Game of the Week: McCann Tech Filling Holes
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Less than a month after opening practice for the 2015 season, it is a whole new ballgame for the McCann Tech football team.
The Hornets, who opened last week with a 28-7 win at Palmer, start the home portion of their schedule on Saturday afternoon against Pioneer.
It will be a very different team in green than the one everyone envisioned back on Aug. 24, when McCann officially began preparations to defend its 2014 Western Mass Division 6 title.
“We’ve had a couple of injuries that caused us to shuffle people playing in different positions,” McCann coach Bob LeClair said. “The first thing that happened was at the [pre-season] jamboree at Mahar. Eathan Heller suffered a knee injury. We just found out [Wednesday] that it’s a torn MCL and ACL, so he’s out for the year.
“At Palmer, Charlie Bohl went out with a separated shoulder.
“So we’re replacing a fullback, a linebacker, a wingback and a defensive back. We’ve had to make some moves out there.”
Add in a third injury, to senior wideout/DB Keigan Case, and the Hornets have more than their share of holes to fill.
“That’s three kids who have been out for us,” LeClair said. “We had to go to younger kids and move people around to different spots, but what we found out was we have athletes who can play football.
“With our numbers and our experience, we have to use our depth. … I thought we were pretty resilient last week.”
Six of the county’s nine football teams got their season started in the right direction last week. The losses came in intraleague matchups, where Lee beat Drury, Monument Mountain edged Mount Greylock and Pittsfield got past Taconic in overtime.
This week’s action starts Friday night with three Berkshire County League clashes. Mount Greylock looks for its first win at Pittsfield while Taconic does the same at Monument Mountain; in Lee, it is a battle of unbeatens as Hoosac Valley (a Week 1 winner over Chicopee Comp) takes on the Wildcats. Wahconah (1-0 plays its second non-league game to open the season, traveling to South Hadley (0-1).
Saturday’s slate sees Greenfield (0-1) coming to Drury with hopes of avenging last year’s Blue Devils’ win and McCann taking on Tri-County co-leader Pioneer Valley.
Last week, Pioneer defeated Smith Vocational, 6-0, in their opener.
LeClair saw that game in Northfield and was impressed by what he saw defensively out of the Panthers.
“They did because Smith Voc really challenged them last week,” he said. “Look at the amount of plays [the Vikings] ran. It was crazy.
“Smith Voc had the ball for all but 35 seconds of the first quarter. Pioneer ran one play in the first quarter.”
The Panthers’ one score came later, on a 50-yard pass from Zach Lambert to Bryce Dobosz.
LeClair said the key for McCann this week is to finish drives — something Smith Voc could not manage against Pioneer’s “D” in Week 1.
“Smith Voc didn’t finish,” he said. “In the third quarter, they got the ball on Pioneer’s 35-yard line and fumbled the ball on the first play. They shot themselves in the foot a dozen times.
“Hopefully, we can finish.”