TURNERS FALLS — If the same Franklin County Technical School football team that came out for the second half had come out for the first, this one might have ended differently.
Franklin Tech spotted the Blue Hills Regional Techncal School Warriors a 40-0 first-half lead, only to come back with three unanswered second-half touchdowns before falling 40-24 in the Small School Vocational Football Tournament semifinal Saturday afternoon in Turners Falls.
“We certainly played with a lot more enthusiasm in the second half,” Franklin Tech Coach Joe Gamache said. “We knew that we had some athletes and needed to come out in attack mode and we didn’t to start.”
Blue Hills came out firing, marching 69 yards on just three offensive plays before senior Jacob Hietala (9 carries, 176 yards) ran 41 yards for the touchdown. Franklin Tech stopped the point-after run to keep the score 6-0.
The Eagles then fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, giving the Warriors the ball 10 yards from the red zone, on the 30. Five plays later, Blue Hills was in the end zone again a 2-yard TD run by Merignac Luben (10 carries, 130 yards). Luben finished up with the PAT run to make the score 14-0 with barely two minutes gone in the game.
Franklin Tech squandered a golden opportunity on the next series, when it failed to score after working the ball down to the Warrior 1. An illegal-procedure penalty on third and goal knocked the Eagles back to the 6, and two consecutive incomplete passes by quarterback Seth Aldrich (4-for-14 passing for 49 yards and one interception) gave Warriors the ball back on downs.
Three plays later, they were in the end zone again on a 25-yard TD pass to senior Earl Jones, which was set up one play before by a 72-yard Luben run. Hietala took in the point-after run to make the score 22-0.
Offensively, Franklin Tech was without star tailback Dylan Mailloux, who was dressed on the sidelines but out of action with a sore ankle. But even if Mailoux had been healthy, it might not have made much difference given the strong blitz defense employed by the Warriors, who many times came through untouched, making for a very long afternoon for Eagle backs Spencer Telega (14 carries, 106 yards) and Tyler Sakowicz (13 carries, 63 yards).
Blue Hills scored again on their fifth offensive series, when a blocked Franklin Tech punt gave them the Warriors the ball at the Eagle 32. One play later, Hietala ran it in from 17 yards out. Franklin Tech stopped the PAT run to keep the score 28-0.
Franklin Tech again got inside the 10 on the next offensive series only to turn it over on downs at the Warrior 13. Four plays later, Hietala scored again on a 61-yard run. Then Blue Hills rounded out the first-half scoring with a 64-yard Toure Haynes TD run with less than a minute left in the half to create the 40-0 halftime score.
“They have some talent but we were definitely too accommodating on defense,” Gamache said.
Two very different teams took the field in the second half. The Eagles came out fired up, encountering a Blue Hills squad composed mainly of reserves. Franklin Tech broke the shutout on the second series, when Telega scored on a 21-yard TD run, Sakowicz took in the two-point conversion to make it 40-8.
Telega scored again on the next Blue Hills series, taking back a punt 48 yards for a touchdown. Telega finished what he started, nailing the PAT run to make it 40-16. Sakowicz added a 19-yard TD run on the next series, and the Telega point-after run made it 40-24, causing the Eagle crowd to buzz with anticipation of a potential comeback.
The Blue Hills coaching staff clearly had the same thought, as the starters were back in on the next series. This time, however, the Eagles line held the Warriors largely in check, holding them to mainly short-yardage carries and triggering at least one fumble, which Blue Hills managed to recover to keep the drive alive.
In the end, the clock was not on the Eagle’s side and Blue Hill managed to work the ball down to the Franklin Tech 26 with just second to go, allowing Warrior QB Andrew Bryant to take a knee to end it.
Blue Hills advances to the Small Schools Vocational final on December 1, when it’ll face Upper Cape Cod Technical High School.
Franklin Tech prepares for its annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game with Pioneer Valley Regional School Thursday at 10 am in Turners Falls.