BRISTOL — Saturday’s high school football game saw momentum shifts between Otter Valley and the cooperative Mount Abraham-Vergennes team. It turned the host Eagles’ way in the second half, when MAV outscored the Otters, 18-0, to claim a 36-27 victory.

The key for the Division II Eagles’ triumph over the D-III Otters was a punishing ground game led by sophomore halfback Cole Gagnon, who picked up 203 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, and senior quarterback Tyler White, who galloped for 175 yards and three scores on 14 attempts. White also completed five of 13 passing attempts for 58 yards and tossed two TDs to junior receiver Ryan Wright.

But it was the MAV ground game that made the difference, especially in the second half.

MAV Coach Jeff Stein, whose team moved to 3-1, said the coaches told the Eagles at the half that if they did their jobs, they could control the game by running the ball.

“Otter Valley is a tough team. We knew that coming in. They play hard,” Stein said. “But we told our guys at halftime with our scheme we have the angles. We’ve just got to execute it. And our guys did. They executed in the second half, and they had a great day of running the ball.”

The offensive line of junior Shayne Russell, senior captain Garrett Beenen, and sophomores Juan de la Cruz, Eli Schondube and Izaak Wolniewicz paved the way.

“All five of them are pretty solid,” Stein said. “I’m really proud of that group.”

OTTER SENIOR NOEL Pearsons finds room to run against MAV on Saturday in Bristol. Pearsons led OV with 56 yards rushing and caught two passes for another 28 yards.
Independent photo/Steve James

OV Coach Jim Hill’s young Otters fell to 1-3. He lamented a few mistakes, such as key second-half penalty that critically turned a fourth-and-one in Eagle territory in to a fourth-and-five, on which they then came up inches short. The Otters also failed to recover an onsides kick they had been told to expect.

“We’re still trying to figure things out. Our biggest thing right now is just overcoming adversity,” Hill said. “We have four seniors on the team, and we start a lot of young guys, and we haven’t figured out yet how to overcome those mistakes. And unfortunately we made a lot of mistakes today.”

He also acknowledged the Otters have struggled to stop the run.

“Everybody has been able to run on us,” Hill said. “Our tackling has to get better. We have to improve on that.”

The game started well for OV. Mount Abe threatened after Gagnon returned the opening kickoff into OV territory, and three runs by Gagnon and a White scramble moved the ball to the OV 2-yard line. But the Otters threw Gagnon for a loss on fourth down to end the threat.

And then OV moved 95 yards, all on the ground, to take a 7-0 lead. Senior backs Noel Pearsons and Isaac Whitney and junior Chase Razanouski chewed up yardage, and Razanouski capped the drive with a 20-yard ramble at 3:41 of the opening quarter. Junior QB Zach Dragon kicked the extra point.

OV FRESHMAN COLBY Benoit tries to wrap up sophomore Eagle running back Cole Gagnon, who rambled for 204 yards against the Otters as the MAV football team picked up the home win on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

The Eagles answered with a 45-yard march capped by a 39-yard White scramble for the TD at 2:14. The kick failed (the Eagles did not add any points-after on Saturday), and it was 7-6.

OV went three-and-out, and the Eagles took over on their 29. A pass to Mason Atkins and a long White run moved the Eagles to the OV 20, and from there White rolled right and fired to Wright in the right side of the end zone. At 10:50 of the second quarter the Eagles led, 12-7.

The lead lasted about three minutes. OV moved 64 yards as Dragon completed passes to Max Potter and Razanouski before finding Razanouski from 10 yards out, and the Otters led, 14-12.

On the next Eagle possession, Pearsons picked off a White pass and romped 22 yards into the end zone, and it was 21-12.

Both teams then stalled, and the Eagles eventually took over on their own 45. Five plays later it was 21-18. A penalty set them back 10 yards, but Gagnon broke a 35-yard run. Two more Gagnon runs and then two by White, the second from 10 yards out, and the Eagles had six more points on the board with 1:10 to go in the half.

But OV answered with a 63-yard march capped by a 30-yard toss from Dragon to Razanouski, and the score was 27-18 at the break.

OV was set to start the second half with the ball up by nine points. But White, the Eagle kicker, bounced an onside kick, and the ball bad-hopped off an Otter. The Eagles won the scramble for the ball and were in business at the OV 38.

MAV QB TYLER White rolls right and goes airborne to toss one of his two TD passes during the Eagles’ Saturday home game despite the efforts of an Otter Valley defender who has a firm grip on his jersey.
Independent photo/Steve James

Three Gagnon runs later, the middle one a sweep left for 28 yards and the last eight yards to the right, and the score was 27-24, OV, at 10:32 of the third period.

OV got the ball after the next kick, and failed to move, but White fumbled the OV punt, and the Otters recovered on the Eagle 28 with a golden chance to stretch their lead.

A pass to Whitney and a Pearsons run gave the Otters a second-and three from the Eagle 10. But the Eagles stuffed a run, and a third-down pass fell incomplete. Then on fourth down Eagle linebacker Dakota Safford made a key defensive play. Dragon hit Razanouski in the right flat, but Safford wrestled Razanouski down inches short of the first down to end the OV march.

The Eagles then drove 92 yards to take the lead. Runs of 42 yards by White and 18 by Gagnon were the big plays in the march, and White capped it by rolling right and hitting Ryan again in the right side of the end zone, this time from 10 yards out with 23 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 30-27.

After an OV penalty and a short punt the Eagles took over at the OV 36 early in the fourth. A 10-yard pass from White to Clark Crary helped overcome an Eagle penalty, and Gagnon and White’s running soon had the ball in the end zone again, with White finishing the drive from three yards out to make it 36-27 with 6:46 to go.

OV mounted one last threat, with a 28-yard Dragon-to Pearsons hookup moving the Otters to the MAV 13. But the next three plays netted just three yards, and the Eagles blanketed Razanouski in the end zone as a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

The Eagles then ran out the final 4:36 to clinch the win.

EAGLE JUNIOR RECEIVER Ryan Wright hauls in one of his two touchdowns with one hand during the MAV football team’s home win over Otter Valley on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

For the Otters, Dragon finished 12 of 23 for 170 yards passing. Pearsons led with 56 yards rushing on six carries, Razanouski ran six times for 50 yards, and Whitney ran eight times for 47 yards. Razanouski grabbed six catches for 97 yards.

Hill credited the Eagles, and said his team will have to buckle down and be more resilient.

“They seemed to make the plays when they needed to, and we didn’t,” Hill said. “Excuses are one thing. We can say we’re young, but we’ve got to grow up. We’ve got to grow up quick. It’s a challenge, but we’re up to the challenge. We’ve just got to regroup and get ready for Milton this week.”

Stein said moving forward the Eagles should be able to duplicate that kind of defense they showed in Saturday’s second half.

“If we execute, we can be very successful,” he said. “So with guys playing hard and executing we’ll be in a good spot.”

Overall, Stein is pleased with his team.

“It’s been a while since Mount Abe started 3-1. It feels really good. It gives our guys some motivation going into week five. We have Missisquoi coming in here next week,” Stein said. “We’ll try to make it 4-1 moving forward.”