SCITUATE – Two Northampton defenders collided with Scituate receiver Sam Allard at the Sailors 15 yard line. He held onto a prayer from quarterback Jackson Belsan that rainbowed over nearly 15 yards in the air. That third-down moonshot ripped the wind from the Blue Devils’ sails.
Their defense had held the defending Division 4 state champions in check for nearly two full quarters, forcing three turnovers and stopping No. 5 Scituate once on fourth down in the opening round of the Division 4 playoffs Friday.
Sailors captain Colin Morley plunged in from three yards out with 18 seconds left in the first half to make it a two-score game. Scituate pulled away in the second half of a 35-6 victory over No. 12 Northampton.
“Those things are just cumulative. That leads to this, this leads to that,” Northampton coach Joe Kocot said. “On and on and on and it just snowballs.”
The Blue Devils defense took every opportunity it could in the first half.
Defensive lineman Quane Randall grabbed his first career interception to end Scituate’s first drive. Senior Wes Parent tipped Scituate’s first pass of the game.
“My natural instinct was to just go for the ball,” Randall said.
Northampton couldn’t capitalize on the turnover, which became an unwelcome trend. The Blue Devils forced a turnover on downs then fumbled an option pitch.
Parent grabbed the ball right back with the Blue Devils’ second pick, but Northampton turned it over on downs.
Junior Sincere Martinez jumped a route to snag the Blue Devils’ third interception of the half, which drove the Hamp bench to delirium.
“Early in the game we played with much more energy, flying around,” he said. “It felt like practice. Everyone was playing free.”
Northampton turned the ball over on downs, but the Blue Devils defense held firm, and Caleb Steineger partially blocked a punt to set Northampton’s offense up in a favorable position.
An interception ended that drive, and Scituate ran six plays in a row for 72 yards and Morley’s first touchdown from three yards out with 3 minutes, 6 seconds to halftime.
Northampton muscled an eight-play drive but turned the ball over back to Scituate with 1:42 remaining. The Blue Devils harassed the Sailors’ first two pass attempts before Belsan connected with Allard for the haymaker.
Scituate received the second-half kickoff and drove nine plays for an 18-yard touchdown pass from Belsan to Lawson Foley with 7:47 left in the third quarter.
“They’re big. They’re strong. They’re a good team,” Parent said. “At the end of the day, I don’t think I can look at the scoreboard and say that we were the better team in this game. That made it really difficult, they were bigger and stronger.”
Morley added a 45-yard touchdown to make it 28-0 before Northampton quarterback Ben Sledzieski picked up the pitchfork. He either ran or passed on nine of the Blue Devils’ 10 plays, driving them 70 yards for a touchdown. Sledzieski capped it with a 15-yard throw to Parent, who dragged two defenders into the end zone with 1:43 left in the third.
“Me and Ben have been teammates for 10 years now,” Parent said. “We knew we couldn’t go out easy. He felt that and gave it his all.”
Scituate responded with a four-play, 53-yard touchdown drive authored entirely by Alex Burnill, who led the Sailors with 172 yards on the ground.
Northampton kept its starters in through the final whistle, going down swinging in their second consecutive playoff appearance.
“They overcame their early frustration. You hope the good stuff lasts and lasts, but I watched film and we all felt this is a possibility,” Kocot said.
Northampton will now turn its attention to the non-playoff schedule and ultimately a Thanksgiving date with Easthampton, which the Blue Devils have never lost to in their six meetings since the series began in 2015.
Scituate advanced to play at No. 4 Holliston in the quarterfinals. Holliston was a 25-14 winner over No. 13 Melrose on Friday night.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.