EASTHAMPTON — There is no way that high school football could be scripted — because not even an Oscar-winning writer could dream up a scenario like Friday night.
Playing in their first home game in four years and with thoughts and memories of the foundational coach Matt Bean, who died over the summer, still lingering, the Easthampton Eagles put on a start-to-finish dominating performance in a 44-14 win over Monument Mountain.
“It means a lot to ourselves, the community, [Bean’s] family that are here right now,” said Eagles coach Kyle Dragon, “just to go out there and have him looking down on us — you know he’s cheering around us right now and it’s an exciting win.”
Luke Johndrow set the tone on the opening kickoff. After the Spartans (1-1) won the toss and elected to defer, Johndrow stepped onto the field deep in his own territory. When the kick landed in his hands at the 20-yard line, Johndrow looked up and just started running. When he stopped, it was jubilation on the Easthampton sideline.
“In the backfield I’m thinking about Coach Bean, and I’m thinking about how Monument beat us last year,” Johndrow said. “I knew we had to come back. We were missing some players, so I knew that some of the captains had to work harder to bring the rest of the team up. We’ve been focusing a lot on setting the tone so that we can let the other team know we’re not messing around.”
Messing around, they certainly were not.
On Monument’s opening possession, the Eagles stood strong and forced a turnover-on-downs. With the ball back, Johndrow (7 carries, 38 yards) capped off a touchdown drive with a five-yard run, and suddenly the Eagles were up 14-0. Easthampton then forced a Monument punt, and then Tommy O’Connor (7 carries, 114 yards) got in on the action, taking a 32-yard sweep to the barn. After Johndrow’s third PAT went through the uprights, Easthampton led 21-0.
“Easthampton came to play tonight,” Monument coach Chris Tucci said. “They came with a determined game plan and they stuck to their plan and we weren’t able to make the necessary adjustments.”
Monument’s attempts to stop the momentum went haywire again on the ensuing kickoff. The Spartans tried to let the ball roll out, but instead Easthampton’s Vynce Carr was there to gobble up the ball. Several plays later, and Johndrow kicked a field goal to make it 24-0. The Spartans finally got on the board on the next possession when Cole Bissaillion (6 carries, 36 yards) found paydirt from 11 yards out, making the score 24-6.
But any momentum that the Spartans built on the TD possession was erased on Easthampton’s next play, as O’Connor went 65 yards to the house to make it 30-6, where the score stayed until halftime. For the Eagles, which lost to Monument 7-0 last year, the halftime lead and subsequent victory was huge for the morale.
“Especially because of last year, this game means a lot,” O’Connor said. “We had probably one of the closest games I’ve ever been in in my life against this team last year, and we came into this with a lot of heart and this game meant a lot to win — like, this is everything.”
Monument got the ball to start the second half, but fumbled it away on its first possession. With a short field to work with, the Eagles scored again, this time on a QB keeper by Colin Hogan (7 carries, 12 yards). To cap the scoring for Easthampton, Hogan found O’Connor on a 16-yard strike for his only completion of the game. Monument pulled one more touchdown back through Shaun Frank (19 carries, 104 yards), but by then the game was decided.
“It feels great [getting this win],” O’Connor said. “Especially not being able to play here for so many years and just the chip on our shoulder of having Coach Bean and what we did for him before the game, it all feels great. I just — I think we deserve it.”
Carr recorded a second fumble recovery for Easthampton in the win, while Trevor Canon-Smith had an interception and a lengthy, 85-yard return in the second half.
Going up against a team that by appearance looked bigger, Dragon noted how impressed he was with how quick his players moved to counter the size difference.
“What I liked is we have speed and we can use different players in multiple formations and multiple runs,” Dragon said. “They’re just playmakers out there. Tommy, Luke, Nelly [Nelson Gomez]. We were missing one of our starters tonight, too [Topher Reardon], so that’s a plus to get him back next week.”
But before the team moves on to next week, they took moments of reflection for their former coach. Pregame, there was a moment of silence to honor Bean, and then Bean’s surviving family members came onto the field and were greeted by the Easthampton captains. Afterward, Johndrow stated the obvious: This is exactly what the Eagles wanted.
“It feels great. I wouldn’t want to walk out of here any other way,” he said. “It feels amazing on the new field.”
Easthampton is back in action on Friday at home against Palmer. Monument, meanwhile, returns home next Friday to face Hoosac Valley.