EASTHAMPTON — The Elijah Davis onslaught started early.
Against Easthampton on Thanksgiving, the running back for the Northampton football team had 106 yards in the first quarter, including a 65-yard touchdown.
When the barrage ended, Northampton won 42-14 on Thursday. Davis finished with 19 carries for 265 yards.
The performance helped Davis eclipse Malik Renner’s single season rushing record for the Blue Devils. During his senior season, Davis rushed for over 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“It truly means a lot to break that record,” Davis said. “All this school does is run. I want to be remembered as a hard worker, a leader and a good teammate.”
The Northampton stable of running backs includes Nik Smith, who had three carries for 77 yards, including touchdown runs of 35 and 47 yards. The team utilized an undersized offensive line all season, and the unit flourished.
“More than anything, I am happy with what our offensive line did,” Northampton coach Pat Sledzieski said. “We have guys that don’t weight 160 pounds. I am very proud of them. It’s easy to put it up on the chalkboard.”
Sledzieski announced after the game that it would be his last season coaching the Blue Devils.
“I wrote a letter the first week of the season,” Sledzieski said. “It’s purely for financial reasons. The kids have been great.”
Quarterback Ryan Bredin had two rushing touchdowns for Northampton (8-3), giving him 10 scores for the season. Fullback Syrus Carey also scored for the Blue Devils.
There was a scary moment in the second quarter when Northampton’s Bryan DeJesus was taken off the field in an ambulance with an apparent head injury.
Devontay Edmonds had an interception for the Hamp defense.
The 2016 season started with high expectations for Northampton.
There were visions of the Blue Devils hoisting a Western Massachusetts trophy. The way the season started, Northampton was on track to accomplish its goal.
But as the season went on the Blue Devils (8-3) lost some players to injury and the opposition began to figure out how to stop the vaunted Northampton rushing attack.
The result was a semifinal loss to Longmeadow in the Division 3 playoffs.
“It certainly is disappointing that we didn’t make the Western Mass. championship,” Davis said. “We did all we could.”
On the other side, Easthampton (4-7) started its season poorly with four straight losses. But the Eagles battled back to finish at .500 at make the Division 4 playoffs only to lose to eventual Western Mass. champion Taconic.
“We had a difficult schedule and struggled early,” Easthampton coach Matt Bean said. “But we came back and won our league. We played hard. Especially the seniors.”
Against Northampton, Nick Tausendfreund carried 29 times for 100 yards and a touchdown. Camden Kelly dazzled the crowd at White Brook Middle School with a 31 yard touchdown off misdirection in the second quarter.
Kelly had seven carries for 73 yards, while David Helems carried six times for 64 yards.
Quarterback Max Weir had six completions during the game for 54 yards. Damien Diluzio made three catches for 20 yards.
“We fought right until the end,” Bean said. “I am proud of them.”
