NORTHAMPTON — The Pathfinder football team outgained Smith Vocational on the ground to keep the Vikings winless with a 20-6 victory, Friday night.
Pathfinder rushed 42 times for 126 yards, compared to Smith Vocational’s 83 yards on 27 attempts.
The most important yards came on Pathfinder quarterback Jordan Talbot’s 2-yard score with 4 minutes, 3 seconds left in the game.
The Belchertown resident gave the Panthers a 14-6 lead with his touchdown.
“It felt amazing going into the end zone and knowing that we had the game in hand,” Talbot said. “What I saw was everyone clashed down and I was able to get to the outside and Jesse (Griswold) pushed me into the end zone for that touchdown.”
The teams were even for most of the game, trading off big runs, penalties and turnovers until Pathfinder (1-6) pulled away from the Vikings (0-7) in the fourth quarter.
“That was a very tough football game,” Vikings coach Keith Lebeau said. “We wanted that bad and the kids wanted it bad. They worked their butts off. We had a great week at practice and we tried but it just wasn’t our day at the end there.”
The game started out rocky for both sides. Smith Voc received the ball at its own 38 and charged down the field. Jonathan Castro opened the drive with a pair of first-down runs. The drive include a series of runs, back-to-back completions, a loss of yards on a botched snap and an offside call on the defense, but the Vikings ultimately fumbled the ball away at the 2-yard line on a carry by Castro.
The Pioneers opened their drive with a 4-yard run by Griswold. They attempted to rush it again but fumbled the ball and the Vikings recovered it at the 9-yard line.
It took Smith Vocational just one play to find the end zone. Quarterback Aaron Pierce connected with Kaiden Dion-Carberry for the touchdown. The Vikings attempted to go for two but were stopped short and led 6-0 with 3:42 remaining in the first quarter.
Pathfinder took the ball and ran straight down the field to tie game. Hunter Niccoson, who carried the ball eight times for 37 yards on the drive, scored from 1 yard out. The Pioneers attempted a two-point conversion but the Vikings stuffed them at the line with 9:30 remaining in the second quarter.
It was at this point where the game got ugly. Both teams struggled with penalties and neither could take advantage of the calls. Pathfinder fumbled the ball on a botched snap on its third possession of the game. The Vikings returned the favor on their fourth drive when Castro fumbled the ball on a pitch.
The Vikings sacked Talbot twice while the first half ended with Pierce getting intercepted by cornerback Hunter Ferrar.
Both teams ran the ball almost exclusively in the third quarter but neither could sustain drives. The two sides each punted the ball away on their first two possessions of the second half.
Pathfinder turned things in its favor when it received the ball a minute into the fourth quarter. The Pioneers strung together a 13-play drive that included a 35-yard run being called back, a facemask call and Talbot’s 2-yard sneak for the touchdown. Ferrar’s two-point conversion run to the pylon gave the Pioneers a 14-6 lead with 4:03 remaining in the game.
The game was put away with 1:51 remaining when Ferrar intercepted a pass around the Pioneers’ 40-yard line and returned it all the way back for the score.