Greenfield grinds out win over Smith Vocational

NORTHAMPTON — By the middle of the third quarter, it was evident that Smith Vocational was probably going to need a miracle.

The scoreline itself wasn’t an issue, but the battle in the trenches slowly started to shift toward the other sideline. Running backs were being met at the line of scrimmage, or even worse in the backfield, and the undersized Smith Vocational defensive line wasn’t able to sustain the same penetration. It might have only been a two-score game at the moment, but it was clear that Greenfield’s physicality was taking its toll.

Indeed, the Green Wave marched down the field with four runs of 10 yards or more in a seven-play drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters. The ensuing touchdown effectively sealed the game, but Greenfield added a second touchdown before running out the clock on a 29-6 triumph over Smith Vocational on Friday night.

“We just kind of played smash mouth and hoped for the best,” Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski said. “Their scheme was giving us a little bit of confusion. … We played hard enough to get it done, but by no means will it get it done next week.”

The Green Wave (1-1) were mostly dominant in the trenches, holding Smith Vocational (0-1) to just 78 yards on 27 carries before the backups allowed a 50-yard score near the end of the fourth quarter. On the other side of the ball, Greenfield rushed for 242 yards on 39 carries, led by 125 yards and a score from Bob Provost. The sophomore set the table for the success with a constant barrage of hard runs and eventually burst through for bigger gains like the 21-yard run that set up a touchdown in the second half.

Yet it was Jared Hart who fully took advantage of Provost’s persistence. The senior gashed the Vikings for a pair of 16-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter while Smith Vocational focused on trying to stop Provost.

Despite the success, Kuchieski was disappointed with some of the miscues on the offensive line that allowed Smith Vocational to penetrate the backfield quickly. When the Vikings were able to swarm into the backfield and make contact with the running back before he hit the line of scrimmage, bad things tended to happen for the Green Wave on the drive. Both of Jake Sak’s interceptions came on drives that stalled out because of a negative-yardage rushing play.

“We had some gap control issues and their linebackers were pretty active,” Kuchieski said. “We have a tough time with linebackers that are scrapers and get flat and that was one of our issues.”

Even in the loss, Smith Vocational showed plenty of positive signs for coach Keith Lebeau. Taylor Beackwith’s 50-yard touchdown run at the end of the fourth quarter was sprung by several well-executed blocks at the line of scrimmage that opened the hole for the freshman. The Vikings also forced a pair of red-zone turnovers from the Green Wave, the only two drives on which Greenfield didn’t score in the game.

The first one came after sophomore quarterback Cayden Guimond was stripped on the Vikings’ opening possession. The Green Wave came right down the field with Provost as the battering ram to move inside the Smith Vocational 15-yard line with ease. Yet the Vikings’ defense stiffened and knocked Provost back on a second-down run and then stuffed him on third down. Facing fourth down, the Green Wave jumped early twice before Sak launched a prayer to the end zone that Guimond easily intercepted.

Guimond’s other interception came at a more critical juncture for the Vikings with Greenfield leading 15-0 and receiving the ball to start the second half. The Green Wave returned the kickoff deep inside Smith Vocational territory and once again went to Provost on the first three plays to blast into the red zone. The Vikings caught a break with a holding penalty wiping out a Provost touchdown run and forcing Greenfield back to the air, and once again Guimond jumped to pick off Sak’s offering to the end zone.

The two takeaways nearly erased the trio of turnovers Guimond made in his first start at quarterback. He was sacked and stripped on both of the Vikings’ first two possessions and also threw an interception on an ill-advised pass into traffic.

“He’s young, only a sophomore and our backup last year, so this was his first time playing quarterback,” Lebeau said. “He had those two turnovers where he tried to get it to (Chevron Wall), our big-play guy, but he had the underneath throws open, too. But he got those two picks, too, and I told him as long as we’re even, we’re OK.”

Greenfield 29, Smith Vocational 6

Second quarter

G—Jake Sak 11 run (Rahubenco kick), 7:01.

G—Bob Provost 10 run (Jake Sak pass to Carlos Cardenales), 1:15.

Fourth quarter

G—Jared Hart 16 run (Sak pass to Nick Bresciano), 11:08.

G—Jared Hart 16 run (Run failed), 6:05.

SV—Taylor Beackwith 50 run (Run failed), 2:48.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Smith Vocational–Eric Leet 14-65, Taylor Beackwith 3-60, Chevron Wall 1-6, Jonathan Castro 3-2, Cayden Guimond 6-(-3). Greenfield—Bob Provost 22-125, Jake Sak 6-54, Jared Hart 6-43, Shane Kilgour 1-10, TEAM 2-(-2).

PASSING—Smith Vocational–Cayden Guimond 3-8-0-41. Greenfield–Jake Sak 1-4-0-13.

RECEIVING—Smith Vocational–Chevron Wall 2-24, Chandler Correia 1-17. Greenfield-Jared Hart 1-13.