Hoosac Valley Rolls to 6-0

BELCHERTOWN, Mass. -- The Hoosac Valley football team Friday overcame an impefect first quarter to keep its perfect season intact.

 

Liam Feeley and Shaun Kastner ran for 118 and 117 yards, respectively as the Hurricanes beat Belchertown, 36-7, to improve to 6-0 on the season.

 

Hoosac Valley scored on three straight possessions in the second half to turn the game into a laugher -- including an 80-yard drive that consumed 9 minutes, 36 seconds of the fourth quarter.

 

All that said, it was the Orioles who drew first blood, gettinga 1-yard run by Owen Sedlacek to open the scoring with 8:12 left in the first quarter.

 

Hoosac Valley took the ensuing kickoff and answered with a drive that went from its 20 to the Belchertown 21, where the first quarter ended with the 'Canes facing a fourth-and-4.

 

But the second quarter started with a 5-yard penalty on the Hurricanes, and a fourth-down pass from Carson Meczywor was intercepted, giving Belchertown possession at its own 11 with a one-score lead.

 

But on their first play from scrimmage, the Orioles were stripped behind the line of scrimmage, and Hoosac Valley recovered for first-and-goal at the 5.

 

Three plays later, Feeley was in the end zone, and Joe Delmolino's extra point tied it, 7-7.

 

"That turnover meant everything for this game," Delmolino said. "We turned it all around right there. It just turned the whole energy of the game around."

 

Hoosac Valley held the Orioles to a three-and-out on their ensuing possession, and the Belchertown punt put the Hurricanes at their 47.

 

Meczwyor directed a seven-play scoring drive from there that ended with an 8-yard run by Kastner to give Hoosac Valley a 13-8 lead at half-time.

 

Hoosac Valley coach Mark Harrington said his team did not come out with the focus it needed for the road test against the Division 5 Orioles.

 

"We get on them all the time about staying focused," Harrington said. "They walk on the field, and they think they think they're going to just beat somebody becuase they're 5-0. It don't work like that.

 

"They figured it out. They came out, and they did their job. But you can't just come out and think you're going to win. Belchertown's a good team."

 

The Orioles got a 45-yard play from Cameron Otto to Callaghan Daskam on their first possession of the second half to get down to the Hoosac Valley 15.

 

But Kastner's tackle for a 5-yard loss and a 10-yard penalty backed the Orioles up to the Hoosac 30. And three plays later, Kastner intercepted a fourth-and-22 pass in the end zone to end the scoring threat.

 

Hoosac then raced down the field with an eight-play drive -- all on the ground -- that went 80 yards and ended in a 10-yard Kastner run.

 

Meczwyor threw for a score on Hoosac Valley's next possession, hitting Delmolino from the 3 to make it 28-7 late in the third.

 

The Hurricanes put all hopes of a Belchertown comeback to rest with the epic 80-yard drive that ate up most of the fourth quarter. Feeley had 42 yards on the possession, including a 4-yard scoring run. He then ran in the 2-pointer to provide the final margin of victory.

 

Hoosac Valley finishes the regular season with two straight home games, starting next Friday at Renfrew Park against Chicopee.