SOUTH HADLEY – Owen Dawson held his hand up to the South Hadley bench, a calm reassurance.
“We’re good,” he said.
The Tigers defense didn’t look it in the third quarter Thursday against Holyoke. The Purple Knights hit three passes in a row and were driving toward a touchdown that could cut their deficit to one score. South Hadley’s offense hadn’t possessed the ball in ages after Holyoke recovered an an onside kick.
The Tigers coaches backed off. Dawson intercepted the next Holyoke pass at the 8 yard line. Then he burst through the line on the next running play, spinning out of a tackle and stiff arming another defender on the way to a 92-yard touchdown.
“We weren’t playing to our full potential,” Dawson said. “Last year we didn’t have the best outcome versus them. Not all of us had that edge that wanted to beat Holyoke. I sure has hell wanted it.”
Dawson rumbled for 300 yards on just 19 carries. He scored five touchdowns and intercepted two passes in a 60-36 victory, the Tigers’ fourth in five games against the Purple Knights. Holyoke won its first in the series last year at home.
“This is huge. I came in, and I was nervous. Holyoke’s a good program, they play a tough schedule,” South Hadley first-year coach Brian Couture said. “We’ve been in a downward spiral. These guys, they wanted this and they wanted it back.”
Holyoke (2-9) wanted to keep it. The Purple Knights took the opening kickoff and drove 60 yards for an opening touchdown. Quarterback Gavier Fernandez connected wit David Sicard for a 35-yard diving catch to set up a short touchdown run 2 minutes, 32 seconds in.
“We got punched in the mouth, and we responded very well,” Dawson said.
South Hadley (4-7) scored 38 unanswered points in the first half sparked by a blocked punt. The Tigers nearly got to Holyoke’s first punt, so Couture sent the ambush the next time. Defensive lineman Ryan Poirier put a paw on the ball and knocked it back to the Holyoke 15.
Dawson scored from eight yards out three plays later after plunging in from a yard out the previous drive. South Hadley forced a four and out, then Noah Marion (145 yards) burst up the middle for a 51-yard touchdown.
Another Holyoke punt led to a 58-yard Dawson touchdown, then South Hadley kept the ball after recovering the kickoff. Sophomore Julius Hebenth (62) yards finished that drive with a 42-yard touchdown run that made it 38-6 with 57.1 seconds to halftime.
“Everybody got their love. The line opened them up for all those guys,” Couture said. “That’s the beauty of it. They played like a family.”
Those haymakers staggered Holyoke but didn’t knock the Knights out.
Fernandez orchestrated a nine-play, 50-yard drive where he threw or ran every play and finished it with a one-yard touchdown run just before the halftime buzzer. He completed 26-of-47 passes for 309 yards.
“Our kids are fighters. They’re here to compete. I preach to them 48 minutes, you’ve got to play for 48 minutes,” Holyoke coach David Guzman said.
Holyoke stymied South Hadley on their opening drive of the second half, knocking away consecutive trick play passes by Dawson to force a turnover on downs from its own red zone. Fernandez hit four passes in a row and found Dymetri Gonzalez for a 23-yard catch and run to cut the deficit to 38-22 with 6:36 left in the third.
The Purple Knights then recovered an onside kick, driving to the red zone before Dawson grabbed his first interception. They responded to Dawson’s long run with a five-yard run from Fernandez set up by a long pass to Sicard (nine catches, 119 yards) and a 27-yard Dylan Lubold run. That made it 44-30 with 3:39 left in the third.
South Hadley punted, and Holyoke faced another chance to cut the lead to one score driving out of the shadow of its own goalpost. Tigers defensive back Burke Belsky picked off a Holyoke pass inside the 10 and returned it to the end zone for a 52-30 lead with 11:21 left.
Holyoke kept coming. The Purple Knights drove 10 plays, and Fernandez tossed his third touchdown of the game to Lexan Fontanez-Castillo to make it 52-36 with 7:34 left.
“Ninety-percent of our starters are freshmen and sophomores. It’s a big difference from a freshman and a sophomore and a junior and a senior,” Guzman said. “For them to not be afraid and stick their nose in with older kids, it really shows the character that we coach on our team. Ultimately they want to win. It’s not our time to win, but I can tell you it will be our time in a couple years.”
Dawson put a bow on the day with a 52-yard score with 5:30 left, his fifth touchdown of the game. The only question left was how many plates he’d put away at Thanksgiving dinner later.
“I don’t know, that’s a good one,” Dawson said.