BRADFORD — The Mount Abraham/Vergennes football team edged host Oxbow on Saturday, 8-6, in a Division III clash, a result that kept the Eagles in the running for a home playoff game.
The Eagles (4-2 overall, 3-2 in D-III) finish by hosting 2013 finalist Mill River (4-2, 4-1 in D-III) this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and traveling to Poultney (2-4) the following week. They almost certainly need to win both games to have a shot at hosting a quarterfinal for the second straight season.
In the rain this past Saturday, the Eagles scored on a Devon Kimball first-half sack in the end zone to lead at the break, 2-0, and stretched the lead to 8-0 when Ryan Paquin recovered a fumble in the Olympian end zone.
Oxbow (1-5) cut the lead to 8-6 in the third quarter on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Tristan Longmoor to Dametres Perry.
Both teams had plenty of chances to score. Eagle lineman Matt Mullin clinched the win by blocking an Oxbow field goal in the game’s final minute, Oxbow three times stopped the Eagles inside the Olympian 10, and the Eagles denied the Olympians at the Mount Abe 1 as the first half ended.
Paquin rushed for 148 yards on 14 carries for the Eagles.