GREAT BARRINGTON — Easthampton had its chances Friday night, and none better than after senior running back Bb Tauscher rushed 16 yards to the Monument Mountain 5-yard line with less than two minutes to play.
The visiting Eagles hadn’t hit paydirt all night, but moved to second-and-goal from the 3 on a carry up the middle, trailing by a touchdown.
Then, the pesky mistakes that plagued Easthampton all night came back at the most inopportune time.
A delay of game penalty was followed by an incompletion when Monument’s Mark Bailly broke up a Shea Healy pass in the back of the end zone. A false start followed and it was suddenly third-and-goal from the 13.
With the run taken almost off the table, Monument’s pass defense was in tune and forced two more incompletions to seal the 7-0 independent victory.
“Too many mistakes,” said Easthampton coach Matt Bean. “A lot of them, just too many kids doing things they’re unfamiliar with. It’s what it is, every team has to deal with injuries, and the last couple weeks it’s gotten us good.”
The Eagles were thin on the sidelines, and had defensive leader Will Hogan in street clothes serving as defensive coordinator from the sidelines.
Healy finished the night 8 of 14 for 83 yards, while Tauscher rushed 10 times for 45 yards. Seven of those 10 carries were stopped at 3 yards or fewer.
Easthampton punted three times, turned it over on downs twice and fumbled the ball away twice. The problems started right from the start, too. The Eagles received the opening kickoff at their 25, and after a short completion, immediately fumbled it away to the Spartans.
Monument recovered at the Easthampton 30-yard line, providing short yardage for the game’s lone score. Nick Henderson — who went for 122 yards on 21 carries — chewed up 24 yards on four carries, before senior quarterback Jay Howard faked a handoff left and kept it on a sweep to the right pylon. He broke a Troser Conan-Smith tackle and tumbled into the end zone with 8:19 still to go in the first quarter.
On Easthampton’s potential answer drive, a holding penalty and bad snap resulted in a second-and-27 and an eventual punt. In the second quarter, the visitors got a 33-yard connection from Healy to Tauscher, but two plays later stared at third and 23 and again had to punt.
“I was proud of the kids, played right till the end, had a chance to the end,” said Bean. “Anytime you come out here, long drive to the Berkshires and it’s going to be a tough game no matter who you play.”
The third quarter was a killer for the morale and momentum, as Monument Mountain dominated possession and the Eagles ran just five plays.
Easthampton forced a three-and-out to start the frame, and Monument’s punt traveled just 13 yards to the Spartans 28. But, the Eagles then rushed three times for three yards each. On fourth-and-1 from the 19, Healy’s pass fell incomplete.
Monument then sucked six minutes of clock on a drive from its own 19 to the Easthampton 34. The Eagles forced and recovered a fumble, though, and took over near midfield. However, on the first play of that ensuing drive, it was the Eagles that fumbled possession away.
With less than five minutes to play, Easthampton forced a three-and-out that was exacerbated by an errant snap to the punter. The ball was ultimately turned over on downs to the Eagles on the Spartans’ 28. Tauscher rushed for 26 yards on three carries to the Monument 3-yard line, but — as was the case all night — the Eagles could get no further.
Tauscher added three catches for 43 yards to his night, while Healy rushed four times for 5 yards. Luke Johndrow had three handoffs for 3 yards and caught an 8-yard pass. Collin Hogan had two catches for 20 yards, while Kole Kolodziej caught two passes for 12 yards.