Big plays, defense carries South Hadley past Taconic, 29-20

SOUTH HADLEY — They have a knack for following a bad play by making a good one, and now South Hadley High School’s football team may be on the cusp of making the playoffs.

South Hadley capitalized on turnovers to beat Taconic, 29-20, Friday night to remain alive in the playoff hunt.

Hunter Borowski made one of the biggest plays when he intercepted a Sal Amaral pass with South Hadley (4-3, 3-1 Suburban North) clinging to a late 22-20 lead. That theft set up Liam Dawson’s second touchdown, a 16-yard run with 39 seconds left that sealed the hard-fought victory.

“I’m so proud of these kids,” South Hadley coach Scott Taylor said. “We teach them to look forward rather than look back, and even though we were on the edge a lot, they practiced what we preach.”

Twice during the game Taconic (2-5, 2-3) took the ball away from South Hadley, only to have the Tigers take it right back on the very next play.

“Our defense was huge,” Dawson said.

So was Dawson, who had an interception during the waning seconds to foil Taconic’s final drive. Dawson led all rushers with 160 yards.

“He’s one of the most electric runners we’ve had here in a long time,” Taylor said.

South Hadley needs a victory over Chicopee on Friday to keep its playoff hopes alive.

The Tigers only worry about what they can control and against Taconic, they controlled the clock during the second half. They ate up minutes and kept the Braves’ offense on the sidelines.

Taconic used a 5-yard touchdown run from Nikos Gian with 5:25 remaining to pull within 22-20. But the South Hadley defensive line prevented what would have been a game-tying 2-point conversion.

“We knew we had to come up big,” Dawson said. “This was a fun game to play in.”

Following a clock-eating 14-play, 78-yard drive capped by 1-yard touchdown run by Taconic’s Cedric Rose, a big play by South Hadley’s special teams helped the Tigers go ahead.

Sophomore Hunter Carey ran the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown and Dawson ran in the conversion to give South Hadley an 8-6 lead.

At that point, Taconic ran 20 plays to only one for the Tigers. That one play wasn’t a good one either. After the Tigers recovered a fumble, they went for a home run ball on the first play and it was intercepted by the Braves’ Jalen Hill.

Taconic took a 14-8 lead after Amaral hit Nick Sayers with a 16-yard touchdown pass. A Gian conversion run gave the Braves a six-point edge.

South Hadley responded with two touchdowns during the second quarter to move to a 22-14 lead.

Dawson capped an 8-play, 41-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run with 10:09 left as South Hadley pulled into a 14-14 tie.

Taconic fumbled the ensuing kickoff and South Hadley recovered at the Braves’ 38. Despite a pass interference call that gave South Hadley first-and-goal at the 10, the Tigers failed to score.

But they made good on their next possession and beat the clock with 21.6 seconds remaining to take a 22-14 lead into the half. Ben Watkins punched the ball into the end zone from the 1 and Carey ran the conversion.

South Hadley 29, Taconic 20

First quarter

T—Cedric Rose 1 rush (run failed) 6:52

SH—Hunter Carey 75 kickoff return (Liam Dawson run) 6:39

Second quarter

T—Nick Savers 16 pass from Sal Mararal (Nikos Gian Run) 8:24

SH—Dawson 7 run run (run failed) 10:09

SH—Ben Watkins 1 run (Carey run) :22

Third quarter

No scoring

Fourth quarter

T—Gian 7 rush (run failed) 5:25

SH—Dawson 16 rush (Shawn Mitchell kick) :39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING— Taconic: Rose 10-60; Gian 9-55 Cross 4-41; Amaral 3-29; South Hadley: Dawson 20-160; Watkins 9-24; Carey 6-24; Borowski 4-minus-4; Pratt 4-9;

PASSING—Taconic—Amaral 4-10-65; South Hadley Pratt 1-5-10

RECEIVING—Taconic: Savers 2-42; Hescock 1-10; Cross 1-13; South Hadley : Watkins 1-10.