ADDISON COUNTY — In local high school football action, all on this past Friday night, Middlebury won a key Division I road game, while Mount Abraham-Vergennes lost a D-II heartbreaker, and Otter Valley came up short in D-III.
TIGERS
The Tigers passed their first real test of the season, breaking open a close game with 24 fourth-quarter points to defeat host Hartford, 31-17. The Tigers led by 31-3 with less than four minutes remaining. Hartford dropped to 2-2.
Tyler Buxton led MUHS with 11 rushes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Tim Goettelmann ran four times for 61 yards and completed one of two passes for 20 yards as the Tigers stuck to the ground. Ian Ploof added 56 yards and a TD on seven carries.
Shea Bean led Hartford with 15 carries for 90 yards and a score, and Alex Bushway rushed for a late TD. QB Cole Jasmin went five-for-13 passing for 71 yards.
The Tigers will host Essex (2-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.
EAGLES
The Eagles lost at Spaulding, 28-22 in overtime. They lead, 19-14, at the half, saw the 1-3 Tide rally to take the lead, and then tied the game on a 35-yard Adam Mansfield field goal.
The Eagles got the ball back in the final minute and drove to set up a Mansfield field goal, but a final-seconds penalty nullified a completed pass and moved them out of field goal range. The Eagles then failed to score on their overtime possession, and on Spaulding’s second play Tide QB Jackson Pierson plunged into the end zone.
The Eagle touchdowns came on a catch-and-run shovel pass to Carmelo Miceli from Mansfield, Miceli on a pass from Mansfield, and from Travis Guillemette, who recovered a blocked punt in the end zone. 
The 1-3 Eagles will visit Brattleboro (4-0) in another league game on Friday.
OTTERS
Host Springfield improved to 4-0 with a 46-7 victory over OV on Friday. The Cosmos led by 16-0 after one period on two Brady Clark TDs and were up by 34-7 at the half. Clark finished with four TDs.
Brady Diaz scored for the 2-2 Otters, who will host 2-2 Oxbow at 1 p.m. on Saturday in another D-III game.