ATHOL — Pathfinder quarterback Hunter Griswold was a hard man to contain Friday night at O’Brien Field.
Griswold gave the Athol defense fits throughout the contest with both his arm and his legs, accumulating 79 yards on the ground and throwing for 154 yards in the air.
Two of his passes went for touchdowns while the Bears were only able to find the end zone once, as Athol fell in its home opener, 26-6.
“It’s a pretty horrible feeling right now,” Bears coach Josh Talbot said. “We worked hard and we thought we’d be in a better position than we are. We have to go back and figure it out and keep working. I’ve been saying since day one that this is a process. This is going to hurt a little bit and continue to hurt until we figure it out.”
Athol (0-2) took the ball to start the game and marched right down the field. Hayden Barrieau connected with Aidan Melanson on a running back pass for a 30-yard gain to put the ball into Pioneer territory.
Four plays later, Melanson found a wide open Jacob Knowles on a wheel route for a touchdown, giving the Bears the early 6-0 lead. Barrieau was stopped short on the two-point try.
Pathfinder got the ball and Griswold made things happen, breaking off runs of 17 and 38 yards on back-to-back plays to set the Pioneers up on the goal line, where Giovanni Perniciaro powered in from a yard out.
Griswold found Jarett Skowyra for the two-point try to put Pathfinder ahead 8-6 with 4:32 to play in the first quarter.
Athol’s next drive ended with Melanson being sacked on a fourth-and-8, setting the Pioneers up at the Bears 35. Griswold found Perniciaro for a 13-yard gain before tight end Jacob Longo hauled in a 10-yard reception to put the ball at the 8.
Griswold ran it to the 1 before Perniciaro bulled it in, putting Pathfinder up 14-6 with 32 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Athol defense came up with three stops in the second quarter to prevent the Pioneers from adding to their lead before the half, but turnovers plagued the Bears offense.
Melanson threw an interception to Perniciaro on Athol’s first drive of the second quarter and with 1:18 to go in the half and the Bears driving at the Pathfinder 35, the Pioneers forced a fumble to get the ball back.
“We were a little aggressive on defense early and they caught us a couple times,” Talbot said. “We settled in on defense and it felt like we settled in on offense, but we couldn’t put it in the end zone. We shot ourselves in the foot a bunch. We’ll get back to work.”
Both defenses stood tall in the third quarter, but Griswold made a big play with 37 seconds left in the frame to give his team a two-score cushion. The junior rolled to his right and fired a ball to Skowyra, who got behind the Bears defense, and he hauled it in for a 38-yard touchdown to put Pathfinder up, 20-6.
Athol took its opening drive of the fourth quarter down to the Pioneers 7, but a penalty pushed it back and a pair of incompletions closed out the drive without any points added to the board.
With 1:35 to go and Pathfinder bleeding the clock, Griswold found Skowyra for a 19-yard touchdown to seal the deal.
The Bears now turn their attention to Monument Mountain, looking to correct some mistakes before the Spartans come to O’Brien Field next Friday.
“A lot of it was self inflicted,” Talbot said. “They made a little adjustment but we just didn’t take care of the football. We were marching down and fumbled, then we marched down again and dropped a snap at the five yard line. A lot of it self inflicted. That’s on us coaches and it starts with me.”