Week 5 Football: Tommy O’Connor snags game-winning TD with no time left to lift Easthampton past Frontier, 40-35 (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Facing a second-and-11 at the Frontier 33-yard line with three seconds remaining in the game, Easthampton quarterback Colin Hogan awaited the shotgun snap already knowing where he was going with the ball on the final play of the game.

Trailing by one point, the Eagles needed to score to improve their winning streak to four games.

Lined up out wide was receiver Tommy O’Connor, Hogan’s favorite target. Hogan took the snap, dropped back, and uncorked a ball down the left sideline for O’Connor – who was surrounded by Redhawks defenders.

O’Connor went up to snatch the ball out of the South Deerfield sky with a miraculous one-handed effort, and high stepped his way into the end zone holding the ball above his head. The score gave Easthampton a 40-35 Intercounty League South win in an offensive shootout on Thursday night.

“I let the ball go, I saw double coverage on Tommy, but he’s done it before,” Hogan, who threw for 160 yards and two scores, said. “I knew my line would protect me for a little while, so I just threw it up there. And he caught it, he was there. He made the grab. It was an amazing catch.”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME PART 2???!!

Colin Hogan drops back to pass on the last play of the game and finds receiver Tommy O’Connor for a 33-yard touchdown as time expires.

Jubilation for Easthampton, heartbreak for Frontier.

FINAL: Eagles 40 – Redhawks 35.@DailyHampGaz pic.twitter.com/KZB8Akj5Mq

— Garrett Cote (@garrett_cote) October 6, 2023

O’Connor (82 yards, two touchdowns) lined up to the left of the offensive line. Coming out of a timeout right before the play, he knew the plan was to go in his direction. A flurry of emotions passed through his body before the snap, but those quickly faded as he took off on his route.

“You dream of something like that ever since you’re a little kid. It felt crazy,” O’Connor said. “That’s the most scared I’ve ever been lining up for a pass. Everybody knew he was throwing it to me.”

It wasn’t as easy as just throw the ball up to O’Connor. Eagles head coach Kyle Dragon was faced with a decision two plays prior. Easthampton has a kicker that can connect on 40-yard attempts, so kicking a field goal ran through Dragon’s mind.

But his players wanted to take a shot, and Hogan was the first to let him know.

“Three seconds left in the game, we go into the timeout and we said, ‘Do we want to kick the field goal or throw it?’” Dragon said. “They all said throw it up to Tommy. So we took the kids’ advice and we threw it up to Tommy.”

Even Frontier head coach Scott Dredge – despite being on the wrong side of Thursday’s nail-biter – couldn’t help but appreciate the level of football displayed under the lights.

“It’s a classic. It’s a pretty classic game,” Dredge said. “It’s about as good a game as you can ask. You can’t ask for anything more from two teams to play so well like that and battle. That’s really what it’s about.”

Easthampton was only able to get in position to throw a Hail Mary due to a roughing the passer call on third-and-10 that gave the Eagles a free 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. Two plays later, O’Connor and company were celebrating a win.

Dredge and the Redhawks know they are only a few plays away from a 4-1 record (Frontier lost a one-possession game last week as well), but instead sit at 2-3 due to mental lapses and a lack of discipline.

“That is one example where we need to teach better discipline,” Dredge said of the roughing the passer penalty. “We’re this close to being that team, but it’s those kinds of things that we need to get better at and play more mentally tough. We’re athletic, we can move the ball, but we need more mental toughness to minimize those mistakes.”

The possession preceding Easthampton’s miracle finish was an impressive seven-play, 48-yard drive that led to Frontier taking a one-point lead with 30 seconds left. The Redhawks executed the two-minute drill to perfection, as they drove the ball methodically down the field and capped it off with a Kaden James touchdown run (his second of the night).

Sophomore Brady Poreda drilled the extra point – the first Redhawks PAT attempt all game – right down the middle, and Frontier led 35-34.

“We kick PATs, and we can, so that’s what I was thinking – we just need one here,” Dredge said. “With 30 seconds left, I was like, ‘Alright, let’s play some prevent defense and try to lock them down.’ And it was working well, but then they got that magical play off.”

The second half featured a total of 55 points (29-26 in favor of Frontier) and the entire game was stacked with highlight plays. Poreda (72 total yards) took a screen pass from Redhawks quarterback Aiden Dredge (223 total yards, two passing touchdowns) and broke five tackles on his way to a 26-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Ian Burt (117 total yards) caught a 69-yard touchdown from Dredge in the second quarter, and Easthampton’s TopherReardon (151 total yards, two touchdowns) snagged a 48-yard touchdown from Hogan late in the third. Luke Johndrow added 57 yards and two scores on the ground for the Eagles, and Frontier’s Brayden Arsenault racked up 70 rushing yards and a third-quarter touchdown.

Based on the recent history between the two programs, these kind of fireworks are expected.

“Every time we come up to Frontier it’s a good game,” Dragon said. “We’ve had some great games over the last seven years I’ve been coaching at the high school level. The way that we responded in that second half, we always talk about being resilient – we were resilient.”

Easthampton (4-1) started its season on the road at Ware. The Eagles played just half of that game – a game they lost 20-0 – due to a weather cancellation, and they were eager to show what kind of team they can truly be. The difference between the Easthampton team that took the field against Ware and the one that took the field Thursday is night and day, and the Eagles know the road ahead is far from bumpy if they keep playing this way.

“That’s definitely not the team that we are right now,” O’Connor said. “And I think it’s gonna be a great rest of the season from here on out.”