Varsity Insider

This year’s Fearless Free Press Football Forecast comes to an end with our picks in Friday’s paper, but it’s time for us to get a little more fearless with our predictions for the high school championship games.

Here are selected staffers’ predictions for the title games and their reasoning behind them:

(Check back later as more of our staffers chime in. …)

Division I

No. 1 Essex (10-0) vs. No. 3 Rutland (7-3)

Kevin Commo: Essex 33, Rutland 20. The Raiders have been there too many times not to make a game of it, but Max Librizzi and the rest of the Essex offense are too explosive to stop, especially on artificial turf.

Alex Abrami: Essex 33, Rutland 14. There’s just too much sting in the Hornets’ attack for the Raiders. Essex’s prolific offense will pull away in the second half, much like the teams’ regular-season meeting.

John A. Fantino: Essex 40, Rutland 10: Max Librizzi has another monster game as rapid-fire Hornets breeze to first title in 17 years.

Mike Donoghue: Essex 35, Rutland 19.  “Air” Librizzi and company are too much in the passing game for any defense.  Rutland coach Mike Norman always has his team prepared for a title game, but it won’t be enough this time.

Division II

No. 1  Colchester (10-0) vs. No. 3 Champlain Valley (9-1)

Kevin Commo: Colchester 19, CVU 7. In a matchup of hard-nosed teams, Colchester’s punishing ground game proves the difference.

Alex Abrami: Colchester 14, CVU 6. By Devon Grammo’s standards, his rushing line in last week’s semifinal win was below average. Grammo’s effort in the final will likely be the difference.

John A. Fantino: Colchester 21, CVU 6: Like it has done much of the season, Colchester jumps out to quick lead, squashing CVU’s hopes of another upset.

Mike Donoghue: Colchester 21, CVU 14. Should be a great game. CHS wants to go undefeated and CVU wants its first title.  Wet weather on grass could make a difference.  The Lakers, winless as freshmen, get it done.

Division III

No. 1  Windsor (8-2) vs. No. 3 Springfield (8-2)

Kevin Commo: Springfield 20, Windsor 18. Back-to-back wins over archrival Bellows Falls show surging Springfield is ready to defend its title.

Alex Abrami: Windsor 24, Springfield 21. Windsor makes up for 2007, 2008 title-game losses with a narrow win over rival Springfield.

John A. Fantino: Windsor 27, Springfield 24: Behind experience and a high-powered offense, the Yellow Jackets avenge last year’s title-game defeat, but by a much closer margin than their regular-season win over Springfield.

Mike Donoghue: Windsor 26, Springfield 14. Windsor has been a bride’s maid for two years, but get it done this time in the battle of Windsor County.  Gavin Callahan is too much for Cosmos.

The teams at CVU enjoyed quite an afternoon at the Hinesburg campus during Saturday’s homecoming.

Here’s the rundown:

- The boys soccer team raced past defending champion BHS, 4-0, keeping its unbeaten record intact.
- The girls soccer team, a week after tying Colchester 0-0, blasted to a 4-0 win.
- The field hockey squad, the defending champions, blanked BHS 5-0, running its record to 7-0.
- The football topped Middlebury, 7-0, and moved to 4-0 in Division II.

So if you are keeping track at home: CVU teams 19, Homecoming opponents 0.

The phrase, “Not in our house” may be cliche and overused, but the Redhawks used that mantra on Saturday.

Could these CVU teams sweep to state championships later this season? And when you throw the girls XC team in the mix, CVU could own five fall crowns come November.

Scary thought for the rest of the state.

They’re three undefeated teams in Division II football. Two of them will meet in Colchester as the Lakers play host to the U-32 Raiders tonight at 7.

At 3-0, the Lakers possess a dominant running game led by Devon Grammo and complemented by Alex Kozlowski. U-32 (3-0) counters with its own ground assault headlined by Elias LaCount.

CVU also has a unbeaten record in Div.II. The Redhawks face new divisional rival Middlebury (2-1) at home Saturday.

The Essex Hornets take their ‘Air Raid’ offense to Bennington for a potentially high-flying affair with Mount Anthony, which also employs a similar spread formation. The rest of tonight’s schedule.

For high school cross country, there’s only day that matters: the state meet.

While this year’s state championships are more than a month away — Oct. 31 at Thetford Academy — several teams and runners have shined brightly at a pair of early-season invitationals.

Let’s start with the girls:

Essex and CVU are the premier programs. Essex ended CVU’s 5-year reign atop D-I at last year’s state meet. So far in 2009, the programs each have victories at major meets (Essex and BHS invites).

At Burlington, Essex’s impressive pack running out-did CVU’s dependable strategy. The Hornets, led by freshman Rayna Dally, took places 7, 8, 9 and 12, 13. Summer Spillane and Adrienne Devita have been the Redhawks top runners.

Let’s rank them:
Teams:
1. Essex
2. CVU
3. South Burlington
Runners:
1. Hannah Rowe, St. Johnsbury
2. Emily Anderson, Middlebury
3. Jenna Griffith, Colchester

On the boys side, I don’t see much of a challenge for Essex in the D-I race.

Let’s rank them:
Teams:
1. Essex
2. South Burlington
3. Harwood
Runners:
1. Ben Lustgarten, BHS
2. Charlie Klilne, Essex
3. Nick Marshall, MMU

These rankings are subject to change. Give me your thoughts on some up-and-coming teams and runners, particularly in the smaller divisions.

Look ahead: The Manchester, N.H. invitational is Saturday, with Thetford’s Woods Trail Run the following weekend. Those meets bring a heap of talent from across the northeast. Of Vermont’s best, Rowe is the likely candidate to post a victory in one of the elite divisions over the next two weekends.

The Colchester High School girls soccer team suffered through a disappointing 2-11-1 season in 2008.

Then the playoffs came, and the Lakers reeled off two upsets before falling in a tightly-contested battle with Essex in the Division I semifinals.

The Lakers lost 10 players to graduation, including Kirsten Bombardier and Caitlin Nedde — two midfielders that made our Free Press all-state soccer second team. Then Amanda Brigante and Anna Demasi, two players that coach Jeff Paul expected to suit up for this season, were lost. Brigante to injury and Demasi to prep school.

Those missing players might be setbacks for other teams. Not Paul’s squad, which has a unique blend of talent, youth and chemistry that has them reaching for higher expectations.

“It’s a really young team,” said Paul, whose squad boosts eight sophomores and six juniors. “It’s one of the greatest teams we’ve had here. They are so passionate.”

Through five games, the Lakers are 2-2-1, including a 0-0 deadlock vs. unbeaten CVU.

Of course, Colchester starts and ends with U.S. youth national team member Lauren Bernard, a sophomore. She makes her teammates better players, as Bernard’s former Nordic coach Hank Bechtel said.

Paul mentions other impact players in striker Katherine Morley, sweeper Jenna Weed and Rachel Seaman, the team’s stopper. Morley and Seaman are juniors while Weed, one of Bernard’s best friends, is a sophomore.

A 1-0 overtime loss to BFA-St. Albans on Saturday — two days after battling CVU — points to the Metro/Division I’s parity and strength from top to bottom this season. Whether or not the Lakers can contend for the title this fall, the foundation is in place for the next two years — at least.