SOUTH HADLEY — After getting their game postponed two days and moved from a muddy Friday night to a sunny Sunday on artificial turf, the Belchertown and Hoosac Valley football teams were eager to hit the ground running.
Belchertown had an assertive opening drive to the Intercounty League South opener, played at South Hadley High School, moving 72 yards on eight plays to a 3-yard touchdown run by Rylan Queiros.
Then Hoosac Valley had its chance, and the unbeaten Hurricanes changed the dimensions of the game. Hoosac scored touchdowns on its each of its first three drives, and five of its first seven possessions. The eighth possession ended in victory formation with a 36-19 victory in the bag.
“Well-coached, physical team, and we came out flat,” said Belchertown coach Dan McCarthy. “We’re a talented team, too, but if we don’t go out and execute on the field, that’s what is going to happen.
“Hoosac Valley played a great football game. I preached to the boys, they are going to come out and run the ball and punch it down our throat. We just took a beating.”
Hoosac featured four ball-carriers who logged 50 or more yards, including senior Kadan Tatro, who had 112 yards and three touchdowns on 20 tries. The Hurricanes scored five rushing touchdowns.
On the flip side, Belchertown’s Chris Daskam was zeroed in on by the Hoosac defense, and he finished with 57 yards on 15 carries.
“Film study,” said Hoosac coach Mike Bostick, simply. “We looked at other teams and how we matched up up front, what we felt good about. We actually made a quick tweak early, the initial gameplan wasn’t working, so Plan B.
“Felt like we matched up OK up front, and then take gaps away. Tackle him before he gets out in open space.”
The Hurricanes matched Belchertown’s opening touchdown on a 14-play drive, but the Orioles bricked up on the 2-point conversion to preserve a 7-6 lead.
On the first play of the ensuing possession, Hoosac defender Jayquan Vazquez introduced himself to the backfield with a strip-sack of quarterback Landon Andre for a loss of eight. Two incompletions and a punt followed, and Hoosac responded with a go-ahead touchdown at the start of the second quarter.
Belchertown’s chance to answer boiled down to a fourth-and-3 from the Hoosac 32. Andre kept the ball, but was tripped up after a yard and didn’t reach the sticks.
Hoosac went back to work grounding and pounding. After a time out with 1:58 left in the half, Bostwick called for the wildcat, and wide receiver Qwanell Bradley changed the pace with fourth straight runs for 41 yards, setting up a Tatro for his third touchdown of the day and a 20-7 lead.
Belchertown moved quickly to the Hoosac 12, but Andre was hit hard by Vazquez while throwing and a diving Michael Muscaro couldn’t haul in the pass as time expired.
The Orioles were far from gone, though. They kicked off to start the third quarter, and forced a turnover on downs in the first series, getting the ball back on the Hoosac 44.
Andre and Josh Grillo connected on a fourth-down conversion, and after almost a six-minute drive, Daskam legged it over the goal line from a yard out on fourth-and-goal. It was 20-13 with 3:20 left in the third.
Stopping Hoosac a second time, though, wasn’t in the cards.
The Hurricanes responded with another steady dose of runs from Tatro, Bradley, Griffin Mucci and finally Will Hakes, who scored from 3-yards out. The clock-draining drive took until 8:44 of the fourth quarter and put the Orioles behind by 15.
Three plays into the next drive, an Andre pass was tipped into the arms of defensive end Matt Witek. That was the start of three turnovers in a five-play span. Hakes fumbled it back to Belchertown, with Grillo on the recovery at the Hoosac 45.
Vazquez made the clutch play again, though. He ripped into the backfield on Andre’s blindside on the first play after the fumble recover, and stripped him again. Hoosac recovered at the Belchertown 33, and with 4:26 left, Mucci scored to make it 36-13.
The Orioles scored quickly going the other way, with Andre completing three passes for 58 yards, including a 9-yard strike to Muscaro in the end zone. But, the 2-point conversion was short, leaving it a three-score game with 3:22 left.
The Orioles are now 2-1 and host IL South foe Lee Friday at 7 p.m.
“Goal this year is to win the league. We’re going to go out and have a great week at practice and get ready for Lee High School,” McCarthy said. “That’s the plan of attack. We know everyone in our league likes to hit, so we’ve got to get some physicality from our young men this week.”
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Hoosac Valley 6 14 0 16 — 36
Belchertown 7 0 6 6 — 19
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
B — Rylan Queiros 3-yard run (Brian Carlin kick), 8:56.
HV — Kadan Tatro 1-yard run (run fail), 1:48.
Second Quarter
HV — Tatro 8-yard run (Griffin Mucci run), 10:42.
HV — Tatro 6-yard run (run fail), 0:32.
Third Quarter
B — Chris Daskam (fumbled PAT), 3:20.
Fourth Quarter
HV — Will Hakes 3-yard run (Kamarion Kastner run), 8:44.
HV — Mucci 1-yard run (Hakes run), 4:26.
B — Michael Muscaro 9-yard pass from Landon Andre (run fail), 3:22.
Individual Stats
Hoosac Valley
Rushing — Tatro 20-112 (3TDs), Hakes 13-66 (TD), Mucci 12-66 (TD), Bradley 7-50.
Passing — Kastner 1-3-19.
Receiving — Payton 1-19.
Belchertown
Rushing — Daskam 15-57, Andre 9-35, Muscaro 2-33, Queiros 4-7, Grillo 2-2.
Passing — Andre 8-17-116 (TD, INT).
Receiving — Grillo 3-49, Beals 3-19, Queiros 1-29, Muscaro 1-9 (TD).