The 2025-2026 Vermont high school sports season wrapped up a few weeks ago and month of July is quickly hurdling towards us, meaning the first day of high school football practices is less than two months away.
Vermont Football Coaches’ Association has the 2026 football schedule posted, so it’s a perfect time to start thinking about what may be ahead this fall and dream upon some of the matchups we’ll get to witness.
There are a lot less divisional alignment changes this season than there were last fall, but one change is that Mount Mansfield moves up to Division I and Brattleboro shifts down to Division II.
Rutland County football will have a different feel this year with Poultney unable to field a team, but there is a lot of pride for Rutland, Fair Haven, Otter Valley and Mill River carrying the banner for the county. Outside of the county, Springfield and Middlebury carry a similar pride.
The two football teams in the Times Argus coverage area, Spaulding and U-32, have high hopes themselves.
Let’s go week-by-week and take a look at some of the highlights for the area high schools on the gridiron.
WEEK 1
Friday, Sept. 4: U-32 at Fair Haven; Rutland at BFA-St. Albans; Lyndon at Spaulding; Brattleboro at Springfield.
Saturday, Sept. 5: Otter Valley at Mill River; Middlebury at BBA.
Highlights: The two Saturday games have the most intrigue here. Otter Valley and Mill River will be playing for the Battle for the Otter Creek trophy, so emotions will be high even in Week 1. The Middlebury-BBA games are always fun and both teams should be good once again this year.
WEEK 2
Friday, Sept 11: Hartford at Rutland; Bellows Falls at Fair Haven; Mill River at Spaulding; Springfield at Beekmantown (NY).
Saturday, Sept. 12: Middlebury at CVU; U-32 at Lyndon; Otter Valley at Fairfax/Lamoille.
Highlights: There are a ton of fun matchups this week. Bellows Falls and Fair Haven have a big rivalry on the football field. Rutland gave Hartford one of its tougher tests last year and their games are often competitive. Otter Valley and Fairfax/Lamoille aren’t natural rivals but their playoff matchup in recent years have made it a bit of a rivalry. The game between Lyndon and U-32 was tight last year as well.
WEEK 3
Friday, Sept. 18: MAU at Rutland; St. Johnsbury at Middlebury; Lyndon at Fair Haven; Woodstock at Springfield; Rice at Otter Valley.
Saturday, Sept. 19: Spaulding at MVU; U-32 at Mt. Mansfield; Windsor at Mill River.
Highlights: The big one here is clearly the Division I state championship rematch between St. Johnsbury and Middlebury, where the Hilltoppers will be out for revenge.
Rutland has controlled the rivalry with MAU over the years, but there have been some really competitive contests between them, including last year. U-32’s game at MMU will be one the Raiders would love to get with the extra QPR points on the line as the Cougars make the move to D-I.
WEEK 4
Friday, Sept. 25: Rutland at Essex; MAU at Middlebury; Fair Haven at No. Country; Bellows Falls at U-32
Saturday, Sept. 26: Springfield at Mill River; Spaulding at Rice.
Open date: Otter Valley.
Highlights: Not a ton of natural rivalry games this week, but Rutland and Essex have to be considered rivals with the classics they’ve played over the years and the fact that they play each other in most sports. Springfield at Mill River has some intrigue as both try to climb into D-III contention.
WEEK 5
Friday, Oct. 2: Rutland at Seawolves; Middlebury at Hartford; Springfield at U-32.
Saturday, Oct. 3: Windsor at Otter Valley; Fair Haven at Mt. Mansfield; Milton at Spaulding; Mill River at MVU.
Highlights: The best of this bunch has to be Middlebury playing at Hartford. One of them won it all last year and the other was a heavy favorite to before being upset in the semifinals. The culture around football is strong at those schools.
A contending Fair Haven team will want the QPR points that come with a win against Mt. Mansfield, one of D-I teams the Slaters play.
WEEK 6
Thursday, Oct. 8: Brattleboro at Rutland.
Friday, Oct. 9: Essex at Middlebury; Fair Haven at Colchester; Rice at U-32; Windsor at Springfield; Otter Valley at Woodstock.
Saturday, Oct. 10: Spaulding at Fairfax/Lamoille; Monadnock (NH) at Mill River.
Highlights: Fair Haven at Colchester should be fun as it’s a rematch of last year’s Division II state championship game.
Rutland and Brattleboro is a rivalry game so there is always some intrigue around it, along with more eyes being on it in the Thursday Night Lights slot.
Mill River will have a challenge on its hands with New Hampshire’s Monadnock Regional, who lost just once last season.
WEEK 7
Thursday, Oct. 15: MAU at Fair Haven; U-32 at No. Country.
Friday, Oct. 16: Rutland at BBA; Springfield at Otter Valley; Brattleboro at Middlebury; Mt. Abraham at Spaulding.
Saturday, Oct. 17: Woodstock at Mill River.
Highlights: Rutland and Burr and Burton played an instant classic last year, which was a heartbreaker for the Bulldogs, so BBA will have extra motivation in this one at home.
WEEK 8
Friday, Oct. 23: Middlebury at Rutland; Fair Haven at Hartford; Spaulding at U-32; Mill River at Fairfax/Lamoille.
Saturday, Oct. 24: Mt. Abraham at Otter Valley; Bellows Falls at Springfield.
Highlights: The schedule-makers put together a week full of rivalries. Add in the extra spark of playoff seeding being on the line.
Where do you even begin with this week? You have Hartford looking to get revenge on a Fair Haven team that dashed its undefeated hopes. You have two of the most storied D-I programs Middlebury and Rutland squaring off. You have Capital Region rivals Spaulding and U-32 playing each other and you have a 100-plus year rivalry between Bellows Falls and Springfield being renewed.
Get your popcorn ready.
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