CVU football season ends, Five Redhawks named to State All-Star team

By Holly Fournier

All good things must come to an end, and so it did on Friday night with CVU’s playoff defeat at the hands of South Burlington, 42-20. The loss marks the end to a remarkable run for the Redhawks in their Division 1 debut.

It was just six years ago that the school’s club team earned varsity status and played their first game in D-4. After ascending rapidly through the Vermont divisional ranks, CVU’s program should be proud. The Redhawks ended their first D-1 regular season in the top half of the standings with a 5-3 record and achieved a playoff berth.

Although a playoff victory proved elusive for the Redhawks, there were many exciting moments that kept the Sea of Red in the stands on their feet all night. Fans roared as Tyson White returned a kick-off 77 yards for a touchdown – his blistering speed proved too much for the Rebels. Fans cheered when the Rebel signal caller was not only intercepted, but later sacked by CVU’s own quarterback, Drew Nick. And fans were energized when, over the course of the game, Michael Fournier deflected three passes and recovered a fumble.

CVU’s other scores came from Nick’s passes to Johnny Powers and Davis Mikell. In all Nick went 14-for-21, finishing with 219 yards passing, in addition to pounding out quite a few yards on the ground. Powers caught five passes totaling 129 yards. Nick Ferrentino, back from a three game absence, rushed for 123 yards on 24 carries. Tucker Kohlasch nailed two out of three extra point attempts, missing one on a bad snap.

Ryan Fleming, Nick and Fournier led the ‘Hawks in tackles with help from Matt Bauer, John Keen, Quinn Kropf and Rex McCoy.

Congratulations to the five CVU seniors named to the North team for the Vermont North-South Senior Bowl Football Classic – team co-captains Fleming, Kohlasch, Kropf and Nick, along with Dylan Raymond. The annual showdown between the top high school senior football players in Vermont takes place at Middlebury College on Saturday, November 19th, with kickoff at 12:30 pm.

Redhawks grind down Hilltoppers, 14-7

By Holly Fournier

The Redhawks held on to their undefeated record Saturday, outlasting the St. Johnsbury Hilltoppers in a tight contest under damp, dreary conditions following a week that was anything but ordinary for the squad. Fans experienced a somewhat different lineup for CVU as injuries and illness either sidelined or weakened a number of key players. The entire CVU Redhawk family was also reeling from the sudden passing of Head Coach Jim Provost’s mom and the team’s #1 fan, Beatrice “Mimi” Provost, on Tuesday. Linebacker Michael Fournier remarked before kick-off, “If we can win this game, with everything that’s happened, then we have a good shot against anyone else.”

St. Johnsbury proved to be a formidable force for the Redhawks with a virtual stalemate on the offensive and defensive lines throughout four quarters of play. Said Linebacker Harvey Ottinger, “We knew they were going to be a good team, better than our other opponents, making it both a tough and emotional game.”

The Hilltoppers drew first blood late in the first quarter after a slippery ball led to a muffed CVU punt, allowing St. J to take over first and goal. Capitalizing on CVU’s misfortune, Lincoln Lemieux snuck in on a quarterback keeper for the touchdown and booted the extra point himself, putting the Redhawks down 7. That would be the last time the Hilltoppers were a threat.

CVU defensive demon Ryan Fleming intercepted St. J’s pass with just a minute left in the first half. The 6 foot, 205-pound linebacker ran 45 yards before being knocked out of bounds just shy of the goal line. A momentum shift was in the works.

Second half, new ball game as CVU dug deep and found their strength. A solid punt return to the 40-yard line by Tyson White led to stand-in quarterback Steele DuBrul’s pass over the middle to Johnny Powers. Next, Patrick Shea scrambled down the middle to set up a Redhawk first down, then DuBrul finished the job with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Kennedy. Tucker Kohlasch split the uprights with the extra point to tie the game, 7-7.

For DuBrul this was his first real test as CVU’s signal caller, having seen only late-game action in the Redhawks' previous contests. He got the job done. “Steele really stepped up and put in a great performance, considering he hadn’t played quarterback since Middle School,” said Kohlasch. Defensive lineman Ross Harlow agreed: “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but Steele came in and did a great job on the fly.”

The go-ahead TD for the Redhawks came with 4:13 on the clock after a key Kohlasch interception gave CVU possession. Three plays later Kennedy snagged a 51-yard pass from DuBrul out of St. J defender Lemieux’s hands for the score. Kohlasch’s kick for the extra point was good for a 14-7 lead.

With the clock winding down, right-man-in-the-right-place Kohlasch notched his second interception of the game, dashing the Hilltoppers’ hopes of forcing overtime. Said Kohlasch, “Finding out about Coach’s mom was definitely an emotional blow. She was a big fan, we felt we owed it to her to win. We made no excuses, just came out to play.” And play they did.

CVU’s powerful defense held St. J scoreless for three quarters behind the tough tackling of Fleming, Fournier and Ottinger who were responsible for more than 30 take-downs between them. Jake Loyer, Peter Wernhoff, Chad Hayden, Harlow and Brendan Davitt were other big contributors in holding the line and creating misery for the Hilltoppers.

After the game an emotional Coach Provost thanked his team for the victory, singling out DuBrul, John Keen, Davitt, Will Parent and Kennedy for stepping up and delivering when their number was called.

The Redhawks, now 4-0 on the season, face-off against 3-1 BFA St Albans on CVU home turf Saturday, October 1 at 3:00 pm. BFA St. Albans lost to Hartford in last year’s D-1 State Championship.