Teams of the Week for Week 5

Here are my thoughts on the most impressive performances of Week 5 of the Vermont high school football season:

Teams of the week

• Division I: There were a pair of matchups of 2-2 teams this weekend, and since I honored Brattleboro here last weekend, CVU gets the nod this time around. The Redhawks earned it by scoring the first 22 points in rolling to a 49-13 victory over St. Johnsbury on Saturday. It was an impressive response to last week's upset loss to Essex and keeps the CVU in the running for a top-four playoff seed heading into critical matchups against Colchester and Mt. Anthony the next two weekends.
• Division II: Amazingly it took five weeks for any of the chasing pack -- the four teams behind Burr and Burton in the standings -- to face each other. When two of them finally did Saturday, Bellows Falls stole a march on its rivals by rallying in the fourth quarter for a 28-16 over Milton. At 5-0, the Terriers still have a shot at the top seed if they can knock off high-flying BBA in Week 8, but either way, BF moved ahead of Burlington, Fair Haven and Milton in a race for home field in the semifinals that will see plenty of head-to-head showdowns over the next four weekends.
• Division III: A week after Winooski's emotional first victory of its farewell season, Mount St. Joseph one-upped the Spartans in the most emphatic example of the state's season-long offensive explosion yet: MSJ 84, Winooski 70. It was MSJ's first win since Week 2 of the 2013 season, and it took 12 touchdowns -- five on the ground from Clay Drinwater and a combined six through the air and on the ground from QB Joe Ruby to make it happen. The result leaves both teams tied with three other schools for the eighth and final playoff spot with three weeks to go, and the 154 combined points were 47 more than the next highest score in Vermont in this offense-happy season.

Game of the week

•  U-32 14, Woodstock 13: For all the offense in Winooski, the most drama of the D3 weekend came in a defensive showdown in Woodstock as U-32 blocked a late extra point to hold on in a matchup of two of division's best. A fumble recovery in the end zone and a big Colby Brochu run gave the Raiders the edge a game they won despite running just 12 offensive plays in the first half. That keeps U-32 atop the standings heading into Friday's showdown with fellow unbeaten Otter Valley.