NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton football team bounced back from a blowout loss to Longmeadow in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 semifinal last week with a blowout of its own Thursday night.
The Blue Devils routed Amherst Regional, 48-28, in the Battle of the Bridge rivalry.
The victory gives Northampton (7-3) the most wins in a season since 2004, when they went 9-2. Hamp leads the all-time series with the Hurricanes 40-30-3.
The Blue Devils knew they had to bounce back after being eliminated in the playoffs.
“Overall, I think we came back as a team,” said Beau Garbarini. “We regrouped.”
Will Budington put the Hurricanes on the board first with an 18-yard run for 6-0 lead. The Blue Devils bounced right back when Elijah Davis burst through the middle for a 44-yard touchdown run.
Northampton quarterback Ryan Bredin closed out the first quarter with a run on the 1-yard line to give the Blue Devils a 16-6 advantage.
Just over a minute into the second quarter, Amherst got as close as it would in the contest when quarterback Miles Foerster went in from 25 yards to cut the deficit to 16-12.
The Blue Devils knew they needed to take control of the rest of the contest.
“It all came down to execution, we weren’t executing in that first quarter, first half even,” said Garbarini. “I think we did a good job of shutting them down.”
Northampton built on its lead when Davis (nine rushes, 106 yards) rushed for his second touchdown of the game with a 15-yard run. Garbarini found the end zone with an 8-yard run to give the Blue Devils a 32-12 lead at the half.
Foerster attempted to bring his team back toward the end of the third quarter when he completed a 68-yard pass to Budington to cut the Blue Devil advantage to 32-18. Foerster finished the game with 205 yards passing and two touchdowns while running for 75 yards.
Northampton got a 3-yard touchdown run from Garbarini, followed by a 58-yard run from Nik Smith to pull away.
Garbarini (116 yards rushing) did most of his damage in the second half with 81 yards on the ground. Garbarini took over the majority of the carries when Davis went down with an injury in the second quarter.
“I had really good blocking to start,” said Garbarini. “Elijah (Davis) got hurt, so I really can’t let people down.”
Amherst just couldn’t stop Northampton’s rushing attack.
Northampton “Coach (Pat) Sledzieski, he runs a great offense,” said Amherst coach Chris Ehorn Jr. said. “They know what to do, and know how to do it.”
The Blue Devils will finish off their season with a road game against Easthampton on Thanksgiving.
Amherst (4-6) will host Minnechaug on Thanksgiving.