ATHOL — The hits just keep on coming.

A huge goal line stand, a fumble return for a touchdown and a 46-yard field goal by Kris Selanis had Athol High School poised for its first win of the year against Intercounty North foe Easthampton High School, but it was not to be.

Easthampton sccored the game winning touchdown with 1 minute 47 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter — a 10-yard slant from quarterback Nick Pellegrini to wideout Quinton Baker-Cisero — and the Eagles beat the Red Raiders, 20-17, in yet another heartbreaker for the Tooltown Friday night at O’Brien field.

Athol (0-4, 0-3 IL North), coming off a loss on a 100-yard kick return in the final minutes to arch-rival Mahar Regoinal School last week, was in control for most of the evening, but simply could not seal the deal.

The Raiders entered the fourth quarter with the ball, clinging to a 17-14 lead, but had to punt the ball away on the third play of the frame. The Eagles took the ball at the Athol 46 yard-line, and proceeded to pound the ball up the middle led by running back Sopie Pek, who picked up 28 yards on the series.

The Raiders would come up huge, however, stopping the Eagles on a fourth-and-goal from the one, an attempted sneak by Pellegrini, to hold on to the lead.

Athol was able to move the ball out of the shadow of the end zone to its own 27, but stalled there.

“My players played a fantastic game tonight,” said head coach Bill LaRose. “This loss is one hundred percent on me, I made a dumb call, there’s no other way around it.”

LaRose was referring to the call he made on the first-down play from the 27, when quarterback Keegan Lutz, a freshman, took the ball to the outside and was dropped for a five-yard loss.

“We’d had success up the middle all night, and on that drive, but they were stacking inside, and I thought we could make a play outside.”

Two plays later, the Raiders were forced to punt.Two plays after that, the Eagles were in the end zone, and would hold on for the victory.

The Raiders jumped out to an early lead on their first possession of the night, a 13-play, 77-yard march that ended when Mason Barrieau scored on an 8-yard scamper. Lutz then hit receiver Evan Saisa for the two-pointer, and it was 8-0 with five minutes left in the first.

Easthampton closed the gap quickly, as Ish Akanour took a Selanis kickoff from the goal line to the Athol 28, setting up a four-play drive that ended when Pellegrini dove in for a 1-yard score. The two-point try was no good, and Athol held the lead at 8-6.

Easthampton was moving the ball and was looking for the lead early in the second frame, but after a short completion to Pek, Athol’s Dylan Castine ripped the ball from his hands and ran 45 yards for the score. The conversion failed, and the Athol lead was 14-6 with 8:33 left in the half.

The Easthampton offense sputtered in the remainder of the half, largely due to an Athol defense that was playing with something to prove. The Raiders forced a punt from the Eagles 27 with under two minutes to play, and Selanis rushed in and blocked the kick.

That set up his half-ending, 46-yard field goal, and sent Athol to the locker room with a 17-6 lead, and all the energy and momentum.

Easthampton (3-1, 3-0 IL North) took some of that back when on a fourth-and-30 from the Athol 30, Pellegrini hit Baker-Cisero for a touchdown in the left corner of the end zone, setting up the fourth quarter action and eventual heartbreak for the Raiders.

Athol will make the trek to Buckland Friday night to take on Mohawk Trail Regional High School. Kickoff is at 7.