GREENFIELD — Using a big night from Jake Sak, extended ball-control drives, some well-timed “trickeration” and a strong finishing kick, Greenfield High School found all the ingredients it needed to get back to the .500 mark Friday night, posting a 36-12 victory over Franklin County Technical School at Veterans Memorial Field.
Sak piled up 146 of his 153 rushing yards in the first half alone, running for two scores and throwing to Nick Bresciano for a third. Quarterback Drew Conant also threw a TD pass to Jared Hart. The Green Wave defense also came up with interceptions on three straight late possessions to squash any hopes of a Franklin Tech comeback.
“I’m proud of the way we played,” said Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski. “They’re hard-nosed and well-coached, but a little undermanned tonight — we’re one injury away from where they are right now. We wore them down a little bit. Getting points going into the half was huge. It really set the tone.”
Greenfield improved to 4-4 overall and 3-3 within the Intercounty League North. Tech fell to 2-6 (2-4 IL North) as both teams now enter the first of two weeks of non-qualifier games.
Tech benefited from a muffed opening kickoff that Dylan Demers recovered at the Eagles 42, then advanced all the way to the Greenfield 20 before losing a fumble that the Green Wave’s Colby Avery jumped on at the 25.
Greenfield went the long-field route for its first two touchdowns, each coming at the end of a 75-yard drive and consuming 7:31 and 9:35 of the clock, respectively. Sak, who recorded his second straight game of over 150 rushing yards, got the Wave started with a 6-yard scoring run with 1:15 to go in the first for a 6-0 lead. On the 13-play drive, he carried eight times for 56 yards.
Tech managed to beat the first-quarter clock just over a minute later, after Ian McClure’s 39-yard gain put the Eagles at the Greenfield 8. Two plays later, McClure (team-high 79 rushing yards) took a pitch from Owen Bashaw and went the final 6 yards for the tying score with only 5.9 seconds left.
Starting at its own 25, Greenfield moved methodically down to the Tech 3 before a personal-foul call moved the ball back to the 18. On third-and-17 from there, Conant pitched to Sak, and the former quarterback-turned-tailback rolled to his right, pulled up and gunned a touchdown pass to Bresciano just inside the near right pylon. Sak then ran in the two-pointer to make it 14-6 with 2:31 on the clock.
Donte Rosewarne then snapped off a 35-yard kickoff return to put the Eagles at the Wave 42. After key gains of 15 yards by McClure and 12 yards by Hunter Wozniak, Tech faced second-and-goal at the 10, where Wozniak took a jet-motion handoff and swept the left side for the score. Bashaw’s two-point conversion pass was incomplete, but Tech had pulled to within 14-12 with 1:04 left in the half.
This time Greenfield sped up the pace with a 16-yard pickup by Sak and a 22-yarder from Jared Hart. Facing fourth-and-10 from the Eagles’ 30, Sak found a gap over right guard and took it to the house, then added the two-point run to make it a two-score game with 9.8 seconds left, 22-12.
“I think both teams battled, but they were the better team tonight,” said Eagles coach Joe Gamache. “That touchdown right before halftime gave them energy going into the half. Both teams were a little shorthanded due to various factors. We asked a lot out of our kids to play out of position, and they played as hard as they could.”
From that point, the Green Wave defense buckled down and limited Tech to one first down and 32 total yards on its five second-half possessions. Freshman Joey White had a pair of picks, the first on a fake punt and the second on a halfback pass, and Xavier Carlo came up with the third.
Immediately after White’s first interception, Greenfield extended its lead early in the fourth quarter when Conant hit Hart on a 20-yard throwback screen, then tossed to Jake Perkins for the two-point conversion.
White capped off the scoring with 7:05 remaining on a 5-yard TD run.
Greenfield finished with a 315-128 edge in total offense, including 277 yards on the ground. Hart added 69 rushing yards for the Green Wave.