Drury Defense Dominant in Opener

GREENFIELD, Mass. -- Drury's defense on Friday allowed 23 yards of offense, three first downs and just one score -- and that came after not one but two muffed punts gave Greenfield a possession that started on the Blue Devils' 7.

 

Drury's coach? Well, he's a coach, so he was happy with his defense's opening night performance but not exactly over the moon.

 

"We started off great on defense," Bill Bryce said after Drury's 18-6 win. "We had a plan, and the kids executed it well.

 

"The kids played well. We missed some tackles. We missed some assignments. But overall, we came after 'em. ... The kids were excited about the defensive game plan, and they executed it well."

 

Drury did not miss many tackles.

 

Greenfield's (0-1) only serious threat came in the third quarter when the Green Wave, down 12-6, recovered a fumble at midfield and strung together back-to-back first downs to get as far as the Drury 24.

 

But on the first play of the fourth quarter, a third-and-6 opportunity went very wrong for Greenfield. David Lewis stopped quarterback Max Pirozhkov for a loss of 6. And on fourth down, Sutye Vilayvanh broke up Pirozhokov's pass attempt.

 

Senior Nate Stump, a student at Pittsfield's St. Joseph in his first year with the Blue Devils under the schools' co-operative, said that coaching was key in Drury's stifling defense.

 

"Our defense did an outstanding job," Stump said. "Our coaches did a great job preparing us for this and calling the specific defense for certain situations. And our guys just made plays. A couple of times, we let them get outside of us, but for the most part, we were sticking them in the backfield.

 

"The main thing was we were wrapping them up and bringing them down, which was huge. People can run through arm tackles, but if you're hitting them and wrapping them up, it's good."

 

Stump plays in the backfield on defense and under center on offense. He scored one TD on the ground and threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Lewis to lead Drury's scoring attack.

 

Marquise Hamilton ran for 55 yards and Brendan Faas had 46 on the ground for Drury.  

 

The lone Greenfield score came on its third possession but before Drury's offense took the field. 

 

Setting the tone for the game, Drury's defense earned two straight three-and-outs to start the night, but consecutive muffed punts gave the ball back to the Green Wave. 

 

The second muff put the ball on the Drury 7, and four plays later Greenfield was in the end zone. 

 

Drury scored on its second possession when Stump rolled left and hit Lewis deep for the 50-yarder. Drury's kick failed, and it was 6-6 midway through the second quarter. 

 

Kyle Clairmont and Hamilton combined for a sack on third and 10 to force a Greenfield punt with 2:34 left before the half, and Drury went 50 yards in seven plays to score before the break. 

 

Hamilton had two carries for 39 yards on the drive, and Stump took it in from the 1 as the clock expired to make it 12-6. 

 

Drury marched 70 yards -- 55 on the ground and 15 via a facemask call -- to put the game away in the fourth. Kirby Bryce scored from the 3 to finish the scoring. 

 

Vilayvnh intercepted a Greenfield pass with 1:31 on the clock to end its last possession and effectively end the game. 

 

Drury is off next week. It hosts Wahconah on Sept. 20.