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Vermont 28, New Hampshire 6

VERMONT 28, NEW HAMPSHIRE 6

If you add a team’s first downs to its pass completions and barely reach double digits, you know it’s been a rough day for that team’s offense. Such was the case for the New Hampshire Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl team Saturday.

New Hampshire was held to six first downs and completed 4 of its 8 pass attempts (two were intercepted) in its 28-6 loss to Vermont before 4,200 fans at Castleton University.

New Hampshire ran 39 offensive plays and had 106 yards of total offense. The only touchdown Vermont allowed came after New Hampshire blocked a punt and took possession on Vermont’s 9-yard line. Bow’s Ryan Lover scored from 1-yard away to open the scoring with 2:32 remaining in the opening quarter.

The rest of the game was dominated by the Vermont defense.

“We tried to go ball control — we did it early — we just had trouble executing the right plays,” New Hampshire coach Chris Sanborn said. “I knew Vermont was good. They’re defensive line gave us trouble. That was definitely the difference in the game — they’re defense.”

Vermont took the lead on Quinn Murphy’s 2-yard run plus Zackary Wilson’s PAT with 6:48 remaining in the first half.

The game’s key play came late in the half when Tanner Robbins intercepted a pass and returned it 73 yards for a Vermont TD with three seconds remaining in the second quarter. Wilson’s point-after kick handed Vermont a 14-6 lead at halftime.

Making matters worse was the fact that New Hampshire quarterback Zack Doward (Concord) was injured on the interception return. Doward remained in the game until late in the fourth quarter, but was clearly not close to 100 percent.

“He gutted it out, but he was limited,” Sanborn said. “At the end he just couldn’t go.”

Vermont added to its lead following a New Hampshire fumble in the fourth quarter. Murphy capped a five-play, 32-yard drive on a 10-yard TD run with 10:19 to play. Wilson’s PAT made it 21-6.

Vermont’s final TD came on a hook-and-ladder play with 7:09 remaining in the game. Quarterback Max Destito completed a pass to Tristan Evans, who flipped the ball to Caleb Levasseur for a 62-yard pass play.

“I wouldn’t say it went the way we expected it to go,” Vermont coach Greg Balch said. “We really thought we’d move the ball pretty well with our spread group. The defense stepped up from the beginning and the interception was a momentum-changer.

“We knew coming in that we had a very strong D line, and they showed it.”

Vermont, which ended a three-game losing streak, had 245 yards of offense.

New Hampshire’s running game produced 64 yards on 31 carries. Plymouth’s Dylan Welch led the way with 26 yards on nine attempts. Londonderry’s Jack Drabik had a game-high eight tackles.

New Hampshire’s lead in the series was sliced to 50-17-2.

“We kinda had the game in the first half, I thought,” Sanborn said. “We were playing well. Trying to move the ball and get in field goal range. That really changes things. That and the fumble late in the game.

“The memories of the week are great. Wonderful group of kids — set the record for fund-raising. These kids have some great families, great coaches. I wish I could have delivered them a win.”

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