EASTHAMPTON – Lee High School has Easthampton’s number on the football field.
The Wildcats defeated the Eagles convincingly on Friday for the third straight season. Lee scored six times on the ground en route to a 48-6 win at Mountain View School.
“They’re a tough football team,” Easthampton coach Tom Hogan said. “They’re well coached and well taught. They have good culture and tonight they got the best of us.”
The Wildcats outscored Easthampton 129-6 over the past three years. Lee stayed unbeaten at 6-0 overall, 3-0 in the Suburban North. Easthampton (5-1, 1-1) lost its first game.
“You always know a game like this is going to be a tough one,” Hogan said. “You tend to circle this one on the calendar. They’ve got three in a row on us now. They’re a strong team every year.”
The Eagles trailed 16-0 late in the second quarter as the Wildcats drove deep in Easthampton territory. Needing a stop, the Eagles got one as Chase Canon-Smith tackled running back Jaydee Reber on third down, and Jackson Parmenter stopped quarterback David Kirchner on fourth down.
Easthampton couldn’t answer as the Eagles went three-and-out.
“We had a couple players who came off for some minor injuries (during that offensive drive) and I think that threw off some of the rhythm we had established in the first quarter,” Hogan said. “Those dynamics and the timing of it just created those three-and-outs that led to our defense to be on the field for too long.”
The Wildcats proceeded to drive 65 yards in the final minute, 32 seconds to take a 24-0 lead. Lee put Easthampton away with four-play, 68-yard scoring drive to open the third quarter.
“That really contributed to their success,” Hogan said. “It kept our defense on the field too long and combined with our offense sputtering led the result of the game.”
Canon-Smith returned a kickoff 75 yards to start the fourth quarter to account for the Eagles’ lone touchdown.
Easthampton took possession to start the game and marched 58 yards to the edge of Lee’s red zone. The drive stalled with under 6 minutes left and the Wildcats answered with their own long drive to take an 8-0 lead early in the second.
Kirchner finished 9 of 11 for 105 yards passing. Reber had 10 carries for 90 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
It was the final home game for the Eagles, who play at Hoosac Valley next weekend.
“We have to do what we normally do well, even better,” Hogan said of the approach leading into their next game. “The rest of our schedule is tough.”
