GREENFIELD — On a day where points were at a premium, the Greenfield defense stepped up to the plate.
Taking on Chicopee in their season opener, the Green Wave were able to slow down the Pacers attack for the majority of the game. That held true particularly in the second half, with Chicopee being held to just 78 yards of offense in the final 24 minutes of action.
Greenfield was able to force five turnovers — four via interceptions — and won the field position battle throughout, turning those short fields into scores which helped allow the Green Wave to walk away with an 18-15 victory on a hot Saturday at Vets Field.
The game was moved from Friday to Saturday morning due to thunderstorms.
“When we knew the game got canceled we knew it was going to be a hot day playing at 10 a.m.,” Green Wave tight end and defensive end Jon Breor said. “We just had to come ready and hydrate and we just had to outlast them. It’s always great to start with a win.”
It was the play of the Greenfield front that held the Chicopee rushing attack down, forcing it to pass which led to turnovers. The Pacers gained just 21 yards on the ground in the first half before being completely stifled in the second half, where the Green Wave limited them to a mere six yards rushing.
“We have a good front five,” Breor said. “Our big thing was to win on the line of scrimmage. If we push them back and clog up holes, we’ll make tackles and keep pushing them back and force them to pass.”
Erik Martineau snatched the opening turnover for Greenfield, picking off a Braden Siano pass in the first quarter. The Green Wave punted on the ensuing possession, with the Pacers taking over at their own 22.
That’s when the Greenfield run defense made its mark. Breor forced a loss of 13 on a Xavion Maldanado run before Petru Cojocaru sacked Siano for a seven-yard loss. Chicopee ran it out to the five-yard line and was forced to punt, with the Green Wave taking over at the Chicopee 36.
A 21-yard Angel Politis run set Greenfield up in the red zone, where Keagan Fisher hit Ty Griswold on a misdirection play and Griswald waltzed into the end zone from 13 yards out. Greenfield didn’t convert the two-point try, but still took a 6-0 lead with 8:56 to play in the first half.
“We knew whichever team was ready at the start and was going to be ready to beat people up would win the game,” Green Wave lineman Will VanVleet said. “At the start it seemed pretty even but we pulled through. Ty’s touchdown set us on a good mark.”
Chicopee responded with its best drive of the game, marching down the field in 10 plays and capping it off with Siano zipping a slant in to Jacob Lozado on a fourth-and-six from the Greenfield 10 for a touchdown. The Pacers made the extra point to take a 7-6 lead with 4:07 to play in the second quarter.
That score held until the third quarter, when the Green Wave regained the lead. Greenfield took over at the Chicopee 26 following a big punt return from Martineau, but on the first play of the possession, Politis fumbled to give the Pacers the ball back.
It didn’t take long for the sophomore to avenge his mistake. On the very next play Politis jumped a route over the middle and picked Siano off, returning the ball to the Chicopee 5. Everett Allen powered it in on the next play, and following the failed two-point try, the Green Wave led 12-7 with 6:37 to play.
“How we respond to adversity is a big thing,” Breor said. “We’re going to have tough games like this and we’ll have to overcome whatever happens. Angel came up big after the fumble. That was a huge play.”
Strong defense set Greenfield up for its third score of the game. Chicopee went three-and-out on its next possession and Martineau returned a punt to the Pacers 17.
Two plays later, Politis ran it in from seven yards out on a toss play, with the conversion once again no good. The Green Wave still led, 18-7, with 3:19 to play in the third quarter.
The Pacers were driving and looking for a score before the end of the third quarter, taking it down to the Greenfield 22, but Martineau picked off a pass over the middle to prevent Chicopee from making it a one-score game going into the fourth.
The Pacers nearly struck with just under six minutes to play. After pinning the Green Wave, Chicopee took over at the Greenfield 26 and worked its way to the six-yard-line. A mishandled handoff was put on the ground and Greenfield’s Elliot Cox jumped on it to give the hosts the ball.
The Green Wave punted and the Pacers took over at Greenfield’s 34. Facing a fourth-and-five from the Greenfield 13, Siano lofted a ball to Lozado in the back corner of the end zone, where he skied up and brought the ball down for a touchdown with 2:08 to play.
Jeremiah Elliot converted the two-point try to cut the lead to 18-15, but Greenfield recovered the onside kick and was able to run out the clock thanks to a Fisher first down run.
Next up for Greenfield is another home game Friday night against South Hadley (0-1) in Week 2.