Altiere TD Pass Gives Mount Greylock Comeback Win

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Brodie Altiere and Michael McCormack hooked up on a 30-yard touchdown pass to erase a two-point fourth-quarter deficit and propel the Mount Greylock Regional School football team to a 26-14 win over Commerce on Saturday night at John T. Allen Field.

 

Altiere also threw a 58-yard 50-yard TD, and Pat Storie ran for 139 yards and a pair of scores in the season opener for both teams.

 

McCormack caught all three of Altiere's completions for 88 yards, and he was quick to spread the credit for the success of the passing game.

 

"I owe it all to the line," McCormack said about the game-winner. "We had enough time. Brodie threw a great pass, right over the defender. You can't ask for more than that.

 

"Brodie and I, I think we have a great connection. Everything is the line. We wouldn't have that without the line. If we have enough time, Brodie can make the throw."

 

Storie had three carries for 50 yard on the winning scoring drive, which went 72 yards after Mount Greylock senior Jonah Kelley broke up a fourth-down pass in the Mounties' end of the field.

 

Mount Greylock overcame a holding penalty that produced a fourth-and-19 that Altiere overcame with the scoring strike to McCormack on the right side.

 

The Mounties then benefited from a pair of Commerce penalties down the stretch.

 

After falling behind for the first time all night, Commerce was hampered by an illegal procedure call on its next possession and ended up turning the ball over on downs at its own 38.

 

The Mounties were forced to punt the ball back, but a roughing the punter call gave Mount Greylock new life and a first down on the Commerce 20.

 

Two Storie runs got the Mounties into the end zone from there to provide the final margin.

 

Commerce scored the first time it touched the ball thanks to a strong start by running back Nicolas Perry. He had 52 yards on the opening drive, including a 26-yard scamper -- and the ensuing two-point conversion -- to make it 8-0 midway through the first quarter.

 

Mount Greylock answered with a 62-yard drive that featured Storie rushing for 14 yards and Altiere hitting McCormack on the right side for a 50-yard score. The try for two failed, and Commerce held an 8-6 lead that it took into half-time.

 

The visitors struck quickly to open the second half, going 57 yards on four plays -- the last 50 on a keeper up the middle by quarterback Marque Gibson. Back-to-back procedure calls added 10 yards to Commerce's two-point conversion attempt, and Gibson's pass was incomplete, so it was 14-6.

 

That is when the Mounties turned the game around.

 

A 21-yard kickoff return by McCormack set Mount Greylock up on its own 20, and it proceeded to march 80 yards 12 rushing plays to get back within two points.

 

"I felt like in the first half we had some success, but we didn't find the end zone, obviously, but one time," Mount Greylock coach Shawn Flaherty said. "But we felt like we could come back to that running game, and it just paid off in the end there.

 

"I thought the kids showed great emotion. They never really got down on themselves, and it was a great comeback win."

Commerce got a couple of first downs on its next possession, but Mount Greylock's defense stiffened after giving up a second-and-6 at its own 13.

 

Backup quarterback Nasir Thomas slipped in the backfield for a loss of 3. Then a holding call -- the first of several big penalties against Commerce in the fourth quarter -- pushed the visitors back to the 27. Storie hauled down Perry on a screen pass for a loss of 1, and then on fourth down, Kelley's pass breakup set up the game-winning drive.

 

Flaherty said the independent game against Division 2 Commerce helps make the Division 5 Mounties a tougher team.

 

"They're a great program," Flaherty said. "We know there's tremendous athletic talent at that school. And you want to come out and face a tough team to see what you're made out of. And it's been working out well for us. Even if we came out on the wrong side of this game tonight, it still would have been a heck of a game. We would have worked hard and gotten something out of it.

 

"With the blowouts, most of the time, your starters don't even stay in there. But this was a dogfight, and this is what you want to see. It just sets a tone. Hopefully we can carry this momentum on through."

 

Mount Greylock's win capped a 4-0 weekend for the four North County schools. Drury and McCann Tech won on the road on Friday night. Hoosac Valley blew out Athol on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Mounties open Berkshire County play on Friday against Monument Mountain, which dropped a close game at Pittsfield on Friday night.