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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- A Senior Day ceremony, a winless opponent, a showdown for a league title looming in the not-so-distant future.
For the Drury High School football team, Saturday was the perfect formula for a "trap game."
Fortunately for the Blue Devils, they got off to a nearly perfect start.
Gabe Perin pulled down Smith Voc's quarterback in the end zone on the third play of the game, and Drury's offense scored two touchdowns in its first four plays from scrimmage en route to a 44-8 win over the Vikings.
The victory keeps Drury unbeaten at 5-0 and sets up a showdown in Great Barrington on Friday against Monument Mountain, currently tied with the Blue Devils atop the Tri-County League standings with 4-0 league records heading to the regular season finale.
After they escaped the trap, the Blue Devils were able to breath a sigh of relief and allow themselves to focus on the Spartans.
"We're definitely looking forward to Monument next week," said Perin, one of eight seniors recognized before Saturday's game. "This week, I think we were just ... I don't really know. But we're definitely looking forward to Monument next week. That's probably going to be one of our biggest games of the season, so that will be a good one."
Louis Guillotte ran for 110 yards and four touchdowns, and Drury's defense kept the shutout until the last minute of the third quarter.
Drury coach Al Marceau said the threat of looking past the Vikings was very much on his mind as he got his team ready for Smith Voc.
"Yeah," Marceau said. "Unfortunately, even with film, the kids they know. They look at the records. They look at the scores.
"And we harped on them all week: You can't take anyone lightly, especially a team that throws the ball. You cannot take them lightly. Because all it takes is two pass breakdowns early in the game, and you get them excited. Then, all of a sudden, you have to stop them."
Marceau said the formula coming in was to score early and often, and that is just what the Blue Devils did.
A characteristically deep Parker Smith kickoff forced the Vikings to start their opening posesion from the 7. The Vikings ran two plays for minus-2 yards before a bad snap left Smith Voc's quarterback with nowhere to go in the end zone except into Perin's arms to give Drury a 2-0 lead before it touched the ball.
A 30-yard return from Amont David on the free kick gave Drury's offense the ball at the Vikings' 25. Three plays later, Guillotte had 25 yards rushing and his first score of the day.
The Vikings fumbled in the red zone on the ensuing possession, and Guillotte ran in from the 5 to make it 15-0. Smith converted the second of his four extra point kicks to make it a 16-point margin with less than three minutes off the clock.
Jayshawn Moore scored Drury's third touchdown with a 20-yard run early in the second quarter. Guillotte scored from the 3 late in the second, and Drury had a 30-0 lead at half-time.
Smith Voc opened the second half with an onside kick, but Perin alertly caught the ball and the Blue Devils set up at midfield. Four plass later, Guillotte walked into the end zone to make it 36-0.
Late in the third, Smith Voc hit a pass play for 80 yards and a touchdown against Drury's reserves. But those reserves got the score back in the fourth with a 6-yard run from Caelan Briggs.
Briggs is sophomore with plenty of fooball ahead. For seniors like Guillotte and MOore, Saturday's game was extra special.
It was a special milestone for Marceau as well.
"Most of those seniors have been with me since eighth grade," he said. "And we had 15 eligible players our first game. They've been playing right up through.
"They built this program. They really have done a lot to recruit and get young guys to come out. They assimilated the [Mount] Greylock kids with no problem. These seniors are an awesome group."
