PITTSFIELD — Down four at its own 37-yard line, Pittsfield quarterback Marcus Jubrey tried to flip a pass over South Hadley defensive lineman Ryan Poirier.

Jubrey didn’t put nearly enough on it, and Poirier picked it off to propel the Tigers to a 16-12 Suburban League North victory Friday night at Berkshire Community College.

“We didn’t pick it up till the fourth quarter, which is our problem, we start slow. But these kids dug deep and I’m proud of them,” said South Hadley head coach Brian Couture. “Pittsfield played hard, [Jack Reed] killed us tonight. Quarterback, he’s tough to stop. Owen Dawson, Julius [Hebenth], really picked it up. Marty [Loughrey’s] finding out what it means to be a fullback and he’s embracing it right now.

“We’re a good football team playing a hard football team. It’s never easy coming into the Berkshires.”

South Hadley barely threw the ball, instead running right up the middle at Pittsfield to the tune of 307 yards on the ground. 

“We tell the kids all the time, we never let one win or loss dictate our season. We take it on the chin three games in a row. Our guys fought to the end tonight and I’m unbelievably proud to be their coach,” said Pittsfield head coach Brian Jezewski. “South Hadley’s a really, really good football team. Our games are always like this, regardless of the score.”

South Hadley made more than a few big plays on defense, too. After forcing a three and out on the first drive of the game, Pittsfield had the ball and first-and-20 at its own 45 yard line. Perhaps because of the rain, the pass thrown up hung limp in the air and fell into Aydan Lugo’s arms, giving the Tigers the ball.

On that ensuing drive, South Hadley ran the ball seven straight times, including back-to-back runs of 26 and 16 yards from Hebenth, before Loughrey powered it up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown run and the Tigers led 8-0.

Both teams had two more possessions after that, neither able to capitalize. With 1:09 left in the first half, Pittsfield finally went to its vertical passing attack and Jubrey connected with Freddy Conyers for 37 yards and a first down. Hurrying to the line, Jubrey dropped a dime to Elias Robinson in stride who raced in for a 31-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 8-6.

The second half had an up-and-down start for Pittsfield. Conyers had a great return that put the hosts at the South Hadley 31. But on third and 13, Jubrey threw into traffic and Owen Dawson picked it off. 

Later, Pittsfield got the ball at its own 28 and needed just one play to take the lead. Jubrey uncorked a beauty to Conyers, who beat his man off the line on an in-breaking go route, caught the ball at the 35-yard line and sprinted the rest of the way for a 72-yard touchdown and a 12-8 Pittsfield lead.

Both teams traded series but a Generals drive stalled near midfield. With the ball back and 50 yards to go, South Hadley went back to its bread and butter. Grinding the clock on a seven play drive that was capped off by a nice halfback reverse, taken in by Hebenth for a 20-yard touchdown and a Burke Belsky conversion run that made it 16-12.

That score ultimately held, as the Tigers improved to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in the Suburban League North. Next up is a home game against Taconic on Friday.

— — —

South Hadley 16, Pittsfield 12

South Hadley 8 0 0 8 — 16

Pittsfield 0 6 6 0 — 12

Scoring Plays

First Quarter

SH — Loughrey 1-yard run (Dawson run good) 6:14

Second Quarter

PHS — Jubrey 31-yard pass to Robinson (conversion no good) 49.6

Third Quarter

PHS — Jubrey 72-yard pass to Conyers (conversion no good) 3:13

Fourth Quarter

SH — Hebenth 20-yard run (Belsky run good) 7:51

Individual Statistics

Rushing yards: Dawson 18-105 2pc, Hebenth 14-112 1TD, Loughrey 16-77 1TD, Belsky 4-13 1 2pc. Jubrey 14-57, Conyers 1-3, Conway 2-6, Robinson 3-17, Brown 2- -8.

Passing yards: Belsky 5-11-38 1 INT. Jubrey 6-9-180 2INT 2TD.

Receiving yards: Dawson 1-20, Loughrey 2- -6, Currier 1-17, Soderbaum 1-7. Conyers 1-72 1TD, Conway 1-33, Robinson 1-31 1TD, Carnavale 1-17, Brown 1-15.