CHESHIRE — A first half that had gone by quickly and been dominated by defense changed course rapidly over the last five minutes of the second quarter. 

A scoreless game turned in the final 5 minutes, 25 seconds of the second quarter thanks to four South Hadley fumbles. All four turned into Hoosac touchdowns. That gave the Hurricanes the opening they needed and they stormed right through on the way to a 33-6 win.

“Feels good but we ain’t done nothing yet,” said Hoosac’s Jacob Borawski about the win and 4-0 start.

“We got a lot to prove,” agreed fellow senior Logan O’Connell.  

South Hadley’s first two drives ended in punts and Hoosac’s ended with a turnover on downs and a fumble at the South Hadley 9-yard line, recovered by Ryan O’Donnell. But on the Tigers’ first play on offense after that fumble recovery, Lincoln Belsky fumbled, which was recovered by Borawski, to give the ‘Canes the ball right back.

Hoosac did have some sloppy play, needing to take a timeout before its first down, but the team ran it four times, the fourth a 7-yarder from Qwanell Bradley who pushed a massive pile of bodies for the final two yards to score the first touchdown of the game. Adan Wicks kicked the PAT and it was 7-0 for the home team.

On the next South Hadley possession, Bradley recovered a fumble by Charlie Maxwell to give Hoosac first and goal at the 5-yard line. Two plays later Ben Payton ran it in on a quarterback power. The snap was bad but holder Tyler Hakes adjusted nicely and Wicks booted in the PAT.

Wicks got a tackle for loss on South Hadley’s next possession, and on third and 14, Noah Rehill strip-sacked quarterback Griffin Soderbaum and the ball was recovered by O’Connell. 

Disaster nearly struck for Hoosac, as Payton fumbled the ball but was able to fall on it. On the next play Bradley scored on an 11-yard run, although the PAT was blocked. 

The visitors had 1:32 left in the half and drove to the 45-yard line, but a TFL from Borawski made it third and 11 with 35.3 seconds left. After a Tiger timeout, a halfback pass was incomplete and the Tigers elected to punt. The snap went well over the head of Cooper Wall, the punter. Wall picked it up and was hit by Danile Bondini, popping the ball loose again.

It was recovered by South Hadley, resulting in an enormous loss of yardage and a Hoosac first down at the Tiger 19-yard line with 20.4 seconds to go. A swing pass from Payton to Bradley out of the backfield made it 26-0, which would be the score at the half.

“You can’t drop the ball on the ground under the 20 [yard line] three times and expect to win the game,” lamented South Hadley head coach Brian Couture. “They’re tougher than they look like on film and they got some great players over there.”

Hoosac’s offense went back into its lull in the third quarter, forced to punt in part due to an increase in Hoosac penalties. The ‘Canes were flagged just three times in the first half, but six times in the second half. Several holding calls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were self-inflicted wounds for the home team. That total also includes three instances where South Hadley went to a hardcount and got Hoosac to jump, resulting in a free 5 yards for the visitors. 

That lengthened a South Hadley drive in the third, although it stalled out in the red zone when Soderbaum couldn’t connect with his receivers in the end zone, with Hoosac forcing a turnover on downs. The offense chipped its way to the 26-yard line before Kamarion Kastner took a handoff to the near sideline, had a lane and sprinted down the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown run with 9.7 seconds left in the third quarter.

South Hadley got a touchdown with three minutes to go in the game. Hoosac’s Jackson Larabee fumbled and it was recovered by Maxwell who sprinted 40 yards and was tripped up by Wicks for a touchdown saving tackle. Several plays later Soderbaum tossed it to Noah Hambly for a 7-yard touchdown pass and catch. 

An outmanned South Hadley squad had its moments. The defense gave up one big play to the Hoosac offense. But when the Hurricanes weren’t gifted field position inside the red zone, they didn’t score. Belsky had a TFL, Hambly had a TFL and a pass breakup and Soderbaum broke up a pass as well. 

“We don’t have any depth right now,” said Couture. “They play tough, they play as hard as they can.”

The Tigers will face a familiar foe next week. Only two members of the original Suburban North remain and South Hadley will journey to Taconic (1-3) for a Week 5 matchup.

— — —

South Hadley 0 0 0 6 — 6

Hoosac Valley 0 26 7 0 — 3

Scoring by Quarter

Second Quarter

HV — Bradley 7-yard run (Wicks PAT good) 5:25

HV — Payton 5-yard run (Wicks PAT good) 3:38

HV — Wicks 11-yard run (Wicks PAT no good) 1:37

HV — Payton 19-yard pass to Bradley (conversion no good) 13.6

Third Quarter

HV — Kastner 74-yard run (Wicks PAT good) 9.7

Fourth Quarter

SH — Soderbaum 7-yard pass to Hambly (PAT no good) 3:25

Individual Statistics

Rushing yards — SH: Hambly 11-33, Belsky 13-59 2F, Soderbaum 3-4 1F. HV: Bradley 12-117 2TD, Kastner 1-74 1TD, Rehill 7-44, Payton 5-18 1TD, Wicks 9-17, Larabee 2-0 F.  

Receiving yards — SH: Hambly 4-32 1TD, Pecia 1-20, Maxwell 2-5 F, Belsky 1- -4. HV: Bradley 1-19 1TD, Kastner 1-18, Wicks 1-9.

Passing yards — SH: Soderbaum 8-17-53 1TD 1 INT. HV: Payton 3-8-46 1TD.