EAST LONGMEADOW — The Northampton football team fell to East Longmeadow, 23-22, in a thriller on Friday.
The Blue Devils made plays early with their defense and special teams.
Northampton got a fourth-and-goal stop at the 1-yard line early in the first quarter. On East Longmeadow’s next possession, Northampton (3-4, 1-3 Suburban South) blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone to take an 8-2 lead following a 2-point conversion early in the second quarter.
Northampton coach Joe Kocot acknowledged his team’s success on defense in the first half.
“We had two guys that played their butts off,” Kocot said. “There was Kaleb (Graves) and Kyle (Gido). Kyle was in the backfield the whole game. They pulled their guards so he would stop the flow and everyone would fly to the ball, so they both played hard.”
Northampton led at halftime 8-2.
“I told the guys at halftime these guys were going to come out firing,” Kocot said. “Couple fumbles. The turnovers were the biggest thing.”
Northampton leaned on its running game after halftime, as Brett Holden broke out a 77-yard touchdown run with 10:51 to go in the third quarter. Later in the quarter, Devontay Edmunds broke free on a 96-yard run, but he was stopped at the 4-yard line. Edmunds punched it into the end zone only a few plays later to make it 22-2 with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter.
The Spartans weren’t done.
Shortly after the score, East Longmeadow answered with a touchdown to cut the lead to 22-9 before the end of the third quarter.
Turnovers then cost the Blue Devils. Holden and Edmunds both fumbled on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter. Northampton quarterback Tom Jacques also threw a pair of interceptions.
East Longmeadow capitalized on the turnovers with 14 fourth-quarter points to pull out the win.
“We played hard on both offense and defense and we had a goal-line stand in the first period,” Kocot said. “Then gave up two points and went down and scored made it 8-2. Just mistakes in the second half.”