GREENFIELD — The run-heavy Frontier Regional football team unleashed a different dimension Friday night. With the Greenfield defense stacking the box and bottling up the Red Hawks’ rushing attack, quarterback Garrett DeForest and tight end Donovan Hoffman stole the show. Hoffman caught five passes for 89 yards, including the go-ahead touchdown from DeForest in the third quarter that lifted Frontier to a 14-8 victory at Veterans Field.
“We have a strong connection, we’ve been best buddies since seventh grade and played together since middle school,” DeForest said. “We pass when we want to, that’s what we always say here. We like to run the ball, but when it’s time to open it up, we have the ability to pass as well.”
DeForest finished 7 of 10 for 112 yards. All five of his completions to Hoffman moved the chains for first downs.
“I have trust in Garrett to get me the ball and confidence in myself to catch it,” Hoffman said. “Everybody did their job, from the line up front to the rest of us.”
Marred in an 8-8 deadlock in the third quarter, Frontier (4-1, 4-0 Intercounty North) came out of the locker room and put together the game’s lone scoring drive of the second half. It was all done on the ground, with DeForest picking up runs of 15 and 23 yards to put the Hawks in the red zone. The senior signal-caller finished the drive with a touchdown toss to Hoffman, finding him for a 19-yard score with 6:37 remaining in the third quarter for a 14-8 edge.
Frontier’s defense took over from there, forcing back-to-back Greenfield (2-3, 1-2) three-and-outs. The Green Wave defense also rose to the occasion, as Carlos Cardenales stopped a Frontier drive with an interception, and the hosts held firm on fourth down with 6:36 left when they sacked DeForest to end a drive and keep the game within reach.
That set up Greenfield’s final bid, and the Wave picked up three first downs to march all the way to the Frontier 12. Quarterback Jake Sak hit Jared Hart twice on the drive for 35 yards, and he also ran for a first down to keep his side moving. Frontier shut down any hopes of a comeback however, with DeForest pressuring Sak and Hunter Wolfson nabbing the sack on fourth down with 36 seconds remaining to seal the deal.
“We swarmed to the ball,” Hoffman said. “Garrett stepped up and made a couple big tackles late. It was a whole team effort.”
Greenfield took the lead on a 13-play, 80-yard drive late in the opening quarter. Sak finished it with a 15-yard touchdown run, and he also bulled in for the two-point conversion with 1:40 left in the frame.
Frontier answered on its next possession, running the ball on 12 of the drive’s 13 plays to get on the board. DeForest powered across for a 1-yard score, and Ito McMillan’s two-point conversion made it 8-8 with 7:40 left before halftime.
A potential turning point came with 3:07 remaining in the second quarter, as Frontier regained possession at its own 19. On first down, the Greenfield defense knocked the ball free, and Cardenales scooped it up and ran it back for what looked like a touchdown. But after a long delay and conference between officials in the middle of the field, the play was ruled dead by an inadvertent whistle, meaning Frontier regained possession and the down was replayed.
Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski, who argued the ruling on the field, declined to comment on the game-changing call, but lauded his team’s effort in the loss.
“I thought the kids did a really nice job,” he said. “We had kids in spots that … let’s just say, we had kids step up in places we didn’t think they’d be and they know who they are.”
Sak finished with 33 yards rushing on five carries. Shane Kilgour was Greenfield’s leading rusher with 72 yards on 21 carries.
McMillan went over the century mark again for the Red Hawks, totaling 101 yards on 20 carries. DeForest added 66 yards on eight attempts, while Josh Semaski caught two passes for 23 yards and ran for 35 yards on 11 carries.
It was the third year in a row that the Greenfield-Frontier contest came down to the game’s final possession. The Green Wave won in overtime in 2017, while the Red Hawks have now won back-to-back tilts.
“It’s a rivalry, it’s an Intercounty League game,” DeForest said. “Frontier-Greenfield, Frontier-Easthampton … always tough games when you play against teams like this. We knew it was going to be tough.”