Week 8's Teams and Games of the Week

Here are my thoughts on the top teams and games from Week 8 of the Vermont High School football season.

Teams of the week

• Division I: For a while Friday, it looked like CVU was heading toward the No. 1 seed. Then Middlebury stepped up and beat the Redhawks at their own game. The Tigers rode a stout defensive effort and the running of Spencer Carpenter to a 14-7 victory in a matchup of punishing ground attacks. The result moved Middebury up to No. 5 in the standings, giving them an interesting playoff trip to Essex.
• Division II: I've held off naming Burr and Burton as they've rolled through one blowout after another, but they really earned the nod with Friday's 34-14 win over fellow unbeaten Bellow Falls. Rainy weather didn't slow down Griff Stalcup and the Bulldogs' passing game against the most physical team they've faced, good news for a BBA team will be the No. 1 seed when the playoffs start in two weeks.
• Division III: There was a showdown of unbeatens here, too, and this one went to Windsor. The Wasps rode three touchdowns from Hunter Patenaude to a 27-20 victory over Connecticut Valley rival Woodstock on Friday. Both teams moved the ball well in this back-and-forth affair, so another good game figures to be in the works if these teams -- the top two seeds entering the playoffs -- meet again in the state finals.

Game of the week

• Hartford 34, Rutland 33: The reason it looked like CVU was headed for the top seed was that Rutland piled up a 27-7 halftime lead over the first-place Hurricanes. But Hartford dominated the second half, fighting back behind Tyler Hamilton and Cody Rhodes before Nick Porter ran in the deciding touchdown with 4:54 left. The comeback keeps HHS (7-1) undefeated against Vermont opponents entering the playoffs while the dangerous Raiders (4-3) slipped all the way to the seventh seed and a first-round trip to St. Johnsbury.

Week 9 Game to Watch

• Rice at CVU (1 pm Saturday): The #3 vs. #6 matchup in Division I looks to me like the most compelling of the first-round playoff games. Both teams play physical, defense-first football as illustrated by their first matchup -- a 6-0 victory for the Redhawks (6-2). That one was close enough, and it was before Rice (3-4) got hot in knocking off St. Johnsbury and Middlebury to sneak into the postseason, so this one could be another nail-biter.