H.S. football: South Hadley suffocates Pathfinder, 34-0, for fifth straight win

SOUTH HADLEY — Four first-half touchdowns powered the South Hadley football team past Pathfinder in its 34-0 victory on Thursday night.

Lincoln Belsky, Chase Pecia and Noah Hambley each found the end zone through the ground during the first two quarters, while Brody Keller snagged a reception score from quarterback Nolan Soderbaum as the Tigers’ fast start eventually upped their record to 5-0, with the victory.

“When we start fast, we play great games,” Soderbaum said. “We go down in the locker room, we get hyped up. We take practice serious and we’re confident. We know we can beat these teams.”

Soderbaum tossed another touchdown during the third quarter as South Hadley’s sophomore QB looked composed all game long against the Pioneers.

“For a sophomore who’s really gotten thrown into this position…what we thought at the beginning of the year and what we actually have now is incredible,” Tigers head coach Brian Couture said. “It looks like he’s been playing on this team for four years. He has great leadership.”

Nolan’s older brother, Griffin, was the starting quarterback last season.

Despite putting more than 30 points on the board for the fifth straight game, Couture was more impressed with the team’s defensive performance.

“Our offense struggled a little tonight, but hey, hopefully this is our bad game of the season,” Couture said. “Every team has one and we got fortunate tonight.

“We had the sacks tonight,” Couture added. ” [Joe] Quatacker had one, [Adrian] Garcia stepped up, I think he had two or three, then we had Micah [Litovich] come through with at least one or two as well. That rush, how they played, they play together, they play for each other and they love every minute of it.”

Perhaps the highlight of the night for the Tigers’ defense was an interception during the third quarter from Ryder Mayer. Pathfinder quarterback Grayson Griswold’s pass was tipped at the line and Mayer was in the right spot at the right time to grab it and secure possession for South Hadley.

The Tigers scored their first touchdown of the night on a 2-yard punch in from Belsky late in the first quarter. The hosts missed the extra point, leading to a 6-0 advantage for South Hadley.

“He runs like a freight train,” Soderbaum said of Belsky. “No one is stopping him. You’re going to need the whole team to take him down.”

Pecia doubled the Tigers’ lead before the first quarter came to a close, cashing in on a 23-yard sweep score with 27 seconds remaining in the frame. South Hadley converted the extra-point attempt to lead, 13-0.

Soderbaum’s first passing touchdown occurred less than five minutes into the second quarter as No. 8 for the Tigers found Keller for a 24-yard score at 9:52. South Hadley failed to convert the extra-point attempt, making it 19-0.

The score increased to 25-0 on an 8-yard scamper from Hambley with 14 seconds to go in the half. The Tigers opted for a 2-point conversion and were successful, bringing the score to 27-0 at half.

Mayer’s interception in the third set the stage for South Hadley’s final touchdown of the night with 1:21 to go in the quarter. Soderbaum found Pecia for a 12-yard reception score from outside the pocket and a successful extra point made it 34-0.

Running time was instituted during the fourth quarter since the Tiger’s lead was greater than 30 points.

South Hadley has done well to take advantage of its favorable scheduled to start the season, however the road only gets tougher from here on out as two of its final three opponents are currently undefeated in Lee and Easthampton.

“We don’t finish with an easy schedule,” Couture said. “For us being a small program, our ironman football is really going to be tested the next three weeks. No doubt about it.”

The Tigers will travel to Holyoke next Thursday to take on the Purple Knights, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.

Other Area Scores

Amherst 28, Putnam 20