By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
HANOVER – It could have been the best half of football a team has played in the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl’s 55-year history. That’s how dominant New Hampshire was in the final two quarters of Saturday’s 42-0 triumph over Vermont at Dartmouth’s Memorial Field.
It was a seven-point game at halftime, but New Hampshire’s superior speed and depth was evident over the final 30 minutes.
“In the second half I thought we got tired,” Vermont coach Mike Law said. “Their speed is a full team speed. We got tired chasing them. They got on a roll in the second half and didn’t let up.”
New Hampshire added to its 7-0 advantage by scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and three in the fourth. It was the largest margin of victory in any Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl, surpassing New Hampshire’s 36-point win (36-0) in 1962.
Laconia running back Robert Moss and Bishop Guertin fullback Jamie Moore each scored two touchdowns for New Hampshire, which had a 410-242 edge in total offense. New Hampshire quarterback Billy Ferriter (Nashua South) rushed for a game-high 83 yards and completed nine of his 14 pass attempts for 153 yards and a touchdown. Greg Molloy (St. Thomas Aquinas) made each of his six extra-point kicks.
“I thought we adjusted well at halftime,” New Hampshire coach Craig Kozens said. “We adjusted our blocking up front and went with fresh backs. Once (Ferriter) got going there was no stopping that offense.”
Ferriter and Concord split end Kyle Brown also scored touchdowns for New Hampshire, which extended its winning streak to eight games. New Hampshire held Vermont to 82 yards of offense in the second half.
“We had a lot of depth and athleticism at linebacker and in the secondary,” Kozens said. “They couldn’t beat us deep and we took away the underneath stuff too.”
New Hampshire seemed to take total control of the contest on its opening possession in the third quarter. The drive ended when Ferriter hit Brown with a 40-yard touchdown pass with 13:17 to play in the third.
The lead grew to 21-0 when Moore scored his second touchdown of the game with 7:42 left in the third. Both of his touchdowns came on 1-yard runs.
“We knew if we could score first in the second half we could lock it up,” New Hampshire guard Reed Spiller (Portsmouth) said. “That second TD was a huge momentum swing. It was worth more than six points.
“We were frustrated going in at halftime. We knew we had more depth than them.”
“A 14-point lead is nothing in this game, but that second touchdown did give us a little bit of breathing room,” added New Hampshire defensive back Brett McAllister (Exeter). “It relaxed our defense a little bit.”
Ferriter scored on a 9-yard run in the fourth quarter before Moss added touchdown runs of 2 and 13 yards.
The 42 points matched New Hampshire’s top offensive output in the game. New Hampshire also scored 42 points in 1966 (42-12).
It was the 11th time Vermont has failed to score in the contest. McAllister made a game-high 11 tackles. New Hampshire received eight tackles from Mike LeFavor (Nashua South).
The victory gave New Hampshire a 40-13-2 edge in the all-time series.
“It was a perfect finish,” Spiller said. “We couldn’t have asked for anything better.