Kastner, Hurricanes Run Over Lee
CHESHIRE, Mass. -- On a day when the Hoosac Valley football program honored its heritage, the Hurricanes won the old-fashioned way,
Shaun Kastner Jr. ran for 171 yards, and Aaron Bush ran for 90 to lead the Hurricanes to a 42-15 win over Lee.
Carson Meczywor needed to throw the ball just three times, and he completed two throws for 9 yards, including a 3-yarder to Kobe Valois for a touchdown.
Otherwise, Hoosac Valley (6-1) did all its damage in the ground game, scoring the first five times it touched the ball after giving up a game-opening scoring drive to the Wildcats (4-3).
“I think it was one of the better performances this year,” Hoosac Valley coach Mike Bostwick said of his running game. “I think our line blocked hard. I think we had some good looks that we liked. That’s why I kind of stuck with it and just kept at it.
“We put in a couple of wrinkles, and we had some wrinkles that we didn’t run. So it was a good day overall.”
In the opening stages, it looked like both teams would have good offensive days.
Lee got a 20-yard return from Tyler Bartini on the opening kickoff to bring the ball to its 41, and the Wildcats needed just five plays to go the rest of the way.
Elliot Winston (76 yards) had a 29-yard run to get the drive started, and Cam Freeman ended it with a 7-yard scamper. The point after put the visitors up, 7-0, before Hoosac Valley touched the ball.
But after fielding a short kickoff, the Hurricanes answered immediately with a 56-yard drive. Most of that came on a 48-yard run by Kastner to get the ball to the Lee 6. Four plays later, Meczywor took it in from the 2. He then ran in the two-point conversion to give the Hurricanes the lead at 8-7.
They ran away with it, literally, in the second quarter, scoring three straight times.
Kastner scored from the 6 to cap a 55-yard drive. Meczywor went in from the 1 to end a 61-yard drive. And after a Frank Field midfield interception, the Hurricanes needed just three plays -- including a 46-yard run by Kastner, to make it 28-7 at half-time.
Hoosac Valley started the second half with a 63-yard drive that ended when Meczywor found Valois in the end zone for a TD and a 36-7 lead.
Lee responded with a 55-yard drive that went into the fourth quarter and ended with a 29-yard pass from Hayden Siok to Dylan Ely down the right side.
And the Wildcats’ defense rode that momentum to post its first stop on Hoosac Valley’s ensuing possession. But Hurricanes’ senior Jake Mucci recovered a fumble on Lee’s next possession and took it 25 yards for a score to provide the final margin.
Lee, which started the weekend the No. 9 seed in Division 8, is at Belchertown next week.
Hoosac Valley, which was No. 1 going into the weekend, finishes the regular season on Thursday at Commerce.
“We’re on short notice, but we keep it simple,” Bostwick said. “We kept it simple against Lee, and we’ll do our best to keep it simple against Commerce, another team with big guys, lots of athletes on the team. So that will be a tough one for us.”
Saturday afternoon’s contest was preceded by a ceremony honoring three of the pillars of the Hoosac Valley program: former coaches Joe Doyle, Jim Fassell and Joe Alcaro.
“Honestly, I get a little emotional talking about those guys, because they set the bar,” Bostwick said. “These were all older guys even when we were coming through the system. We respected them. Our parents respected them. They told us how to act, how to behave.
“And you’re seeing the tail end of that now. I thought: How appropriate, with this group of kids we have, to honor those guys, because all the coaches on the sideline are Hoosac alums. That something to everyone on the sideline, top to bottom, on our staff. We just want to honor those guys. I have the utmost respect for all of them.”