SOUTH DEERFIELD — Another week of video game-like offensive numbers, and Frontier Regional School stayed very much in the hunt near the top of the suddenly jumbled Intercounty League North mix Friday night.
The host Red Hawks, buoyed by the talented tailback tandem of Aaron Landry and Stephen Worthley, rushed for nearly 500 yards en route to a high-powered 56-34 victory over Mahar Regional School in an IL North contest.
Worthley rushed for 156 yards and five touchdowns, while Landry piled up a whopping 282 yards on the ground with three scores. All told, Frontier (3-1, 1-1) ran for 483 yards in the win.
“It’s the same offense we’ve had for three years so the guys know it and they’re confident with it,” Frontier coach Don Gordon offered. “We saw some weakness on the left side of their defense and we wanted to attack it there.”
After an overtime loss to Greenfield High School in Week 2, the Red Hawks have scored a combined 91 points in back-to-back victories over Mahar and Palmer High School.
The visiting Senators (1-3, 1-3) actually had a lead in this one, storming out to an 8-0 advantage after marching down the field on their opening drive. Lucas Seney (10 carries, 37 yards) capped the impressive opening possession with a 2-yard touchdown rush on fourth-and-goal.
Frontier, which did not punt in the game, ripped off 22 unanswered points from there. Worthley scored all three of his team’s touchdowns in the first half, scampering in for scores of 10, 2 and 16 yards as the Hawks stormed ahead, 22-8, at intermission.
The Frontier offensive line opened up big holes for Worthley and Landry, something Gordon said was nice to see.
“They’re the engine that make us go, so when they’re doing their job, it makes everyone else look good,” he explained.
Frontier looked to punch in the clincher on its first possession of the third quarter, with Landry scoring on a 28-yard TD to make it 28-8.
But to Mahar’s credit, the visitors traded blows in the second half and never let the Red Hawks off the hook. Quarterback Sam Paul cut the deficit to 28-14 with a 6-yard TD run midway through the third, and Mahar stayed within two scores on several occasions.
Paul wound up finishing with a huge night through the air. The senior completed 9-of-17 passes for 212 yards and three second-half touchdowns.
“Their passing offense gave us fits,” admitted Gordon of Paul and company. “We’ll improve back there, but they did a nice job throwing against us.”
Paul threw touchdowns to Hugo Frost (three catches, 79 yards), Charlie Barnes (three catches, 49 yards) and Jordan Desrosiers (three catches, 84 yards) in the fourth quarter, with his 20-yarder to Desrosiers pulling the Senators within 49-34 with 2:49 remaining.
But Frontier iced the game from there, and Landry scampered in from 15 yards out to seal the deal and account for the 56-34 win.
The Frontier offense piled up 26 first downs thanks to a better than 10-yard per carry average.
Next up for the Red Hawks is an interesting and suddenly important IL North meeting with Franklin County Technical School (2-2, 1-1) Friday night in South Deerfield. The Eagles knocked off Greenfield, cluttering the IL North standings in the process.
Mahar, which has looked much more competitive this season through four weeks, stays on the road for a league matchup against Turners Falls High School.