BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown football team averted disaster more than once during the fourth quarter in its Thanksgiving clash with Pathfinder, staving off the Pioneers for a 17-14 win.
The Orioles, ahead 17-14, turned the ball over twice in the waning minutes of regulation, once on a red zone interception and another on a fumble from quarterback Coleman Longley with about two minutes left, giving Pathfinder’s offense a couple of cracks at coming back from its three-point deficit.
But Belchertown’s defense showed up when it was needed the most, preventing the Pioneers from getting across midfield each instance and ultimately, sewed up the Orioles’ first Turkey Day victory since 2023.
“We started off well at the beginning of the year, we had very few injuries, then to come to this game, finish on Thanksgiving and end up getting the trophy, which was one of our goals, is so satisfying,” Belchertown head coach Keith LeBeau said. “Especially the way we did it. We played well in the first half, second half we had the turnovers, our defense really stepped up and did a good job. Super proud of them for that.”
The Thanksgiving Day matchup was the second meeting between the two squads this season as Pathfinder won the first outing, 40-25, a month ago in Palmer on Oct. 24. Combined with the Pioneers’ 20-14 win last Thanksgiving, Belchertown was amped to end the losing streak against its rivals.
“I guess that put a fire under our team’s butts,” Orioles senior Adam O’Rourke said. “We got to get out there, take this trophy back and bring it home.”
Belchertown’s eagerness translated to points right away as the hosts marched down field on its opening drive and punched in a 5-yard rushing touchdown from Longley, to take a 7-0 lead. The Orioles ate up nearly 10 minutes of the clock on their first possession.
“At the start of the game there’s a lot of jitters,” Belchertown senior Logan Duke said. “Once you’re able to go down and have success and go out and finish a whole drive, get that touchdown, it really puts a lot of confidence in our team.”
Pathfinder popped right back, taking the ensuing kickoff (a squib kick) to the house on a 55-yard return from Mason Barr. The Pioneers didn’t convert on the 2-point try, to trail, 7-6, with two minutes, 24 seconds to play in the first quarter.
The Orioles put the next points on the board during the second quarter with a successful field goal attempt that measured out to about 20 yards. Belchertown’s advantage grew to 10-6 with 5:24 left in the half following the ball sailing through the uprights.
Longley added on to the Orioles’ lead with another rushing TD, as the junior crossed the goal line with 16 seconds showing on the clock. The extra-point attempt increased Belchertown’s cushion to 17-6.
Pathfinder turned to its burly running back, Cassian Kowalik, to energize the Pioneer offense in the second half and it paid off as Kowalik brought the visitors to within one score with a rushing touchdown late in the third quarter.
Kowalik crashed into the end zone on a 2-yard touchdown with 5:16 remaining in the third quarter.
LeBeau disclosed after the game that limiting Kowalik’s impact in the game was a focus for the Orioles.
“He’s a machine,” LeBeau said.
Despite giving the Pioneers multiple opportunities to spoil the result in the final frame, Belchertown remained focused and pulled out the ‘W’. Thursday’s win capped off LeBeau’s second year at the helm of the Orioles in style.
“We knew it was going to be a game,” LeBeau said. “They’re a good team. I think for the next couple of years, they’re young like we are too, so I think for the next couple of years they’re going to be a great games, so I’m looking forward to it.”
The 2025 season saw Belchertown bounce back after a winless, 0-10 campaign a year ago. Beating Pathfinder gave the Orioles a final record of 7-4 this fall and with a large chunk of the roster returning next season, LeBeau believes his program has built some momentum for the future.
“We let a couple games get away, adversity kind of bit us in the butt last year,” LeBeau said. “We talked about this, adversity hit us [Thursday], but this time we came out on top, which tells us that we’re trying to mature.
“To get [to] 7-4 wasn’t easy, so the underclassmen and everybody have to understand just to get to 7-4, how hard that was, that we have to work even harder,” LeBeau said. “Because they worked hard in the offseason, they put in a lot of effort, the coaches put in a lot of effort to make sure that we were teaching the right things, doing the right things, focusing on the right things. It made a difference from 0-11 to 7-4, but now we got to get to the next level.”
O’Rourke added that the team’s chemistry played a role in the team’s turnaround too.
“Last year, not a lot of our underclassmen played because we were underclassmen and we had such a great team, two years before,” O’Rourke said. “We came into the season last year and none of us really had any experience playing on varsity, only a few of us did. I guess that kind of pushed us back, but now this year, we had all the chemistry together and were able to execute very well.”
Belchertown went 8-3 during the 2023 season and qualified for the MIAA Division 5 tournament.
This year’s Belchertown-Pathfinder game marked the 23rd contest in the Thanksgiving Day series, which began in 2001 (there was no game in 2020, due to COVID).
Pathfinder closed out its season at 4-7.
