BURLINGTON - Essex exposed yet another contender as a pretender on Friday night, manhandling Burlington 47-14 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated.
Burlington's Cooper Wile takes a pitch against Essex. (www.coldhollowphoto.com)
With its heralded offense (QB Max Librizzi tossed 5 TD passes) and tenacious defense (seven forced turnovers) firmly in synch, the 4-2 Seahorses could offer little resistance.
Of course, it didn’t help that outstanding BHS tailback Cooper Wile left the game after a crushing tackle by Teddy Andrews put him on the sideline with a shoulder injury just four plays into the game.
And things got worse on the injury front for the ‘Horses when Andrew Cane (17 carries, 113 yards) was carted off the field with a left leg injury early in the fourth quarter.
By then, the outcome was long since decided.
Essex's Jonny Joseph sacks BHS quarterback Ryan Vellek. (www.coldhollowphoto.com)
After Burlington fumbled on its first possession and was intercepted on its second, Evan McCrea opened the scoring on a 64-yard run with 57.9 seconds left in the first quarter.
Taking a hand-off on a misdirection play, the speedy McCrea cut to the right, found the corner and took off untouched down the sideline. Pat Nee added the extra point and 10 minutes of gritty play by the Seahorses was all for naught.
“Everyone knows we like to pass the ball,” said McCrea. “But when they empty the box, we can run the ball, too. Our offensive line is great and although people don’t think we can run the ball, we can.”
Burlington fumbled on its next possession and this time the Hornets took to the air for a 13-0 lead.
Essex's Pat Nee scores. (www.coldhollowphoto.com)
Facing 3rd-and-goal from the 15, Librizzi (20-for-28, 280 yards) settled into the pocket, patiently read the defense and found Kevin Jenko at the goal line for his 26th TD strike in six games.
“I thought the kids played great,” said Essex coach Charlie Burnett. “Burlington is a great football club. They came out trying to knock us down. We had our hands full.”
With 6:59 left in the half, Librizzi hit Mike DiMambro with a pretty fade to the left corner of the end zone from 18 yards out for a 19-0 lead.
The Hornets then executed a successful onside kick and three plays later, Librizzi tossed a swing pass to Adam Picard, who raced around the left end for a 26-0 halftime lead.
Essex's Max Librizzi tosses a TD pass to Mike DiMambro. (www.coldhollowphoto.com)
“We came out focused and we played well defensively,” said McCrae. “Thankfully, things worked out.”
Essex increased the lead to 33-0 on the first possession of the second half, moving 50 yards on five plays. This time Librizzi found Pat Nee for a 4-yard score one play after Nee made an incredibly acrobatic catch along the right sideline for a 36-yard gain.
Jenko recovered his second fumble on BHS’s next possession and two plays later, Librizzi hit Jenko over the middle and the senior did the rest of the work, outracing two defenders for a 40-0 lead with 9:03 gone in the third quarter.
Essex scored its final TD on its next possession as McCrea scampered 23 yards on the same play he broke for 64 yards in the first quarter.
“Our offense came out and did was our offense does,” said Burnett, whose team is now 6-0 and had all but locked up the top seed in the playoffs with three weeks of regular-season play remaining. “I thought our defense really stepped up and kept them from moving the ball a lot. We were able to make enough plays to get it done.”
Essex's Mike DiMambro makes a TD reception. (www.coldhollowphoto.com)
Burlington responded with a pair of late TD passes from Grady Breen to Austin Robinson, but those came long after the Hornets had dug into the bench to give their reserves some playing time.
In addition to Jenko’s two fumble recoveries, Beau Brooks had a pair of interceptions and Jay McCormack, Ammon Donley and Tyler Porter each recovered fumbles.
“Our defense was great,” said McCrea. “They hit hard. They can stop the run. People don’t think we can, but we can. Our defense can be just as good as our offense.”
Burlington also had it moments defensively, as Robinson had an interception, Devin Smith recovered a late fumble and Shamel Jacques had a sack.
Essex hosts St. Johnsbury (2-4) on Friday and Burlington hosts Mount Anthony, which is 3-2 headed into today’s game at 2-3 South Burlington.
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