Vermont coach Mike Hatt said he wouldn’t have been surprised if his team scored four touchdowns and still lost Saturday’s Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl.
What he didn’t expect to see was New Hampshire shut down his team’s offense. That’s exactly what happened, as New Hampshire held Vermont to one touchdown in a 40-6 triumph.
“Obviously our offense didn’t do the job,” Hatt said. “We had virtually no run game. I can’t believe we didn’t score more, but that’s a credit to them. New Hampshire’s offensive line took over the game in the second half.”
The New Hampshire defense held Vermont to 65 yards rushing on 26 carries. Vermont quarterback Grant White (Springfield) completed 16 of 32 pass attempts for 256 yards, but was intercepted twice. White said he had trouble reading New Hampshire’s pass coverage, which often changed just before the ball was snapped.
“New Hampshire played very hard, especially on defense,” White said. “Their defensive backs were good. They were ready for our pass game and they shut us down. They deserved to win today.”
Vermont tailback Mick Wong (Hartford) missed most of the second half with what Hatt called a likely concussion. He finished the game with a team-high 31 yards rushing on 10 carries. Wong was named Vermont’s Gatorade Player of the Year following the 2008 season.
“He wasn’t giving us the answers we wanted to hear when we asked him questions,” Hatt said.
Six different players scored for New Hampshire. Andy Vailas (Bishop Guertin), New Hampshire’s starting quarterback, opened the scoring on a 55-yard run with 12:18 left in the first quarter, and connected with Concord’s Colin Brown for a 42-yard TD pass later in the quarter. Brown’s touchdown came 31 seconds after Vermont’s Mark Comstock scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from White. Comstock made seven receptions for 133 yards.
“It didn’t faze us when they scored,” Vailas said.
Franklin’s Austin Turner scored the only other first-half touchdown on a 17-yard run. Pinkerton Academy fullback Chris George (4-yard run), Keene tailback Ray Boulay (6-yard run) and Con-Val halfback Justin Morgan (5-yard run) scored New Hampshire’s other touchdowns.
“Everyone was saying Vermont was the better team this year,” Vailas said. “We kept that inside us. We prepared very well throughout the week and we were a tough team today.”
The victory extended New Hampshire’s Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl winning streak to nine games, which matches the longest winning streak in the game’s history. New Hampshire also posted nine consecutive victories from 1989 to 1997 New Hampshire leads the series 41-13-2. Vermont’s last victory came in 2000 (47-40).
“I thought our guys turned in a strong performance on both sides of the ball,” New Hampshire coach Greg Husband said.
New Hampshire led 21-6 at halftime, and added to its lead by scoring on its first two second-half possessions. New Hampshire ran the ball on 59 of its 62 offensive plays and had 349 yards of total offense. Vermont had 321 yards of offense.
“New Hampshire always has a strong team and they always come to play,” White said. “That’s why they’ve won nine in a row.”
