the key stats and moments that sent teams to victories?

Here are a few highlights worthy of a spotlight from this week's slate of games. Read on below for more on the Hartford-Essex and Colchester-Brattleboro games.

(Editor's note: This file has been updated through Saturday night).

Long passing play unlocks Hartford

Brayden Trombly hadn’t aired it out nearly the entire game.

The quarterback kept to the ground on the road against Essex, the defending champions, and only took chances when he needed.

With under two minutes to play Trombly created a chance. The junior dialed up the longest play of the night, down the left sideline and connected with Evan Lynds. The sure-handed receiver adjusted to the back shoulder throw and flipped the field position for the Hurricanes with the 41-yard reception.

The Hurricanes were in striking distance, down by seven at the Essex 10-yard line.

“That's kind of the philosophy of the offense,” Hartford coach Matt Trombly said. You run, run, run, and then you get everybody playing the run then you take an opportunity when it comes.”

The game-turning play gave the Hurricanes the opening they needed, and Hartford seized a 30-21 win over Essex on Friday night.

“Your first rule is to not get beat deep,” Essex coach Ethan Curtis said. “And we got beat deep. That's a learning process here.”

Three plays after the long reception Sean Keliher powered a touchdown rush in from the 1-yard line with 41.6 seconds remaining in regulation.

Now trailing by just one, Hartford bypassed the point after leaving the fate of the game in the hands of Trombly. Off play action, Trombly rolled right and found Ezra Mock for the 2-point conversion and Hartford’s first lead of the game.

“I thought we had a pretty good opportunity there with them really coming up to play the run and we were able to complete that,” Trombly said of the decision to throw for the conversion.

A heavily balanced attack for Hartford was led by Mock’s eight carries for 61 yards and a TD rush. Trombly and Keliher combined for 18 carries for 87 yards and three scores.

Mock cemented the win with an interception and a 45-yard TD on the ensuing possessions following the 2-point conversion.

Josh Brown’s 10 catches for 125 yards and 2 TDs gave Essex the early advantage, but Hartford held the big receiver to just three receptions in the second half.

“I just think as a secondary after last week, we were real tentative,” Trombly said. “And again, we were able to play a little bit more aggressive and got our guys in the right spots where they could be successful.”

Charlie Bowen was 15 for 24 yards for 157 yards with three total TDs in the loss.

“We should have had this game early on,” Curtis said. “But we just had a lot of mental mistakes and I think that unfortunately comes to the young team.”

Brattleboro’s 2-minute drill leads to win

Since the summer, the Brattleboro Colonels have worked extensively on their two-minute drill.

Friday, it paid off.

Devin Speno marched Brattleboro 75 yards in just over two minutes, capping the game-winning drive with a 2-yard TD pass to Cam Frost with 4.6 seconds left in a thrilling, 13-12 victory over visiting Colchester.

“It’s shows the coaches that when the pressure is on, the kids can make the plays,” Brattleboro coach Chad Pacheco said. “That (drive) is going to be big for us down the road.”

Jackson Emery, who hauled in Brattleboro’s first TD, caught a pair of crucial catches while also getting out of bounds on both receptions to save precious seconds. And Tristan Evans’ snag over the middle pushed the hosts deeper into Colchester territory.

Then on the game-winning sequence, Brattleboro (1-1) faced third-and-goal and had no timeouts left. Pacheco said Speno’s two receivers ran option routes, and Frost made a hard cut to his right to create separation to grab the game-winner.

“I said to my kids after the game that they could’ve easily handed this game over to Colchester,” Pacheco said. “They know if they clean up some mistakes, we are a much better football. It’s a test every week (in Division II).”

Colchester led 6-0 at the break and regained a 12-7 advantage early in the fourth quarter on Jordan Lavoie’s QB sneak. The Lakers had a chance to seal the game, but turned it over on downs, setting up Brattleboro’s game-winning drive.

Falcons’ blazing start ignites big win

North Country eyed its best start in over a decade.

And Hayden Boivin made sure the Falcons were going to seize it.

The sophomore do-it-all man for North Country rushed for four touchdowns and threw for another all in the first half as the Falcons streaked to a 50-24 win over Mount Mansfield on Saturday.

“When you can get points or you build a lot of confidence, you also take the confidence away from your opponent,” North Country coach Lonnie Wade said. “For us to be able to come out and do that, that was big momentum for us and you saw it carried over in the whole first half.”

Boivin’s first TD rush, a 35-yard scamper early in the first quarter, was followed by a Cougars’ 3-and-out. A 27-yard field goal by Evan Ballinger gave North Country a 10-0 lead with 4:46 left in the first quarter.

On the next Cougars’ drive Tate Parker intercepted MMU quarterback Nathan Messier and nine plays later Boivin found Wyatt Descheneau for a 3-yard TD catch.

Mount Mansfield ran just five plays from scrimmage and North Country already led 17-0.

“These guys have been coming together since the weight room last winter and they were here all summer for workouts. They're building a bond,” Wade said.

Boivin added a 67-yard TD rush and defensive lineman Dylan Martin rumbled for a 40-yard interception return for a TD to give North Country, who beat Spaulding in Week 1, a 29-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

The 2-0 record is the best start for the Falcons in 11 years.

“We played two games where we needed to show up, it's on the road, it’s a challenge for us,” Wade said. “There’s still a long way to go, still some very good teams sitting out there waiting,”

Kyle Taft (53-yard TD catch from Messier), Hunter Gauthier (52-yard TD rush; 88-yard kick return for TD) and Philip Gulizio (7-yard TD rush) supplied the offense for Mount Mansfield.

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Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

Contact Jacob Rousseau at JRousseau@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter: @ByJacobRousseau

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont high school football: What we learned from Week 2