H.S. Football: South Hadley crushes Holyoke 48-7 in rivalry win

SOUTH HADLEY — Five first-half touchdowns propelled the South Hadley football team past Holyoke, 48-7, in a ‘Battle of the Bridge’ preview, Friday night.

The Tigers and Purple Knights have met annually on Thanksgiving Day since 2017 and South Hadley continued its dominance against its rival with another victory, albeit during its regular-season slate, on Friday. The Tigers have now won four straight against Holyoke, dating back to their 2022 campaign.

Quarterback Griffin Soderbaum and running back Noah Hambley each put together near flawless performances for South Hadley. The duo factored into four of the Tigers’ seven scores, with Soderbaum leading the way with three passing touchdowns.

“[They’re] right across the bridge, so there’s definitely some tension with it,” Soderbaum said.

Hambley reached the end zone twice, plus picked off two pass attempts from Purple Knights quarterback Devin Velez, as the junior captain once again had his fingerprints all over another South Hadley ‘W’.

“Give me the ball,” Hambley said. “When I’m out there, I feel like I’m better than everybody on the field, so that’s the mindset.”

The Tigers are trending in the right direction, taking their second consecutive victory following Friday’s thumping. Two weeks ago, South Hadley was going the opposite way, having lost its second in a row after falling to Hoosac Valley, but head coach Brian Couture feels the team has cleaned up its mistakes, for the most part, since its short-lived losing skid.

“The goal tonight, not put any balls on the ground,” Couture said. “The interception, I told Soderbaum that’s where I’m going to throw it. An interception is as good as a punt.”

Soderbaum’s single interception came on a lengthy third-down try for the Tigers late in regulation.

Holyoke’s only touchdown occurred early in the second quarter on a five-yard keeper from Velez, to make it a 14-7 ballgame. However, South Hadley found the end zone five more times before the final horn sounded to move to 4-2 overall.

“It’s throughout the week, you win in the week,” Soderbaum said. “We had a great week of practice and this is the outcome. A couple of weeks ago, [bad] week, everyone messing around, that’s what happens. We’re just having good weeks now.”

The Tigers took advantage of a Hambley interception and scored on their very first possession to lead, 7-0, less than two minutes after the opening kickoff.

Soderbaum threw a 24-yard dime to tight end Brody Keller for South Hadley’s first touchdown of the night.

Toward the end of the first quarter, Hambley punched in a 1-yard rush, doubling the Tigers’ lead to 14-0.

The Purple Knights made it a one-score game following Velez’s TD scamper with 10:08 to play in the half, but South Hadley went right back to work, crossing the goal line on a reception score from Chase Pecia, less than a minute later.

Ahead 21-7, Lincoln Belsky earned his first of two touchdowns for the Tigers in the contest with a 3-yard score about two minutes after Pecia’s TD snag, pushing their lead to 28-7.

A 26-yard pass-catch combination from Soderbaum and Hambley wrapped up South Hadley’s prolific first-half performance as the touchdown gave the hosts a 35-7 stranglehold, 40 seconds before halftime.

“He’s a great leader,” Couture said of Hambley said. “When we give him the ball, he makes something happen. When we give it to Belsky or Jhaymhar [Henry], he’s happy that they’re getting it too.”

The Tigers scored twice more over the final 24 minutes, the first coming on a 2-yard Belsky rush, then a 70-yard sprint from Micah Litovich counted as the final TD of the game before the clock clicked away on South Hadley’s 48-7 win.

“We stayed together and played like a family,” Hambley said. “All throughout practice and it showed in the game.”

The Tigers will host undefeated Lee (6-0), next Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, Holyoke (1-5) will look to snap its four-game losing streak when it welcomes Taconic to John F. Gilligan Field next Friday at 6 p.m.