CASTLETON — BFA-St. Albans’ Robert Kelly can kick the ball into orbit. He has that state record 57-yard field goal attached to his resume.
Much of Vermont’s football fandom might think he is just a kicker. Saturday, he alternated series with St. Johnsbury’s Colton Hudson as the quarterback in helping to lead the North to a 31-28 victory in the North-South All-Star Football Game at Spartan Stadium.
“People just think of me as a kicker,” Kelley said after the game.
Kelly showed early his talents are a bit more diverse by firing a 9-yard touchdown pass to U-32’s Jordan Hanson to cap the game’s first series.
Kelly hooked up with Hanosn again for a touchdown strike in the second quarter.
“During the week we just had a good connection with each other,” Kelly said.
“We were able to work well together in practice. He’s a good quarterback,” Hanson said.
He is, but you can be certain it will be kicking that will be his calling card in college.
“I have talked with schools, but no scholarship yet,” Kelly said.
“It all started with playing soccer and then watching kickers on YouTube.”
The North’s opening scoring march of 70 yards was kept alive largely by Kelly and Essex’s Brendan Gleason. He rushed for one first down and hauled in passes from Kelly for the other first downs in the series.
Rutland’s Tyler Billings blocked Kelly’s PAT but the North was on top less than five minutes into the game.
The South answered after being presented with a short field. Woodstock’s Will Gault made two consecutive tackles for a loss helping to force a North punt. The bad snap was covered by Poultney’s Sam White, giving the South the ball on the North 13. Three plays later, Mount Anthony’s Tyler Mattison went over from 2 yards out and Otter Valley’s John Winslow kicked the point to put the South in the lead.
It didn’t last long as Kelly got a chance to showcase his better-known talent. He kicked a 30-yard field goal and then booted the kickoff in the end zone for a touchback.
That 9-7 lead quickly evaporated. Middlebury’s Cullen Hathaway got loose for a 78-yard TD dash to put the South ahead 14-9.
Then Kelly’s second TD throw to Hanson gave the lead back to the North and its 16-14 lead still stood at the half.
The day was marred by an injury on the second-half kickoff. The North’s Erik Eisenhower had to be transported to the ambulance on a stretcher. The entire North team rushed out to see him off as he was carried from the field and the South team applauded.
“That is what Vermont high school football is all about,” said public address announcer Joel Kynoch.
The see-saw scoring continued. The South went back in front 21-16 when Mill River’s Chris Patch fell on a ball in the end zone.
“It was a great experience. The whole week was good and I learned to play a new defense,” Patch said.
Now, it was the North’s turn to take the lead. Gleason went up the middle, sprung by some outstanding blocking at the line. When he found the daylight he did the rest, a 24-yard scoring sprint with 9:17 still to play in the third quarter.
The South threatened but Rice Memorial’s Chris Jansen, a force all day on defense for the North, derailed the drive with a sack.
The North extended its lead to 31-21 when BFA-Fairfax’s Luke Langelier scored from 4 yards out. Kelly set up the scoring play with a long run from scrimmage.
The North took the 31-21 lead into the fourth quarter. An interception by South Burlington’s Cam Nolting turned away one South threat as they tried to get back in the game.
Winslow scrambled for a first down on a fourth-and-8 to give the South another scoring chance but Mount Mansfield’s Jeff Carter took care of that threat. He sacked Winslow to make it fourth-and-14 and then his quarterback hurry ended the drive.
Carter was a wrecking crew with five sacks.
The South did give itself a chance when Middlebury’s Austin Robinson’s pass went off the hands of Fair Haven receiver Ian Miscencik into the arms of teammate White in the end zone and Winslow’s PAT closed it to 31-28 with 55 seconds left.
But the on-side kick was covered by U-32’s Reed Kirby preserving the win for the North.
The Robinson-to-Miscencik connection came up big on the drive with a couple of long completions. One was a highlight-reel grab near the sideline by Miscencik, an athletic catch while somehow keeping his feet in bounds.
“We were on the same page all week for most of the routes,” Miscencik said. “He told me before that series that he was going to hit me with some passes.”
Poultney’s Vincent Kendall was a standout on defense for the South and that was no surpirse to coach Jim Hill. Kendall had caught his eye all during the week’s four practices at Rutland High.
“He was outstanding during the week and I know he made a lot of plays today,” Hill said.
“And we had a lot of speed. The Middlebury kids could all fly.”
Hathaway led the South’s rushing game with 128 yards.
Langelier led the North’s ground game with 70 yards.
Gleason did plenty for the North with 48 rushing yards and 74 receiving yards.
Kelly completed nine of his 17 passes and Hudson was also sharp during his series by completing eight of his 13. Winslow competed five of 14 and Robinson six of 12.
NOTES: The North interrupted a three-game winning streak by the South. … This was the 14th game and each team has won seven … Mill River’s 6-foot-3, 310-pound line an Jake Pitts looked to be at full strength. He missed three games this season with a concussion. …. Nolting is also an outstanding student on his way to Harvard. … Missisquoi, a school that joined the ranks of football this year but only played a jayvee schedule had a representative in the game in tight end/defensive end Quinton Bumps. There were a number of Missisquoi players present. They were asked to stand and received an ovation. Follow Tom on Twitter at RHSportsGuy
tom.haley@rutlandherald.com
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