H.S. football: South Hadley football rolls past Holyoke behind Noah Hambley’s three interceptions (VIDEO)

HOLYOKE — Senior Noah Hambley has accomplished a lot in his football career. He is a two-time captain, was named to the Division 7 All-State Team as a safety last year, and has amassed over 1,200 all-purpose yards in his career.

But one of the things he had never done was record a touchdown off an interception. That is until he recorded a trifecta of pick sixes Thursday night in Holyoke.

“That first interception is what we exactly told him to do, hang back, (the ball) is going to float up there,” South Hadley head coach Brain Couture said. “He listened every single time and it just comes natural for him.”

A 40-yard interception return on his team’s first defensive possession ignited a five touchdown night for South Hadley’s versatile star. The Tigers found the endzone early and often in their 55-0 win in the Battle of the Bridge over Holyoke.

“They played a lot better than last week,” Couture said. “They played for each other this week and they didn’t veer from that. That’s what this program is about. There’s no selfishness in any of them.”

In addition to the three defensive scores, Hambley rushed for a touchdown and caught a reception score.

He wasted little time to get his first defensive touchdown, snagging Holyoke quarterback Eladio Pacheco on the third play from scrimmage. The Tigers quickly went up 7-0 in under two minutes of game time.

After forcing a three-and-out on defense, Hambley had the ball in his hands again, only this time his quarterback Nolan Soderbaum handed it off to him. Touching the ball for the second time on the day, first on offense, Hambley ran to his left and beat the Purple Knight defense to the goal line for the 7-yard touchdown run.

Less than a minute later, South Hadley scored on the first play on its drive. This time, Chase Pecia ran the ball 52 yards, running past the defense, for the touchdown. It was his lone carry of the night.

South Hadley was up 21-0 after the first quarter.

Lincoln Belsky open the second quarter with his first of two touchdowns on the night. He carried the ball seven times for 41 yards. Both touchdown came on runs from the red zone in the second quarter.

Late in the second quarter, Hambley found the end zone twice in a mere 30-second span.

Hovering around midfield, he intercepted Pacheco again, this time running up the right sideline before cutting back the middle and breaking a tackle before finding the end zone.

“I tried beating them with my speed,” Hambley said. “The quarterback got to me. I cut back to the left, and I had blockers, I had Ryder Mayer leading and got in the end zone.”

After Holyoke mishandled the kick-off to give the ball right about to the Tigers, Soderbaum passed to Hambley cutting through the middle of the field for the 25-yard touchdown pass. South Hadley went up 47-0 headed into halftime.

With running clock for the entire second half, scoring halted for the most part for the rest of the game. The lone score came when Hambley intercepted backup quarterback Darel Sierre-Feliciano around the 40-yard line his third pick-six of the evening.

On offense Hambley rushed for 32 yards on just two carries while he had the one catch for the touchdown. He performance on defense allowed juniors Charlie Maxwell and Anthony Bartusewich to get reps in the backfield.

“We just love each other,” Hambley said. “I feel like you can see that, in the way we play and how we react to each other.”

Injuries throughout the game for Holyoke affected its ability to move the ball consistently. Sierra-Feliciano rush for 38 yards on five carries. Darek Nunez led the team with 36 rushing yards on three attempts.

To say South Hadley has dominated its schedule this season doesn’t tell the whole story. After Thursday, the Tigers have outscored opponents 258-14. Thursday was the team’s fifth shutout of the season. Heading into the game, the MIAA power rankings had South Hadley at No. 5 in Division 7.

The next two weeks will South Hadley’s toughest stretch of the season. It heads to Lee next week to take on the undefeated Wildcats. Lee is currently the top ranked team in Division 8 and beat South Hadley 28-0 last season.

It also just handed South Hadley’s following opponent, Easthampton, its first loss of the season on Thursday. The Eagles also had a great start to the season, scoring 30 or more points in their first five games.

“We’re not going to back down,” Hambley said. “We haven’t had a close game, to be frank. But we’re ready. In this week in practice we are going to be locked in and ready to go. We are coming for them.”

Regardless of how the next two games turn out, with Thursday’s win, South Hadley surpassed last season’s win total of five. Now 6-2, the team is in the driver’s seat for the playoffs.