South Hadley Survives Against Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The South Hadley football team Friday night got a fourth-quarter score and a game-saving interception to hand Pittsfield a 16-12 loss at Berkshire Community College.
The Tigers overcame the big play ability of Pittsfield's Marcus Jubrey and earned their third straight win in the Suburban North Division opener for both teams.
While Pittsfield slipped to 1-3 and 0-1 with its third straight loss, Generals coach Brian Jezewski emphasized just how much football his team still has ahead ... and just how well it played one week after getting blown out at Wahconah.
"We tell the kids all the time, we will never let one win or one loss dictate our season," Jezewski said. "We've taken it on the chin three games in a row, and our guys fought to the end tonight.
"I'm unbelievably proud to be their coach. They did a tremendous job."
Jubrey threw for 157 yards and a pair of touchdowns and ran for 55 yards.
It was one of the Tigers' three interceptons that produced the game's first score.
Julius Hebenth's pick gave his team the ball at the Pittsfield 25 early in the first quarter.
Seven running plays ltaer, Marty Loughrey was in the end zone to give South Hadley a 6-0 lead. Owen Dawson ran in the two-point conversion to make it an eight-point margin.
Pittsfield answered with a drive to the Tigers' 8 that stalled when the Generals came up short on fourth-and-2.
But late in the second quarter, Pittsfield struck quickly, needing just two plays to go 67 yards for a score.
First, Jubrey hit Freddy Conyers for 30 yards. And then he hooked up with Elias Robinson for a a 37-yard pass down the left side to make it an 8-6 game.
That is where it stood at half-time.
A 50-yard kickoff return by Conyers to start the second half got Pittsfield good field position, but a turnover gave the Tigers the ball at their own 26. The running combination of Hebenth (106 yards) and Dawson (105 yards) powered the visitors to the plus-19 before Jubrey's tackle for a loss on third-and-long stalled the drive.
After Pittsfield got the ball on downs at its own 28, Jubrey connected with Conyers on the next play for a touchdown to give the Generals a 12-8 lead late in the third.
"Marcus [Jubrey] has been the guy all season for us," Jezewski said. "He stepped up big. We challenged him this week, and, obviously, he followed through with that.
"But let's take our hats off to the offensive line. We're very, very young. All but one guy is returning next year. These guys played great today. South Hadley (3-1) is a really, really good football team."
Early in the fourth, though, South Hadley marched 50 yards on eight plays, including a 16-yard completion from Burke Belsky to Brady Currier, to take the lead, 14-12. Belsky then ran in the conversion to put his team up four with 7 minutes, 51 seconds left on the clock.
Like Jezewski said, Pittsfield battled, going from its 29 to the South Hadley 43 with just more than three minutes left. But a Tiger interception ended that threat, and South Hadley's offense picked up two first downs to run out the clock.
Pittsfield Friday goes to Ludlow.