LUDLOW – Friday night was a tale of two halves for the Belchertown football team.
The Orioles’ offense was electric over the first 24 minutes, scoring three touchdowns and converting on all three of their two-point conversion attempts against Ludlow. On top of that, they intercepted two passes, keeping their foot on the gas and sprinting into halftime with a 24-6 advantage.
That first half was crucial to the team’s eventual 24-12 victory, bumping its record to 2-1 on the season. After jumping out to an 18-point halftime cushion, the Orioles managed to hold on during a more chaotic second half.
“If we’re able to do that, get up early, then we can kind of control the game and make that other team uncomfortable,” Belchertown head coach Dan McCarthy said. “Get them away from their game plan, and I think we did just that.”
It wasn’t clear following last week’s game whether starting quarterback Landon Andre would be back in action after an injury took him out mid-game in a 14-12 loss to Greenfield. Luckily for the Orioles, he was back and better than ever against Ludlow, orchestrating the team’s offense with ease.
“I’m feeling great. I feel brand new,” Andre said post-game.
On Ludlow’s second possession of the game, the Lions tried to throw a pass on a fourth down that was picked off by Nico St. George to give Belchertown the ball at the 47 yard line. Joshua Grillo and Christopher Daskam marched the ball up the field, and Grillo ran in from 28 yards out to score the team’s first touchdown and an 8-0 lead.
“On that run, I don’t know how I got out of there,” Grillo said. “I felt like there were three guys on me and I just got out of there, I broke free and I just saw green grass in front of me.”
Ludlow scored a touchdown in the second quarter on a seven-yard pass from quarterback Anthonie Emco to Michael Sternowski, but were foiled on its two-point conversion attempt. Belchertown responded immediately, capitalizing on a 24-yard run by St. George to get into the red zone. After a short three-yard gain, Daskam ran 17 yards to score the team’s second touchdown, and Grillo notched a successful two-point conversion.
Not content with a 16-6 lead, the Orioles took the ball back on the very next possession. Ludlow advanced just three yards before an attempted pass was picked off by Patrick Fuller, who raced to the 25 yard line with less than two minutes left in the half. Andre and Grillo teamed up for the touchdown, and Grillo added the conversion to give the visitors a 24-6 lead.
“Both my wingbacks, Nico St. George and Josh Grillo, they came out and they were ready to get the hand off, they were ready to get the ball in their hands and make something with it,” McCarthy said. “I do want to shout out our whole O-line that first half – I challenged them this whole week in practice, and they showed me what they can do.”
While they were unstoppable in the first two quarters, the offense struggled to get going in the second half, not earning a first down until the last minute and a half of the fourth quarter. During that time, Ludlow was able to cut into the lead on a 7-yard TD pass, but a missed conversion left the Lions trailing 24-12. That would prove to be the final.
McCarthy hopes his team can learn from the second half missteps in time for their next game against Commerce, which opens up Intercounty League South play next week. Kickoff in Belchertown is set for 7 p.m.
“Finishing a game, playing both halves,” McCarthy said on what his team will be working on this week. “If we were able to execute like we did in the first half in the second half, I think we would be able to put a lot more points up.”