EASTHAMPTON – A play, drawn up on the fly, ignited the Easthampton football team Friday night.
Facing fourth-and-goal from the 21-yard line, Eagles offensive coordinator Nate Laplante called their version of the Philly Special. Easthampton quarterback Patrick Larson admitted they had only worked on the play a couple of times in practice, and the one time they used it in a game the outcome was an interception.
This time was different. Senior running back Luis Salgado took the double handoff and ran to his right. With the Holyoke defense focused on him, Larson drifted to the back of the end zone, where Salgado found him for the touchdown.
It turned a one-score game into a 51-14 rout of the Purple Knights at Mountain View School.
“It was fourth down and we hadn’t been moving the ball that great on that drive,” Larson said. “I don’t know how Coach Laplante decided to do that, but obviously it worked.”
Salgado finished with four touchdowns, while Larson had three as the Eagles (5-0, 1-0 Suburban North) stayed undefeated.
“The players over the course of the last few games have truly been collaborating on things that they’ve seen that could help them and help the team be successful,” Easthampton coach Tom Hogan said. “I was unaware that they were calling that play, but they felt something, saw something, that they thought could lead to success. We trust their judgement.”
The offense was humming in different ways for the Eagles. In addition to his passing touchdown, Salgado had three rushing TDs and one receiving score. Larson ran for a touchdown, threw for a touchdown, caught a touchdown and returned an interception to the end zone.
“It felt great winning on our senior night,” Salgado said.
Salgado finished with 107-yards rushing on 14 carries. Larson had 103 on 10 touches.
“It sets the tone,” Salgado said.
The Easthampton defense played its part. Martin Charron intercepted Holyoke quarterback Eladio Pacheco twice. Mason Pedersen, Harrison Farrar and Travis Carpenter each recovered a fumble.
Raemon Mathurin added a sack. The defense had a safety and a stop on fourth down.
“Our defense did a really good job,” Salgado said. “Our line kept them on the line of scrimmage, and our linebackers did a good job curling and containing.”
The Purple Knights could not find consistency on the ground. Joziah Rodriguez led Holyoke with 61-yards rushing on four second-half carries. Rodriguez had a 38-yard touchdown run in the third.
Pacheco finished 8-of-21 for 128 yards passing. Pacheco’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Velez late in the first pulled Holyoke within 14-6. Velez made the catch across the middle, turned and outraced the Eagles secondary to the end zone.
“My kids fought,” Holyoke coach David Guzman said. “They played hard for four quarters; we just didn’t have enough. That team really executed on all cylinders.”
Holyoke (2-3, 0-1 Suburban North) will look to snap a two-game losing streak next week against South Hadley (5-0, 1-0).
“We have to protect the ball,” Guzman said. “We won’t beat a youth team with eight turnovers. We have to protect the ball, it’s as simple as that. If you lose the turnover margin, chances are you’re going to lose the game.”
Easthampton hosts Lee (5-0, 1-0) next.
“We know how good they are, how good they always are,” Hogan said. “They’re tough and we know this. We know we have our work cut out for us.”
