ADAMS, Mass. -- After a tough loss last week to Berkshire County rival Wahconah, the Hoosac Valley Hurricanes got back to business Friday on senior night at Renfrew Field with a 51-14 win over visiting Taconic.
The Hurricanes' eight seniors this year are Tyler Mach, John Lewis, Austin Milesi, Zach Wright, Zach Albareda, Matthew Provost, Xavier Alvarez, and Coby Tarjick.
Each player -- other than Lewis, who was sidelined with a quad injury -- was able to make an impact on the game for Hoosac. Linemen Albareda, Wright, Provost, and Milesi were dominant all night long, opening massive holes for their running backs. Alvarez chipped in by catching a two-point conversion, and Tarjick seemed to be in on almost every tackle for the Hoosac defense.
Last and certainly not least, running back Mach was unstoppable as he rushed for 166 yards on just eight carries for an average of over 20 yards per attempt. Mach also scored three touchdowns on runs of 39, 11, and 55 yards.
"It's a great feeling, coming out with a team like this. These guys, I love coming out with them every week," said Mach. "All of our seniors are great leaders and it's big for us."
"The seniors, we had a tough loss last week, so we kind of put it on them that from here on out it's them," added coach Dayne Poirot. "We want them to work hard and finish out their season. Tonight's senior night, it's a good night for the guys to be down here at Renfrew where they played youth football. It's a good night to have guys get in and bounce back and start gearing up for the playoffs."
The Hoosac defense stepped up and was smothering all night as it limited Taconic to just two first downs while both team's starters were on the field. The offense was clicking on all cylinders as they scored on every offensive possession of the night besides two that ended with uncharacteristic fumbles by the Hurricanes' Mach and sophomore Brandon Ellsworth.
"That's just being lazy in practice and the coaches are on us every week about it," said Mach about the fumbles. "That's just us as players have to pick it up and fix that stuff."
Ellworth finished the night with 78 rushing yards and a 15-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter. Junior Avery Hall also chipped in with 40 yards including two touchdowns of 14 and 11 yards.
Next week Hoosac travels to Wahconah Park on Friday night to take on a tough Pittsfield Generals team who is playing very well and are in the same division as the Hurricanes.
"It's a playoff game for us," said Mach. "We need to win. We know we have to pick up from this game and bring it to next game. Being focused and disciplined throughout the whole week."
"We've got to tackle well," Poirot said about the upcoming match up with Pittsfield. "They have some playmakers and with playmakers you got to tackle them when you're in position to make the play. I think that's critical for us. We have some very good athletes and those kids have to go out and make plays. Clean things up and make sure we are communicating well."
