TURNERS FALLS — It’s not how you start, but how you finish.
The Franklin County Technical School football team overcame an early two-score deficit to beat visiting Belchertown High School, 22-18, in a seesawing contest Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Eagles earned the second seed in the Small School State Vocational Playoffs, and will host No. 3 seed Blue Hills Vocational Technical School Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
The first quarter was dominated by defense, with the teams combining for five punts, three for the Orioles and two for the Eagles. The Eagles (5-5) earned the only first down of the quarter and had the ball and were driving entering the second quarter. The drive was short lived, as a fumble just shy of midfield handed the ball back to the Orioles.
After running into a wall in the first quarter, Belchertown then looked to the air. After a holding call and an incompletion set up a second-and-20 from the Belchertown 46, quarterback Jackson Leduc rolled out to pass, and found senior wideout Cam Supple down the left sideline for a 54-yard score for a 6-0 Belchertown lead.
Tech continued to struggle on offense, and after a Supple interception on defense, the Orioles (4-5) drove 75 yards in eight plays, doubling their lead to 12-0 when Leduc hit receiver Justin Pendrick for a 6-yard score with 58 seconds left in the half.
There were no heads hanging on the Tech sideline as the kick return team took the field, and as it turned out, for good reason. Fielding the kick at the 18-yard-line, Spencer Telega answered, taking the ball through traffic 82 yards to the end zone. Telega then busted in for the two-point conversion and the Eagles hit the half down just four, and energized.
The third quarter began much as the first, with defense taking center stage. The first four possessions of the period were 3 punts and a turnover on downs, before the Eagles got the offense rolling leading into the fourth. Taking over at the Orioles 33 after nearly forcing a safety and benefiting from a short punt, the Eagles retook the lead when quarterback Seth Aldrich found receiver Caileb Milton for a 3-yard score. Aldrich ran in the extra two, and it was 16-12 Eagles.
The celebration did not last long for the Eagles, because Belchertown’s Supple struck again. Back for the return, Supple had to backtrack and picked up the ball at the 8. From there he blew through defenders and broke free, taking the ball 92 yards to paydirt, and the Orioles were once again in the lead, 18-16, with 9:27 remaining in the game.
The next drive was the Eagles most sustained of the day, and proved to be the difference. After Tech lost lead back Mitch Mailloux to injury midway through the third quarter, head coach Joe Gamache looked to the depth of his running-back corps and it didn’t let him down. The Eagles marched 79 yards in 12 plays, all runs, and took the lead for good on a Telega 1-yard plunge with 3:22 to go. Tyler Sakowicz led the way with 49 yards on the drive, more than half of which came on a 29-yard blast in which it looked like he would go down at the line, but instead saw him drag defenders down the field.
“I can’t say enough about how our guys stepped up today,” said Gamache. “Tyler Sakowicz came up big, and Spencer Telega was outstanding, both on offense and defense as well as the kick return. Caileb Milton deserves credit as well, not only for the touchdown catch but for two big sacks on defense.”
A win next week would mean a slot in the SSSVP finals scheduled for Dec. 1. It is only the second time in school history that Franklin Tech has qualified for this event and the first time since 2007.