South Hadley’s Owen Dawson (4) breaks past the Taconic defense down the sideline for a first down this past fall in South Hadley. Dawson was selected as the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Football Player of the Year.
South Hadley’s Owen Dawson (4) breaks past the Taconic defense down the sideline for a first down this past fall in South Hadley. Dawson was selected as the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Football Player of the Year. Credit: STAFF FILE PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

With a state tournament berth firmly in their sights, the South Hadley football team continued to take care of business on Friday night.

On the road at Szot Park, the Tigers built a commanding 40-0 lead and cruised past Chicopee, 40-14, to improve to 6-1 on the season.

South Hadley, seeded 14th in the most recent MIAA Division 7 Power Rankings, are in good positioning to earn a postseason berth with a win in its regular season finale next week against Putnam.

The Pacers dropped to 0-6.

Julius Hebenth got the scoring started early in the first quarter, when he finished off a drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Owen Dawson’s two-point conversion gave the visitors an 8-0 lead with 8:55 remaining.

Dawson doubled the advantage late in the first quarter when he powered in from 4 yards out and Hebenth notched the conversion to make it 16-0.

Dawson scored two more TDs in the second quarter, and Marty Loughrey made it 40-0 heading into halftime when he scored on a 2-yard run.

Chicopee scored both touchdowns in the fourth quarter.