H.S. football: Luis Selgado scores four touchdowns, Easthampton smothers Greenfield, 30-12

GREENFIELD — Big-yardage plays abounded in Friday night’s nonleague football game at Veterans Memorial Field, but Easthampton made its three-score lead in the first half stand up.

Luis Selgado scored all four of his team’s touchdowns, three rushing and one receiving, to lead the Eagles past Greenfield, 30-12.

Selgado caught 10 passes for 127 yards as the primary target for quarterback Patrick Larson, who completed 16-of-22 balls for 247 yards.

Easthampton (4-0) entered play Friday holding down the No. 16 spot in the Division 7 state power rankings, good enough for a state playoff spot at the moment.

Greenfield got a 61-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Arsenault to Owen Pfisterer-Hill late in the first quarter and then a 47-yard scoring burst by Kymel Ramsey early in the third. That second score cut the Green Wave’s deficit to 24-12, but the hosts wouldn’t score again in dropping to 1-3.

“The thing we’ve worked on with this team from day one is coming out strong in the first half. They didn’t come out as strong as I hoped,” said Green Wave coach Jeff Bengtson. “I think they did better in the second half, but I wish they would show up to play.”

Larson and Selgado got the Eagles in front with four minutes, 28 seconds left in the first quarter on a 37-yard TD connection. Larson ran in the two-pointer for an 8-0 lead. Greenfield answered right away when Arsenault aired one out to Pfisterer-Hill, running a fly pattern down the right sideline, good for the 61-yard scoring strike. The Wave failed on the two-point try, but trailed only 8-6 with 1:43 to go in the quarter.

Easthampton then put together a 68-yard drive, the biggest gainer a 55-yarder from Larson to Marty Charron that set up the Eagles at the Greenfield 5. Selgado ran it in on the next play, followed by Larson’s flip to Chase Canon-Smith for two points and a 16-6 lead with 9:58 left in the first half.

Greenfield then faked a punt on fourth-and-long from its own 28 but managed only a 6-yard gain from Pfisterer-Hill before turning the ball over on downs at the 34. Given the short field, the Eagles converted fourth-and-12 on a 26-yard completion from Larson to Canon-Smith. Selgado cashed in a 10-yard TD run with 4:44 left, with Larson adding the two-point run, good for a 24-6 lead.

The Eagles missed a chance to add to their lead before halftime, driving to the Greenfield 5 before a false-start call and then an incomplete pass on the end zone on the last play.

Ramsey’s long touchdown run 1:38 into the third quarter made it a 24-12 game, and the Wave benefited from turnovers on Easthampton’s next two series but couldn’t do anything with them. Arsenault recovered a Larson fumble at the Greenfield 32 before Greenfield gave up the ball on downs, and Brayden Slauenwhite came up with an interception on a wild double-reverse option pass. Once again, the Wave couldn’t move the ball and lost it on fourth down.

Easthampton then kept the ball for over seven minutes on a 73-yard drive and finished it off with a 1-yard TD plunge by Selgado with only 1:43 left in the action.

The Eagles ended the night with a 360-137 advantage in total offense.

Selgado rushed for 38 yards and Miguel DeJesus had 35 on the ground for Easthampton, part of its 113-yard rushing total. Ramsey pulled a game-high 55 rushing yards to lead Greenfield, while Arsenault completed 2-of-8 passes for 69 yards.

The Green Wave travels to unbeaten Franklin Tech (4-0) next on Oct. 9 for its 7 p.m. Intercounty North opener.