I made my first-ever trip to see Oxbow football play this weekend, and while the highly touted Olympians were trounced by D-II North Country 56-8 (it was 44-0 at halftime), it was still an excellent day for football.
The Olympians were without star transfer Kurtis Settergren, out for the week with an injury, but team leaders Barry Weigel, Byron Brocar and others put on quite a show. The score may not show it, but Oxbow football - which started the season 2-0 and unscored upon - is on the rise.
Driving along Route 302 and then 25, there were "Oxbow Football, 1 p.m. today" signs drawing fans in. You don't see that for Spaulding, Montpelier or U-32 football. Occasionally there was a sign in the park in downtown Barre, but I have yet to see anything this season for any of those other schools.
The field in Bradford may not have the bells and whistles the other area fields do - there are a few bleachers and a concession stand, but there's no announcer (Paul Plante's fiiiiiirst dooooooowwwn seemed a world away) and they don't keep track of the down and yardage on the scoreboard. But no matter. Fans know what's going on.
The best part of the day for me, aside from finally getting to meet head coach Mark Palmieri and his team, was the halftime mini-game between Bradford and Thetford. Did I mention these football players were in the kindergarten-third grade range? It was quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. They even tackle! The kids were so small and with the helmets they resembled bobble heads, but they were having the time of their lives. They were introduced as the future of Oxbow football, which is of course very apt.
One Thetford little guy, No. 1, was so small, the 1 on his jersey spanned the entire thing, top-to-bottom. Thetford even brought its own mini cheerleaders, too.
I kept my roster, and if I'm still in the area when these kids are playing varsity-level football, it'll be interesting to look back on Saturday afternoon. Surely a good sign for the future of Oxbow football, which is already making huge strides in its fifth year of existence.
-Anna Grearson
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