ESSEX – One week after losing in two overtimes at Colchester, the Essex High School football team found itself in another deadlock at the end of regulation against Rutland on Friday night.

And this week, four extra periods were needed to determine a winner. But Essex refused to leave the field in heartbreak again.

Quarterback Sam Bent opened the fourth overtime with a 2-yard touchdown rush and Joe Reed’s interception sealed the dramatic victory on the Hornets’ Homecoming night, halting Rutland’s perfect season with a pulsating, 40-34 triumph in a Week 6 thriller.

“For me this week, it was not to put pressure on them, it was, ‘Why do you love football? What does it mean to you? And on Friday, go show everyone in the stands how much it means to us,’” Essex coach Ethan Curtis said about the team’s preparations. “I think they did that tonight.

“It plays with your heart, it plays with your emotions,” Curtis added about playing in another overtime game, “but the kids did a heck of a job. I’m so proud of them.”

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Bent’s tie-breaking rush gave Essex a 40-34 lead. On Rutland’s ensuing possession, the visitors faced a third-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Giovanni Spallieri, in for injured starter Noah Bruttomesso, had his pass knocked up in the air by Thomas Czaplicki. Reed, an all-state linebacker who switched to defensive end for this game, snatched the tipped pass to close out the victory.

“I don’t know if we’ve had a game like that. I’m definitely going to remember (this) one,” Reed said. “All I had to do was catch it, really. (Czaplicke) tipped that … it was easy.”

Essex improves to 4-2. Rutland falls to 4-1 against Vermont opponents, 5-1 overall.

“Give them credit, they made one more play than we did,” longtime Rutland coach Mike Norman said. “I feel badly for the guys because we lost, but I tip my cap to Essex and move forward.”

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After a 14-14 game at the end of the fourth quarter, Essex won the overtime coin toss and deferred. Under Vermont rules, each team gets a possession at the opposing team’s 10-yard line. If the score remains tied after two overtimes, teams must go for a two-point conversion if they score a touchdown.

That’s what played out between Essex and Rutland on Friday night. Rutland star running back Jayden Graham, limited on offensive snaps due to an injury suffered last month, rushed for a TD on the first play of OT. Bent countered with his own rushing score on Essex’s opening play.

Essex’s Griffin Randall and Graham traded TD runs in the second OT to force another extra period, tied at 28, following the PATs.

In the third OT, Rutland’s Spallieri found Hank Potter for a 7-yard TD connection on third down and Essex’s Bent dove in from the 1 (both teams missed their two-point attempts).

Tied at 34, Essex started with possession in the fourth OT. On fourth down from the 2, Bent plowed in for the TD, but the two-point try was just short. Essex’s defense, though, rose up for the game’s biggest stop on Czaplicki’s tip and Reed’s pick, setting off a wild celebration.

“I think we showed everyone in the state and especially in the Division I that last week was a fluke,” Curtis said of the 13-10 loss to Colchester. “We are here to play, it doesn’t matter who you are, we are going to go toe to toe with you and we will battle, even if it’s four OTs. We are going to claw, we are going to scratch — we are going to do what we have to do to win.”

Rutland took a 7-0 lead on Grady Gallagher’s 54-yard TD dash halfway through the second quarter. Essex responded with a 75-yard scoring drive engineered by Bent and capped by Randall’s 5-yard rushing score. Tied at 7 at the break, Randall (37 carries, 158 yards, 3 TDs) gave Essex a 14-7 margin with 4:04 left in the third quarter on another five-yard TD run.

Rutland leveled the game midway through the fourth on Wood’s 98-yard, juggling catch-and-run TD from Spallieri.

Bent, who took over under center for Carter Crete, finished with 96 yards and three scores on 15 carries.

Essex travels to Middlebury next Saturday in Week 7. Rutland plays at BFA-St. Albans on the same night.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.