PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Taconic football team got a defensive score, but South Hadley’s defense dominated the day in a 33-2 win over the Thunder at BCC on Thursday.
Julius Hebenth ran for 100 yards, and the Tigers held Taconic to three first downs through the first three quarters in improving to 3-3 this fall.
The Thunder was unable to capitalize on the momentum it acquired after Caio Lahey hauled down a South Hadley runner in the end zone midway through the first quarter to make it an 8-2 game.
After getting the ball at the plus-48 on the ensuing free kick, Taconic went three-and-out, and it did not cross midfield again until the final minutes of the game with a running clock.
South Hadley opened the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Griffin Soderbaum to Chase Pecia on its opening possession.
The first time the touched the ball in the second quarter, visitors got a 27-yard punt return from Noah Hambley and went 38 yards in two plays to take a 14-2 lead.
South Hadley added another score before half-time on a 25-yard field goal from Chase Blais.
But the big damage came in the third quarter.
The Tigers got a safety of their own on an errant snap on a Taconic punt, a blocked punt to set up first-and-goal at the 2 and an interception to start a drive at the plus-18. With 2 minutes, 31 seconds left in the quarter, South Hadley’s lead had ballooned from 16-2 to 33-2, and the issue was pretty much decided.
Taconic threw another interception just before the end of the fourth quarter to give the Tigers possession on the Thunder’s 23.
But the home team’s defense made a stand, eventually stopping South Hadley on fourth-and-4 at the 5 with about 7:30 left to play.
That 7:30 went by quickly, though, and even though the Taconic reserves mounted the team’s best offensive drive of the night, time ran out on the Thunder.
Nasir Cobbs ran for 47 yards, and QB Giovanni Venable, Taconic’s third signal-caller of the game, ran for 37 yards. The Thunder overcame a 10-yard holding penalty and went all the way from the minus-5 to the plus-15 before the horn sounded.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign for the Thunder in an 0-6 campaign is the way that its starters and entire squad were on their feet cheering on the offense in its last ditch effort to put points on the board.
“We’re trying to fix a lot of our off-the-field stuff, which I believe is getting better,” first-year Taconic coach Justin Bailey said. “I believe if we continue to fix off-the-field, on-the-field will come together. I’m optimistic.
“It’s coming along. It’s growing pains. It’s still an adjustment. I know it sounds crazy this late in the season, but, despite what people may think, I do want to win. But I want to win off the field as well as on the field. We take it one piece and then the next.”
Taconic plays its last three games at Gene Dellea Field at BCC. Next Friday it is home to face rival Pittsfield High.
