Mach, Lewis Lead Hoosac to Win Over Drury

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Hoosac Valley Hurricanes put the past in the past and concentrated on the task at hand going into Saturday's 130th edition of the Drury-Hoosac football team.

 

They did not think about the fact that the Blue Devils were 1-5 coming in. They did not think about the fact that the 'Canes had outscored Drury by a margin of 83-6 over the last three years since Drury's last win in the series.

 

No, these Hurricanes were focused on making sure they were not the team to lose that three-game winning streak or relinquish the top seed in the upcoming Western Massachusetts Division 5 playoffs.

 

So Hoosac did neither.

 

Instead, it got 254 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns from Tyler Mach and 112 yards passing and two TDs from Matt Koperniak in a 63-12 win on John J. DelNegro Field.

 

Hoosac senior John Lewis picked off two passes and scored a 15-yard touchdown on offense on his way to receiving the game ball from the Hurricanes' coaching staff. He said the fact that this was Drury week made a difference in the team's preparations.

 

"It makes the week of practice a lot easier -- getting pumped up," Lewis said. "Even though it rained when we were out there, it was one of our better weeks of practice this year.

 

"We knew we had to come out fired up to beat this team like this, and that's what we wanted. We don't want anything close in these games. Anything can happen with Hoosac-Drury."

 

Lewis split postgame honors with classmate Mach, who ran for 153 yards, caught a 69-yard TD pass and returned a punt 32 yards.

 

For his troubles, Mach was awarded the Mike Rysz Award, given each year to the outstanding Hoosac Valley player in the rivalry game.

 

"He did a great job," Poirot said. "He did a great job with some not great footing.

 

"That's what we need him to do. That's what we need all these guys to do. When they score like this and perform like this, it's every one of them. And Tyler will tell you that -- every one of these seniors will tell you that. They came came out and played this game as seniors, as a group, which is important.

 

"That's what you want to have happen today."

 

You also want to score 27 points in the first quarter, like Hoosac did on Saturday.

 

The 'Canes took the opening kickoff and marched 62 yards in eight plays -- their longest drive of the game as it turned out. Sophomore Brenden Ellsworth capped the drive with an 8-yard run for the first of his two touchdowns.

 

Lewis picked off a pass on Drury's second play from scrimmage, giving Hoosac the ball at the plus-43. Four plays later, Koperniak connected with Peter Barrow in the end zone for a 13-yard score. Austin Milesi hit the extra point, and Hoosac led, 14-0, with 6:12 left in the first quarter.

 

A fumble on Drury's second possession gave the 'Canes the ball at the Blue Devils' 35, and Mach took it in two plays later for a 36-yard score.

 

"That's an excellent team we played, a well coached team," Drury coach Bill Bryce said. "And we made mistakes right at the beginning of the game.

 

"You can't do that against anybody, let alone a team as good as they are."

 

On Drury's third possession, it was forced to punt. Hoosac needed just one play to get its fourth TD of the quarter. Koperniak hit Mach in the left flat, and the speedy back went 69 yards down the sideline to make it 27-0.

 

Drury got on the board in the second quarter thanks largely to a big completion deep down the right side from senior Nate Stump to junior Kody Crosier. That play went for 51 yards and got Drury to the 2.

 

Two plays later, Kirby Bryce scored from a yard out to cut the lead to 33-6 just before half-time.

 

Hoosac got another big quarter in the third and was up 55-6 before Drury went 56 yards for its second score.

 

Stump completed a couple of passes to Crosier for 50 yards on the drive, which ended in Marquise Hamilton's 5-yard score.

 

Hoosac's freshman backs -- Donald Monsees and Maxwell Shafer -- carried the load on the Hurricanes' last possession. Monsees carried three times for 44 yards, and Shafer finished the drive with an 8-yard run. Sophomore J.P. Levesque ran in the two-point conversion to provide the final margin of victory.

 

Hoosac now waits to see whether it has done enough to hold onto the top spot in D5 or if Pittsfield (5-2) can get past the 'Canes with a Halloween night win at Amherst-Pelham.

 

Drury will find out next Sunday, Nov. 2, the name of the first of its two opponents for crossover games against the Pioneer Valley.

 

Coach Bryce said that despite the Devils' disappointing 1-6 record, he still is getting effort from his players.

 

"That's one of the few positives that we have," he said. "They had the effort there. They didn't quit all the way through that game."