South Hadley football holds off Taconic, remains perfect in Suburban North

PITTSFIELD — It isn’t always easy, but for the South Hadley football team, it was all’s well that ends well.

“Taconic played a great game. They played all four quarters,” South Hadley coach Scott Taylor said. “They hung in there. I thought our kids had to bite and scratch for this one. Taconic’s a good team. It’s a tough environment to play.”

The Tigers held a decisive halftime lead against host Taconic, but the Braves shut the Tigers out in the second half and had two late chances for a game-winning score before falling 28-24 on a frosty evening at Gene Dellea Field on the Berkshire Community College campus Thursday.

At halftime, South Hadley led 28-6, and had outgained Taconic 162 yards to 78. But in the second half, Taconic scored all 18 points and outgained the Tigers 207 to only 47. The Braves also forced two South Hadley turnovers, converting one into points.

The win puts the Tigers into the driver’s seat in the Suburban North. South Hadley improved to a perfect 4-0 in the league (5-2 overall), with Pittsfield and Hoosac Valley tied for second at 2-1. Pittsfield and Hoosac play on the turf at BCC Friday night. South Hadley has winless Chicopee next week. Taconic falls to 3-4 and 2-2, and plays Pittsfield next Saturday.

“I think we have a lot to work on. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take 4-0 any day of the week,” said Taylor. “We always say we’ve got to get better every day. But I’m proud of my guys. They played great.”

The first three times South Hadley had the ball, the Tigers marched for touchdowns. Liam Dawson, who ran for 103 yards on 18 carries, scored on runs of 1 and 16 yards in the first quarter and then on a 17-yard run early in the second quarter. Up until that point, Taconic had not been across midfield.

That chance came after Dawson’s third touchdown. Dylan Burke fielded the kickoff and rambled down the right side for 50 yards, giving Taconic the ball on the South Hadley 20. Haywood Eurquhart rushed for 15 yards and then Marquis Saunders scored on a five-yard run for the touchdown. The missed conversion made it 22-6.

What could have been a back-breaking play occurred on the kickoff. Hunter Carey caught the line drive kick, and was throttled by Eurquhart about 10 yards downfield. The South Hadley back bounced off the tackle and took it 65 yards for the touchdown. Taconic went into halftime, trailing 28-6.

“We told them, win the quarter, win the third quarter and win the half,” Ziter said. “The first half was over. You can’t get down [28-6] at the half, either. To dig out of that, and how they dug out of it.

“I told them, they ended the game for each other.”

Taconic’s last, best chance to snatch victory away from South Hadley came late in the fourth quarter. The Braves had marched 50 yards in 10 plays with Beverly scoring on a nine-yard touchdown run, leaving Tigers’ cornerback Dylan Cottingham grasping at air. South Hadley recovered the onside kick. But on the second play, quarterback Hunter Borowski fumbled and Taconic’s Tyler Killbury recovered the ball on the South Hadley 45.

The Braves could not move the ball forward. And when Haywood Eurquhart (16 carries, 113 yards) was tackled for a three-yard loss on fourth-and-11, the game was effectively over.

Taconic did get the ball back one more time, and moved from its 26 to the 44, but time ran out on the Braves’ comeback bid.

South Hadley 28, Taconic 24

First quarter

SH — Liam Dawson 1 run (Run failed).

SH — Dawson 16 run (Hunter Carey run).

Second quarter

SH — Dawson 17 run (Carey run).

T — Marquis Saunders 5 run (Pass failed).

SH — Carey 65 kickoff return (Run failed).

Third quarter

T — Tyrell Beverly 11 run (Run failed).

Fourth quarter

T — Beverly 31 run (Run failed).

T — Beverly 9 run (Run failed).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Taconic– Cole Lander 4-(-4), Marquis Saunders 4-18, Dylan Burke 6-16, Haywood Eurquhart 16-113, Nick Hall 1-1, Jalen Hill 2-3, Jayden Cross 1-3, Tyrell Beverly 11-105. South Hadley–Hunter Carey 11-104, Liam Dawson 18-103, Ethan Murphy 1-(-2), Hunter Borowski 6-4, Tyrell Braithwaite 1-(-2), Ben Watkins 1-2

PASSING—Taconic– Junie Burgess Jr. 1-6-1-0 26.

RECEIVING—Taconic–Stephen Mount 1-26.