AMHERST — After falling in last year’s WMass Div. 5 championship game, the West Springfield football team entered Friday night’s rematch with defending champion Amherst in search of some redemption.
The Terriers dominated play on the field, scoring a 38-0 victory at Community Field. Amherst head coach Chris Ehorn Jr. admitted Friday’s result was a tough loss, especially with so much emotion heading into the rematch.
“I don’t think our teams like each other,” Ehorn offered. “There was definitely some excitement going into this one.”
Emotions ran high all game between the Hurricanes and the Terriers. At one point, play was stopped because of a verbal, and somewhat physical, altercation that occurred on the field. No one was ejected from the game, but players were asked to leave the field to prevent further issues.
“There were a lot of extra curriculars that were happening on the sideline,” said Ehorn. “The decision made was solely to prevent further issues from happening.”
Though Amherst fought hard, the rematch of last year’s title tilt was all in favor of the Terriers on the field. West Side quarterback Ryan Russell threw for two touchdowns and Josiah Griffin rushed for 131 yards and two scores. Russell also added a score with his legs.
Tensions began to run high at the end of the first half. Leading 26-0, West Springfield took three straight timeouts with about 30 seconds remaining to force Amherst to punt before halftime. The Terriers tried to punch another touchdown in before intermission, but were unsuccessful. That decision had some history to it, according to Ehorn.
“When we won the Western Mass. championship last year, we scored our 50th point with just a couple seconds left,” said Ehorn, referring to the 50-8 victory in the 2019 final. “I think they were just trying to get us back for that.”
Amherst was unable to move the ball through the air in Friday’s tilt. The offense didn’t complete a pass and West Side’s Mekhi Smith snatched an interception.
The Hurricanes, who Ehorn admitted are still rebuilding from their championship season a year ago, managed to dodge some injury issues when Neil Cunniffe went down after being pancaked by West Springfield’s offensive linemen Xavier Andino.
“He’s gonna be fine,” said Ehorn of Cunniffe. “He’ll be good to go.”
Despite the final score, Ehorn said he was staying positive. In the postgame huddle, he echoed those sentiments to his Hurricanes.
“They can be happy about the win, they can cheer with their families on the sideline, but they don’t get to hang a banner at the end of this one,” he said.
Amherst is scheduled to close out its regular season next week when it hosts Chicopee Comp on Friday at 5 p.m.