HOLYOKE — The South Hadley football team cruised to a 40-13 victory at the Roberts Sports Complex on Thursday night in the 2016 iteration of the Battle of the Bridge.
Ryan Mooney powered the Tigers’ offense, rushing for two touchdowns to carry South Hadley (6-4) to its first win against the Purple Knights (1-9) since 2013, and its first win at Holyoke since 2009.
“I thought Ryan Mooney played great,” South Hadley coach Scott Taylor said. “We asked him to take over.”
The Tigers also added scores on special teams and defense. A blocked punt was returned for a touchdown by Ben Watkins early in the first quarter and an interception was returned for a touchdown by Chance Almonte early in the fourth quarter.
“Any time you get those other touchdowns, those ancillary touchdowns, it’s big,” Taylor said.
Holyoke opened the scoring on just the second play from scrimmage when Jose Luciano took an end around 56 yards to the end zone, but the Purple Knights generated just one more scoring drive in the final 47 minutes of play.
Besides the long run to begin the game, Holyoke’s only means of offense came off screens, like the 20-yard catch and run for Kevin Singh up the middle of the field for the Purple Knights’ lone touchdown of the second half.
“I saw our guys doing not what they’re supposed to be doing. Just good play call by them and bad play call by me,” Taylor said.
South Hadley’s victory came six days after losing to Palmer in the first round of the Division 4 playoffs. The relatively short turnaround made it difficult to prepare for Thursday’s game, according to Taylor.
“I’m not a fan of the system. It’s very tough, so I credit the kids,” Taylor said.
South Hadley will travel to Chicopee Comp on Thanksgiving for its final game of the season.