GREAT BARRINGTON — With both squads entering Week 4 in possession of two losses, Friday night was a must-win along both sidelines at Spartan Field.

Belchertown craved the win more, beating Monument Mountain, 31-0.

The Orioles improve to 2-2, and got an important Intercounty South victory, moving to 1-2 in league play. The Spartans fell to a precarious 1-3 and 0-2 in the South.

“We started off 1-2, so if we were to lose this game tonight, it would be detrimental,” Belchertown quarterback John Flink said. “It’s good to get some momentum going into the second half.”

Monument Mountain was in the game for much of the night. Trailing 14-0 at halftime, the Spartans forced a quick three-and-out by Belchertown on the strength of a Jack O’Brien tackle in the backfield.

The Orioles punted on fourth-and-14. Back-to-back handoffs to O’Brien went for 7 yards, but then a holding penalty and a Zach Bohnet sack forced an immediate punt.

Tack on 15 yards for a personal foul on the return, and Belchertown was in scoring position on the Monument 25 with 6 minutes, 39 seconds left in the quarter.

Flink moved the sticks once, and then patiently waited for his line to clear a path into the end zone from 12 yards out.

Belchertown went ahead 21-0 with 4:14 to go in the third.

“We’ve got a big line this year, and we’ve never really had that,” Flink said. “So when we get close to the end zone like that, the play is called wedge, they just block down and I go right behind them and get pushed by my running back. It was a long one, I didn’t think it was going to work, but there was a wall the whole way.”

Another three-and-out followed for Monument, and the Orioles sapped the clock on a seven-play scoring drive that ended with a Brad Lovett score with 8:48 remaining in the fourth.

The momentum-halter happened right before the half. Down 14-0, Monument picked up three first downs on a 10-play drive. Senior QB Caleb Carlson marched his squad from his own 27 to the Belchertown 33.

Carlson took a 2-yard loss on third-and-one, though. On fourth-and-3, O’Brien plowed into the line, but a measurement showed the Spartans an inch shy of the first down. Belchertown took over 40 seconds before intermission and safely went into halftime ahead by two scores.

“Every time we do make one good play, we find a way to back up three,” said Monument coach Pete Wilson. “We’ve got to keep our spirit up and play, but it’s disappointing right now. I wish I saw more urgency tonight. They were just so flat. This should have been one of the hardest efforts they put forward, but it just wasn’t there.”

The Orioles played with that urgency, and the results showed.

Earlier, Monument picked up three first downs on another drive, spanning the first and second quarters. On third-and-4, O’Brien picked up 16 yards on the ground. The very next play, Belchertown’s defensive line dislodged the ball on a run up the gut and recovered the fumble.

The next possession, Oriole senior Justin Pendrick picked off a Carlson pass midway through the second quarter. Sam Winston took the next play from scrimmage 28 yards, through two arm tackles for the 14-0 lead.

Kicker Hunter Klingensmith was perfect on four extra points and drilled a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Belchertown 31, Monument 0

Belchertown

7

7

7

10

—31

Monument

0

0

0

0

—0

First quarter

B — Justin Pendrick 24-yard run (Hunter Klingensmith kick), 1:58.

Second Quarter

B — Sam Winston 28 run (Klingensmith kick), 5:40.

Third Quarter

B — John Flick 12 run (Klingensmith kick), 4:14.

Fourth Quarter

B — Brad Lovett 3 run (Klingensmith kick), 8:48.

B — Klingensmith 34 field goal, 0:59.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — B: Pendrick 9-44, Winston 6-66, Lovett 4-39, O’Connor 4-7, Otto 2-9, Flink 2-10; MM: O’Brien 15-64, Reese Mullen 4-30, Caleb Carlson 5-6.

PASSING — B: Flink 3-6-0 40, Otto 1-2-0 20; MM: Carlson 0-4-1 00.

RECEIVING — B: Pendrick 32, Klingensmith 9, Winston 20.