SOUTH HADLEY — A Chicopee Comp field goal in the final seconds sealed a 37-35 victory over South Hadley, Friday night.
In a game where the final scores were higher than the temperature, the Colts and Tigers played a back-and-forth battle that saw four lead changes.
Liam Dawson and the Tigers started the scoring early. On the third play of the game, Dawson and quarterback Michael Pratt connected for a 63-yard touchdown. Dawson rushed for 119 yards, caught another 113 and scored four touchdowns.
With Chicopee Comp driving down the field, Nathaniel Lepage dropped back looking for the end zone, but was intercepted by Dawson on the 5-yard line. The Tigers (5-5) could not execute after the turnover and gave up a safety two plays later.
On the next drive, Lepage did not miss his opportunity to score and delivered a 25-yard touchdown strike down the right side of the field to Devin Donahue. Joel Torres took the handoff and bounced out to the left side to complete the 2-point conversion for a 10-6 lead.
Midway through the third quarter, Lepage connected with Kenneth Mitchell for a 48-yard touchdown to make it 22-6.
Only 17 seconds later, Pratt and Dawson scored their second touchdown on a wheel route that turned into a 56-yard toss. After a 2-point conversion, the Tigers trailed 22-14.
“I’ve been proud of this team all year, this is the toughest team I’ve ever had and they showed it tonight,” South Hadley coach Scott Taylor said. “They’re resilient, and they respond to every challenge that they’re faced with.”
With 6:13 remaining in the quarter and only 29 seconds after the Tigers’ touchdown, Isaias Gomez ran in a touchdown from 7-yards out to make it 28-14.
South Hadley wasted no time getting into scoring position. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Hunter Borowski ran 42 yards and was taken down on the Comp 20 yard-line. Dawson took the ball the final 20 yards to bring the Tigers to within 28-22.
Comp took a 34-22 lead in the fourth off a 43-yard touchdown run by Andrew Hernandez with 7:44 remaining.
Less than three minutes later the Tigers scored on Dawson’s second touchdown run. Down 34-28 with 4:38 left, South Hadley executed an onside kick that gave the Tigers the ball on their own 47. After a Dawson run failed to make it past the line of scrimmage, the Tigers were stuck on their own 30.
With 3:24 left, Hunter Carey caught a Pratt pass for a 70-yard touchdown to tie the game at 34. A South Hadley extra point made it 35-34.
The Colts used all three of their timeouts as they marched down the field. With 20 seconds remaining, Lepage dropped back for a pass that hit the hands of a South Hadley defender but was dropped.
On fourth down, Gomez snuck through a hole for a first down on the 4-yard line.
Lepage then went from quarterback to kicker as he kicked the game-winner.
“They’re four divisions higher than us. I think we’re the only Division 7 team that’s playing a Division 3 team,” Taylor said. “We have to play all the big teams and I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. They did a great job and I wouldn’t take anybody else over these guys.”