TURNERS FALLS — It was a down to the wire finish in a thriller in the Powertown Friday night, but the home crowd did not go home happy.
In a battle of two Intercounty North teams looking to claw their way up the standings, visiting Mahar Regional School held on to come out on top over Turners Falls High School, 20-19, at the Bordeau Fields Complex.
With just 54.9 seconds remaining in the contest, it appeared that Turners would have the opportunity to get its hands on the ball one more time, but it was not to be.
Mahar’s Jon Gariepy, who seemed to be center stage throughout the night, lined up to punt on a fourth-and-14 from the Turners 39 yard line. Instead, Gariepy, who is also a standout running back for the Senators, rolled to his left on a fake and scampered for 19 yards down the left sideline, sealing the victory for Mahar. One play later, Senators quarterback Sam Paul took a knee, and the game was in the books.
“I’m very proud of the way our team played tonight,” said Mahar assistant coach Jamie Paluk, who was running the show in the absence of head coach Chris Bailey, who was absent dealing with a personal issue. “We wanted to play well and bring home a win for Chris.”
It was a barn-burner from the beginning, when on the first play from scrimmage, Paul faked a handoff up the middle, and moved to his right and around the defense untouched and scurried for a 69-yard score. The two-point try was no good, and it was a 6-0 Mahar lead.
Turners struggled offensively throughout the first quarter and into the second, but found its bearings and took a a 7-6 lead with 7:27 remaining in the first half. On a drive that started at its own 19, Turners (2-3, 1-2 IN) went to the air with quarterback Kyle Dodge throwing completions of 45 and 32 yards during the march, which ended with a 5-yard power run by John Torres. Tyler Lavin’s PAT was true, and it was advantage Turners.
That advantage did not last long, as on the ensuing kickoff, Lucas Seney picked up the ball and handed it to Gariepy, who blasted down the left sideline 67 yards for six points. Gariepy took it in for the two-pointer, and the Senators were back on top, 14-7.
Turners was unfazed, however, and would strike back quickly, again with its aerial attack. Starting at his own 35, Dodge completed a 46-yard pass to Andy Craver and followed that up with a 19-yard touchdown strike to Jaden Whiting. Turners was called for a false start on the kick, which had sailed through, and on the re-kick the ball never got off the ground, and Mahar held the 14-13 lead, which it would take into the half.
The Senators (2-3, 2-3 IN) would stretch their lead early in the third after Turners had a quick three-and-out to start the frame. Gariepy finished off a 57-yard, seven-play drive for Mahar with a 7-yard sweep to the left for the 20-13 lead. The two-point pass attempt failed, and Turners remained down seven.
With 1:58 remaining in regulation, Turners found the end zone again, with Dodge once more hitting Whiting for the score, this time from 28 yards. Lavin lined up for the tying extra point and got it off, but Mahar’s Nick Sharp broke through the line and blocked the try, preserving a one-point lead for the Senators, leading to Gariepy’s fake punt to secure the win for the Senators.
“We missed our responsibilities on that play,” said Turners head coach Chris Lapointe. “We’re a young team, we’re learning, but we made our mistakes and they certainly capitalized on them.”
Turners hosts Intercounty North foe Frontier Regional School Friday at 7. Mahar is on a bye next week and is off until Oct. 20, when it hosts Mount Greylock Regional High School in an independent tilt at the Woodward Complex.