WESTFIELD — While the scoring wasn’t nearly as high, the outcome was the same.
The Holyoke football team played Westfield for the second time this season and the Bombers won again, 26-8, Friday night at Bullens Field.
It was a rematch from Oct. 25, when Westfield won 69-54.
This time, the Purple Knights (4-7) just couldn’t piece together their offense to get anything going against the Bombers (6-4).
“I thought that we came out and played pretty good in the first half,” Holyoke coach Joe Dutsar said. “Certainly, this was a much lower-scoring affair than the previous game we played against them. Our defense played pretty well down the stretch here, but offensively we missed a lot of big plays and they made more big plays than we did.”
Following a Holyoke turnover on downs, the Bombers picked up possession at midfield. From there, running back Nicholas Clauson carried the ball four straight times, the final being a 2-yard run for a touchdown to put Westfield up 7-0 just five minutes into the game.
On the ensuing Holyoke drive, quarterback Gabriel Fernandez threw an interception to cornerback Ryan Cimini. On the next play, Westfield quarterback Matthew Adamites threw an interception to Holyoke cornerback Carlos Cruz.
In the second quarter, Holyoke got on the scoreboard when Fernandez connected with receiver Jael Cabrera for a 22-yard touchdown. The Purple Knights elected to go for the 2-point conversion and Fernandez found Cabrera again for an 8-7 lead with 8:44 remaining in the first half.
The Bombers responded immediately. Clauson ran the ball on five of the next six plays, finishing with a 1-yard run to put Westfield up 14-8 with 5:35 remaining in the half.
Clauson left the game with an injury at halftime and finished with 14 carries for 72 yards.
In the second half, Cimini took over at running back. He found the end zone on a 3-yard run just a minute and a half into the third quarter. The extra point was no good but the Bombers led 20-8.
Following a Holyoke fumble, Adamites connected with Matthew Collins for a 28-yard touchdown two and a half minutes later. The Bombers went for two points but were stopped short.
The only scoring opportunity following the last touchdown came with a couple of minutes remaining. Westfield attempted a 32-yard field goal but the kick sailed just left.
“We tried to take away their running game because I think last time they ran for I think like 360 yards or something like that,” Dutsar said. “We tried to focus our linebackers on reading their guards and get after the running back, but they broke a few good runs and the quarterback made a couple of big completions down the sidelines that broke us down.”
Holyoke closes its season with a 10 a.m. Thanksgiving Day showdown at South Hadley.