Twenty-four Vermont high school football teams remain with dreams of winning a state championship.
Some of those dreams are a lot more viable than others, but everything resets this time of year and preconceived notions don’t always come to fruition.
Let’s take a look through each division, going game by game to see what may be in store.
DIVISION I
A lot of eyes in Division I football in the last week of the regular season were on Essex and Burr and Burton Academy.
The two were pretty much locked into either the No. 4 or 5 spots in the Division I playoffs, but the question was who would be home for their quarterfinal affair.
Essex’s gutsy 35-28 win against Rutland gave the Hornets the honors of hosting the Bulldogs Friday night.
Essex has been playing great football as of late winning three of its last four games to close the regular season. Sam Bent is a quarterback with a powerful arm and he has a running game, led by Griffin Randall, that complements him well.
BBA has the feather in its cap of beating Essex by two touchdowns in the regular season.
The Bulldogs had a little more bumps down the stretch, losing to Hartford and Middlebury in Weeks 6 and 7, but they were dominant in Week 8 to grab some momentum headed to the playoffs. Quarterback Sam Dowd has continued to come into his own this year and has a strong cast around him.
The winner of that intriguing showdown plays the winner of No. 1 Middlebury and No. 8 BFA-St. Albans, set for Thursday night. The Bobwhites have showed marked improvement this year, but will be heavy underdogs on Thursday, taking on a Tigers team that hasn’t lost against Division I competition this year.
No. 3 Rutland welcomes rival No. 6 Mount Anthony to town for a quarterfinal on Friday. The two teams played a thrilling contest down in Bennington in Week 5, which Rutland came out on top of.
Health could be a big factor if that kind of contest is on tap again on Friday. Mount Anthony was without elite running back Asa Reis against Fair Haven and its offense struggled.
Rutland is headed into the playoffs coming off a loss to Essex, but showed a ton of resolve in that game erasing an early 20-0 deficit. RHS has been great in close games all season long.
No. 2 St. Johnsbury Academy hosts No. 7 CVU in a quarterfinal on Friday night. The teams are familiar with each other, having just played in Week 7, a Hilltoppers victory. SJA closed the regular season winning four straight games after losing to Rutland in Week 4.
DIVISION II
No. 5 seed Fair Haven is one of the hottest teams going into the Division II playoffs, winning its last three games of the regular season, after a loss to Bellows Falls in Week 5.
The Slaters make the trip to play No. 4 U-32 Saturday night in quarterfinal action.
Fair Haven cruised to a win over the Raiders in Week 7. U-32 has its share of offensive talent, but will need to figure out a different way to attack a Slaters defense that has locked in late in the regular season.
The Raiders, who got a great effort on the ground by Kane Knapp last week against Spaulding, will be hosting their first playoff game since 2021.
The winner of that 4-5 matchup takes on the winner of No. 1 Hartford and No. 8 Mount Mansfield, who play on Thursday night.
The Hurricanes will be massive favorites in that contest, owning the best Quality Point Rating in the state, regardless of division. The Cougars’ lone win came back in Week 2 against North Country.
No. 3 Colchester gave Hartford one of its toughest games of the regular season last weekend, only losing by a touchdown. The Lakers host No. 6 Rice in a Chittenden County affair Friday night.
The Green Knights have lost two of their last three games, while Colchester had won four in row before its close loss to Hartford.
No. 2 Lyndon Institute was blown out by rival St. Johnsbury in ‘The Game’ in Week 8, but was still good enough to earn a top-two seed in Division II. The Vikings host No. 7 Spaulding on Saturday in their quarterfinal.
Lyndon has lost two of its last three games, but those came to teams with a combined two losses. The Vikings figure to be favorites to advance to the state semifinals against a Crimson Tide team that has lost five of its last six games.
DIVISION III
Just like in D-I and D-II, the No. 4-5 matchup looks to have the most intrigue of the four Division III games this weekend.
No. 4 BFA-Fairfax/Lamoille welcomes No. 5 Otter Valley to town for a quarterfinal contest on Saturday. The teams have recent history, as the Otters upset the Bullets in the D-III semifinals last season.
Both teams will also be coming in with a lot of momentum. OV has won five straight games after starting 0-3 and Fairfax has won four in a row since starting 2-2.
The winner of that matchup takes on the winner of No. 1 Woodstock and No. 8 Windsor, a game set for Thursday night.
The defending champion Wasps figure to be a prohibitive favorite in that game, having won seven games in a row and outlasted heavyweight Bellows Falls in a 60-52 thriller last weekend.
No. 2 Bellows Falls, fresh off its first loss, would love to take out some frustration on No. 7 Mill River in their quarterfinal matchup on Thursday night. The Minutemen are playing some of their best football, winning two straight, but this will be a massive jump up in opponent quality this week.
The matchup between No. 3 Mount Abraham and No. 6 Springfield provides some intrigue on Saturday.
The Eagles head into the game at 7-1 and figure to the favorites, with their only loss to D-II Rice, but the Cosmos are a very solid club in their own right, snapping a two-game skid last weekend.
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