Supple, Hakes Earn Athlete of the Week

A lot of players made big plays and put up impressive numbers on the county gridirons this weekend.

 

But the iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is recognized for a game where he accepted a diminished role and which his team did not even win.

 

The Division 8 Hoosac Valley football team stepped up in class size-wise and went toe-to-toe with D7 Wahconah for 32 minutes on Friday night only to come out on the short end of a 22-18 decision.

 

Knowing what his team would be up against in Dalton, Hoosac Valley coach Marshall Maxwell had to make some adjustments to his lineup.

 

"In the first half and through the game, we played with seven offensive linemen tonight," Maxwell said. "That meant Will Hakes, who's a captain for our team, didn't play offense for a large majority of the game. He's one of our critical players, but he he did what we needed him to do for our offense to have success."

 

Hakes did keep his head in the game, contributed here he could and caught a key 27-yard pass in the Hurricanes' rally in the closing minutes.

 

"And when Wahconah was fourth-and-1 here, with eight minutes to go in the game, he was the one who made the big stop," Maxwell said. "He's a senior. He's a captain. He doesn't really play much on offense. Does he cry about it? Does he sulk? No, he comes out here and makes some critical plays in the game when we needed them."

 

Hoosac Valley (1-1) will look to get back in the win column on Saturday when it plays its home opener against Monument Mountain.

 

Continuing our theme of unsung heroes is Pittsfield High junior harrier Reagan Supple.

 

Supple has not been the top finisher for the Generals this fall or even the second finisher.

 

But back on Sept. 11, he provided everyone with a reminder of just how valuable each runner can be in a team sport.

 

Supple finished 32nd overall that day, firmly in the middle of the pack at Berkshire Community College. But, more importantly, he placed two places ahead of Wahconah's fifth-place runner, securing the Pittsfield girls cross country team a 26-29 win in the teams' dual meet.

 

One week later, Supple again was the fifth scorer for PHS, this time finishing 22nd overall and in the top third of the field at Monument Mountain. He helped the Generals go 2-1 in duals with wins over Lee and Taconic.

 

Pittsfield's cross country team Wednesday travels north to run in a field that includes Lee and Lenox at Mount Greylock.