NORTHAMPTON – The Ludlow football team pulled within two scores of Smith Vocational with less than 6 minutes remaining, Thursday night.
The Lions were rolling, while the Vikings, despite leading the entire game, were scuffling due to mounting injuries.
Smith Voc rallied at the right time. A 54-yard run by freshman Kaden Shearer on the first play following Ludlow’s final touchdown led to a game-clinching 6-yard score by senior Jameson Tobin on a bubble screen from sophomore quarterback Frank Szawlowski.
“I was running with him the whole time on that play, and it felt natural,” Tobin said of Shearer’s run. “It boosted everybody on the team.”
The 38-20 victory moved Smith Voc to 2-0 ahead of next week’s clash with rival Easthampton.
Shearer finished with 68 yards on six second-half carries. He was one of many backups to see the field.
“It’s a really great feeling getting a team effort in a win, especially on all sides of the ball,” Tobin said. “We had kick returns, punt returns, interceptions, and I think that boosts the team’s confidence.”
Tobin scored the final two touchdowns for the Vikings. He gave the Vikings a 32-6 lead when he returned a punt from midfield early in the third quarter. It was the second of two special teams’ touchdowns. Junior Spencer Warner opened the second half with a 70-yard kickoff return for a 24-6 lead.
“That goes to the commitment to each other that these kids have,” Smith Voc coach Alex Subocz said. “Kick returns and punt returns only happen if the other 10 guys block. They are willing to block for each other.”
Smith looked poised to roll following Deryk Nuttleman’s interception on Ludlow’s series after Tobin’s punt return. But the Vikings went backwards on a sack, fumbled snap and flag.
Ludlow’s Giovanni Perez had a big return on the ensuing punt, then scored on a 31-yard swing pass with 3:21 left in the third.
Ludlow cut the lead to 32-20 with 5:45 left. Quarterback Connor Sylvestre found Mason Bartolucci for 56 yards. Raymond Bennett then punched it in from 4 yards out.
“We were told to not to let up on the gas pedal,” said Tobin of the sideline discussion prior to the final scoring drive. “We were told to keep going, keep pushing.”
The Vikings took a 6-0 lead on a nine-play, 80-yard drive that took over 5 minutes off the clock. Nuttleman had gains of 21 and 17 yards, in addition to a 9-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left in the first.
Warner made it 12-0 early in the second. The junior carried two players into the end zone on an 18-yard burst up the middle.
A 2-yard keeper by Szawlowski just before the half gave the Vikings an 18-6 lead. Moments earlier, Ludlow cut the deficit in half after intercepting Szawlowski.
Center Cole LaPalm was hurt during the interception return. Warner was hurt earlier in the third quarter. Those were just two situations the Vikings overcame in the second half as players rotated in and out of the lineup.
“Our coaches really prepare us for that, for having to change on the fly with how much we change our offense and rotate our players in and out,” Tobin said. “We had a lot of JV players making plays today. I feel like getting fresh bodies out there is what helped us to do that.”
Szawlowski finished 8-of-17 for 94 yards and one pick. Warner had 54 yards rushing and 58 yards receiving. Nuttleman added 57 yards rushing.
Trenton Clark had several quarterback pressures and a key block on Tobin’s return. Jameson McLain and Kaz Jaracz each had one sack.
Downfield blocks by Caiden Fournier sprung Shearer and Tobin on the final scoring drive.
“Those plays really boost our whole team’s confidence,” Tobin said.
