NORTHAMPTON — The Vikings only broke a few times, but against a grueling and grinding side from Great Barrington, that was enough.
Visiting Monument Mountain dragged a 20-8 victory back home to the Berkshires Friday night, dealing a Tri-County blow to Smith Vocational.
The Vikings couldn’t convert off an opening fumble recovery, and instead got behind 8-0. However, the home defense stood tall from there, fending off two red zone drives to get to the locker room still down just one score.
But a mishap to start the second half gave the Spartans another edge and senior quarterback Dom Calautti went to work asserting his will on the younger Vikings.
Calautti took two carries for 9 yards apiece to start the third quarter, but then had a long touchdown run called off for a block in the back. A fumbled snap followed, but on third-and-21 he calmly moved his receivers around and delivered a dime to Cole Errichetto for 26 yards and the first down.
On first-and then second-and-goal from inside the 10, Calautti dropped his shoulder and dropped defenders to the turf for a 14-0 lead to cap a seven-minute, half-opening drive.
“A lot of credit to Monument,” said Smith coach Alex Subocz. “They did a good job controlling the tempo of the game, they had the advantage of controlling the clock, picked up first downs.”
Calautti chewed up Smith Vocational’s defense to the tune of 170 yards on 19 runs, adding a 7-of-15 passing performance for 78 yards.
However, the Vikings didn’t fade down 14.
Smith Vocational responded when it’s own imposing quarterback, Spencer Warner, took the first play from scrimmage after Calautti’s score on a 57-yard touchdown run of his own.
Warner high-stepped through a caved defensive line and once he got to the second level, won a footrace to the end zone against chasing DBs.
“Huge shout-out to Spencer Warner, second straight week with a 50-yard-plus touchdown run,” said Subocz. “What he’s doing as a sophomore quarterback is just incredible. Incredibly proud of what he’s doing.”
Down just 14-8 with a quarter and change to play, the Vikings had new life. Only, the Spartans didn’t see it that way.
It was a two-pronged and pulverizing attack by Monument, as senior running back Kam Boino carried the ball 21 times for 92 yards. The Spartans ran the ball 41 times and ran 56 plays to Smith’s 32.
“Limited possessions, only scored one of them, but a lot of highlights for us,” said Subocz. “Don’t want anybody thinking this was a bad game.”
Smith did hold up defensively yet again in the red zone. Calautti’s fourth-and-8 pass from the Smith 19 fell incomplete with 52 seconds left in the third.
Warner carried the ball six yards on first down, and later it was Jett Sabourin and Brayden Larose carrying for first downs. But, a screen pass was snuffed out for a loss of six, and eventually the Vikings turned it back over on downs with 7:14 left in the game on the Monument 46.
Needing to chew clock, the Spartans put their big-arm, big-body QB largely on ice and put the ball in Boino’s hands. Monument grinded out a 10-play drive, with eight handoffs to Boino, including a fourth-and-1 carry up the middle with around four minutes still remainin. Boino spun through a hole for 4 yards and the key first down.
Boino got the Vikings on the run and kept them there, breaking an 18-yarder to the Smith 21. He eventually punched it into the end zone for a 20-8 lead. Almost as importantly, there was only 1:37 left on the game clock.
Smith Voc. (2-4, 1-2 Tri-County) will be at McCann Tech next week, while the Spartans (3-3, 2-1) will be at Fitchburg.