QB Nick dazzles, but Redhawks efforts fall short

By Holly Fournier

It was a battle of wills Friday night when the CVU Redhawks faced off against the South Burlington Rebels in a closely-watched Division 1 contest. The teams traded scores through four quarters of action-packed play. However, when the final horn sounded it was the Rebels on top by a touchdown – final tally, 35-42.

Redhawks fans showed up in droves to cheer on the team despite drenching rain, outnumbering the hometown crowd in an awesome display of support. Oddly, CVU cowbells were silenced by South Burlington’s staff, but that didn’t stop the impassioned crowd from being heard.

Both squads came to the match with similar stories: CVU and South Burlington shared 5-1 records, each having lost to powerhouse BFA St. Albans, and both notching wins over Burlington and Mt. Anthony. The teams also ran similar offensive strategies. Before the game Redhawks head coach Jim Provost would not offer a prediction, calling the outcome a “toss up.”

Provost was spot on as the contest came right down to the wire.

All night quarterback Drew Nick deftly ducked and dodged Rebel defenders, hitting pay dirt five times. The senior co-captain rushed 150 yards for four touchdowns and passed a total of 194 yards, finding Davis Mikell in the end zone with 6:16 remaining in the game to tie the score. Running back Brent Carreiro, filling in for a recovering Nick Ferrentino, sung the signal-caller’s praises, “Drew Nick is an animal! He really put the offense on his back and played harder than I have ever seen him play.”

Nick took full advantage of the protection provided by CVU’s imposing offensive line: Alec Distler, Michael Fournier, Timmy Halvorson, Quinn Kropf and Dylan Raymond.

Kicker Tucker Kohlasch had a perfect night, nailing all five extra point attempts.

The Redhawks, now 5-2, wrap up their regular season on Saturday, October 22 at home against the 6-1 Middlebury Tigers where they hope to improve their playoff seed. “We plan to practice hard all this week and really stick it to Middlebury, “ said Carreiro. It’s also Senior Day - the CVU football community will honor its 12th grade players before the game. Kick-off time is 1:00 pm.