Game of the Week: Drury Looks to Upset Wahconah
After two weeks when the schedule was dominated by independent games, the Berkshire County football league kicks into high gear on Saturday with three intracounty games.
And while much of the focus may be on Cheshire, where Mount Greylock (1-1) looks to bounce back after last week's loss to a much-improved Monument Mountain team, Saturday's slate includes a battle of unbeatens in North Adams, where Wahconah (2-0) visits Drury (1-0).
Recent history would indicate that the Blue Devils have their work cut out against a Wahconah program that won the last Western Mass Super Bowl in 2012 and went to the first state semi-final a year ago.
But Wahconah coach Gary Campbell said he does not expect his team to look past Drury.
"I'm definitely worried [about Drury]," Campbell said. "You look at the ingredients they have up there. On the line, they have the Clairmont kid and [Nate] Vansteemburg on the line, who are definitely good players. Add to that a coach's son in [Kirby] Bryce, and there's some real good players.
"Our kids know that. They've been competing against them for a while. ... We also know that we're back in Berkshire county now. These kids don't have any awe for us. All these kids have grown up playing against each other forever."
Wahconah romped in its independent games, rolling over Route 9 rival Northampton (46-8) and Chicopee Comp (44-6).
Drury had last week off, but in Week One it beat Greenfield, 18-6, in a game that was not as close as that score indicates.
Campbell was impressed with what he saw from the Blue Devils on film.
"They gave up some turnovers in the punt game and gave up an early score and came back and dominated the game afterward," he said. "They showed resiliency right off the bat. The Drury kids, to their credit, kept their composure and stayed together, and that may not have been easy to do with two teams coming together."
Drury is in the first year of a football co-operative with St. Joseph Central High School.
"They're only going to get better," Campbell said.
A Drury defense that all but shut out the Green Wave in the opener figures to get a sterner test on Saturday against a Wahconah attack that features quarterback Nick Clayton and running back Quinn Caesar.
Caesar has gone for more than 100 yards each of the first two weeks. Clayton threw for three touchdowns in last week's thrashing of Chicopee Comp.
The real key for Wahconah has been in the trenches, Campbell said.
"Having the offensive line totally in tact and really our defensive front seven pretty much back [from '13] is huge," he said. "All the glory goes to the running backs and quarterbacks and receivers, but real football is played on the line of scrimmage."
Drury will look to build on the success its ground attack had at Greenfield, where Bill Bryce used a variety of different running backs to gain 146 yards and control the clock.
"Marquise [Hamilton] came in and gave us a spark," Bryce said. "We kind of have a good one-two punch with [Brendan] Faas and Hamilton. It's a little bit different running style. And that's where you can give one of them a rest and get the other one in. You can get fresh legs against a tired defense."
Drury also showed it can keep defenses honest with the long ball. Senior QB Nate Stump completed just one pass in the opener, but it was a deep strike to David Lewis for a 50-yard TD.
Campbell's Wahconah team did not play Stump's Crusaders a year ago, but his players know to respect him.
"The kids are aware of him," Campbell said. "They know him through baseball and all the sports in Berkshire County. There are no secrets. Whether it's from football, the baseball field, the basketball court, whatever, when I go up and down the lineup, they know who everyone is."
The county's football weekend gets started with a non-league matchup between Pittsfield (1-0) and Chicopee Comp in Chicopee. Coach Brian Jezewski's Generals (1-1) have had a week to recover from an exciting opening night win over Monument Mountain. ... The Spartans (1-1), the only team to have to Berkshire County games under its belt, goes out of league this week to face Austin Prep, a Catholic school in Reading that went 8-3 last fall. ... Hoosac Valley (2-0) has been impressive as it looks to defend its Western Mass title, but after beating Mahar (0-1) and Athol (0-2), the 'Canes figure to get a better test against Mount Greylock. ... Lee (1-1) rebounded from a Week One loss against defending South Coast Conference champion Old Rochester (2-0) by knocking off Greenfield. Now the Tigers enter the Berkshire County fray against Taconic (1-1), which got its first win last week by running over Cathedral. ... After two straight wins to open the season in the Tri-County, first-place McCann Tech gets a week off to get ready for its home opener against Smith.