Hunter Carey sparks South Hadley in season-opening 31-7 win over Ludlow

LUDLOW — Hunter Carey took the ball to the house the first time he touched it for South Hadley, returning a Ludlow punt for a touchdown.

The play was called back for a block in the back, but Carey’s electric afternoon was just getting started. He finished with three touchdowns in the Tigers’ 31-7 win Saturday.

Carey also had a second touchdown return called back.

“Hunter is special,” Tigers coach Scott Taylor said. “The thing is we have to find different ways to get him that ball.”

Whenever the Tigers (1-0) needed a big play or conversion they called on Carey, who converted two third downs on touchdown drives. Carey used a patient running style to find holes and use his speed and physicality to evade defenders down the sideline.

“Over the years I’ve been playing varsity I’ve worked on my vision as a ball carrier,” Carey said. “I’ve been waiting for the holes to open up and I take advantage.”

Carey finished with 11 carries for 141 yards and two reception for 43 yards. If not for the two penalties, Carey would’ve added two more special teams touchdowns to his performance. The penalties are something Taylor plans to make the main point of emphasis in practice this week.

“We will absolutely be,” Taylor said. “I think we had two touchdowns called back due to penalties and I don’t think we scored on one of the drives so that’s seven or eight points off the board. So yeah, we will certainly be working on our blocking skills and understanding what the back looks like as opposed to the front.”

While Carey and the offense got the job done with explosive plays, including an Ethan Murphy 69-yard passing touchdown to Evan Piquette to put things away in the third quarter, it was the defense that set the tone.

The Tigers’ defense forced four straight three-and-outs and didn’t allow a first down until under a minute to go in the first half. Max Garvin recorded the first sack of the game, bursting into the backfield on third down to force a punt. On the next possession, the Tigers brought the heat again with Austin Robinette and Noah Will sacking the quarterback.

“I thought the defense played lights out. I thought they got after it,” Taylor said. “We talk about pad level and explosion off the ball. All the little things that make a good defense and understanding their technique and their assignments and I thought they executed it very well.”

The only time the defense struggled was the opening drive of the third quarter The Lions came out with a new running back in the backfield and drove steadily down the field to score.

“That third quarter drive Ludlow came out and just took it right at us,” Taylor said. “We didn’t really have an answer for that, but that’s something that we’ll address this week.”

The Tigers checked the first box on their quest to have a successful season, but they know there will still be plenty of challenges for their young team as they try to make the playoffs again.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids out there, a lot of first-year players, as far as the varsity level,” Taylor said. “It’s very different playing on varsity as opposed to JV. Everything’s a little bigger, a little faster, and again when you play a quality opponent those things start to show up a little bit.”

If the team can stay healthy and clean up some aspects of its game, Carey and the Tigers have high hopes for the rest of the season.

“Playoffs is the main goal,” Carey said. “I’d be happy with a winning record, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

South Hadley 31 Ludlow 7

First quarter

SH – Hunter Carey 21-yard run (conversion failed), 6:42

Second quarter

SH – Carey 52 run (conversion failed), 10:00

SH – Kyle Johnson 10 run (Harry Baptiste kick), 4:03

SH – Carey 5 run (kick failed), 42.0

Third quarter

L – Christoper Fogg 6 run (Tim Del Negro kick), 6:55

SH – Evan Piquette 69 pass from Ethan Murphy (kick failed), 4:06

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – South Hadley – Carey 11-141, Johnson 8-61, Collin Mailhott 2-43, Jack Haber 4-32 Tyrell Braithwaite 5-14, Murphy 2-14 Ludlow – Michael Gilrein Jr 10-48, Fogg 4-11, Jamonte Beckett 8-6, Wyatt Chambers 2-(-3)

PASSING – South Hadley – Murphy 4-10-118, Ludlow Fogg 2-8-27

RECEIVING – South Hadley – Piquette 1-69, Carey 2-43, Johnson 1-6, Ludlow – Beckett 1-20, Jake Manewich 1-7