Pittsfield Rolls Over Putnam Voc
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – It took the Pittsfield football team less than five minutes to score 24 points en route to a 52-0 win over Putnam Vocational at Gene Dellea Field on Friday night.
Keanu Arce-Jackson threw for 218 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 60 yards and a score in a dominating performance.
But there was one stat that stood out for Pittsfield coach Brian Jezewski: Zero, as in the number of times his team lost possession of the ball.
“We’ve been on the other side of the turnovers all season long – 17 turnovers up to this point, zero tonight,” Jezewski said. “We’ve been harping on it. We’ve been working on it in practice. And tonight the ball bounced our way. I’ll give my guys a ton of credit.”
Credit Cazmere Stein with a 70-yard return of the opening kickoff to get Pittsfield’s rout started, and credit the Generals’ defense with two first quarter interceptions, one a pick 6 for senior James DiFillippo.
And, of course, credit Arce for directing a Pittsfield offense that scored on six of its first seven possessions.
It did not have to go far after Stein lit up the sideline with his kick return to the Putnam 10 to open the game.
Two Arce runs, and the Generals were in the end zone with less than a minute off the clock. Dashaun Brown ran in the conversion, and it was an 8-0 lead.
On Putnam’s third play from scrimmage, DiFillippo picked off a pass at midfield and scampered to the house to make it 14-0. Stein did the honors to make it a 16-point margin.
“Our defense played great – lights out,” Jezewski said. “Our secondary played well. Our linebackers – Jimmy DiFillippo with a big interception. He’s been asking me to play at running back for the last four years … and that’s not happening.
“But I’m really proud of the guys. Our defensive line played great. I thought they did a nice job with the screen game. We made a couple of adjustments and the guys really did a nice job.”
After DiFillippo’s score, it took Pittsfield’s defense just two plays to get the ball back from the Beavers; this time, it was Cam Williamson, who returned an interception 20 yards to the Putnam 26.
Two plays later, Arce-Jackson hit Brayden Bunnell for an 18-yard passing touchdown, and it was 24-0, Pittsfield, with 7:40 left in the first quarter.
After Putnam managed to hold onto the ball but settle for a three-and-out on its next possession, Arce-Jackson took Pittsfield 72 yards in nine plays, the last one a 27-yard pass to Marcus Jubrey. Arce-Jackson’s second two-point conversion of the game made it 32-0 at the end of the first quarter.
A Pittsfield fumble recovery on a fourth-down attempt by Putnam opened the second quarter and led to Arce-Jackson’s 59-yard scoring strike to Brown to make it 38-0.
It looked like Pittsfield might go over 40 points before half-time, but its late second-quarter drive stalled when a fourth-and-13 run came up 1 yard short at midfield with less than a minute left until half-time.
But the Generals got the ball back to start the second half when Brown recovered an onside kick, and two plays later, Kieran Conway (50 yards rushing) was in the end zone to push the score to 44-0 and start the running clock phase of the game.
The final score of the night came on a 47-yard pass completion from Arce-Jackson to Bunnell deep down the right side late in the third quarter.
Pittsfield (1-3, 1-0 Suburban North) continues league play next Friday at Chicopee.
Video: Pittsfield High’s Keanu Arce-Jackson talks about the team’s dominant performance Friday in earning its first win of the year.
Video: Pittsfield’s Keanu Arce-Jackson hits Marcus Jubrey for a touchdown in Friday’s win over Putnam Voc.
Video: Pittsfield’s Kieran Conway scores from the 25 in Friday’s win over Putnam Voc (the flag was picked up).
Video: Pittsfield’s defense makes a tackle for a loss in a dominating win over Putnam Voc on Friday night.
Video: Keanu Arce-Jackson scores from the 1 to open the Pittsfield football team’s rout of Putnam Voc on Friday.