H.S. Football: Ware downs Franklin Tech, 27-14

TURNERS FALLS — Midway through the third quarter of Friday night’s Intercounty League North opener, Franklin Tech shoved the ball downfield for a quick go-ahead touchdown and seemed to have all the momentum going its way.

Ware had other ideas, however, using a strong finishing kick to strike back with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone good for a solid 27-14 road victory.

Indians quarterback Troy Jurczyk weathered three interceptions to throw three touchdown passes, two to Dalton Marquis. The visitors benefited from short fields for both of their last two scores, the clincher coming on a 4-yard run by Alex Orszulak with only 2:02 remaining, followed by Jurczyk’s two-point conversion flip to Marquis.

“We told the kids at halftime that if we could get a stop and put a nice scoring drive together, we’d certainly have momentum in our favor. We did that,’ said Eagles coach Joe Gamache. “But we made a couple of mental mistakes late in the game. Our young guys stepped up and did some good things, but there’s still a learning process.”

Both teams came out of Friday at 2-2 overall, with Ware at 1-0 in the IL North standings.

The Indians took advantage of a Jurczyk interception of Tech quarterback Mason Bassett to start their second drive of the night at the Eagles’ 46. Jadrien Berthiaume ripped off three straight gains of 7, 11 and 16 yards to get Ware close, then Jurczyk hit Marquis down the right seam for 5 yards and the first score. Jurczyk’s extra point made it 7-0 with 4:31 to go in the first,

Ware then jumped on a Tech fumble on the next play from scrimmage, starting at the Eagles’ 47, but couldn’t move the ball as the teams exchanged punts. Nolyn Stafford came up with his first of two interceptions to get Tech started at its own 33, and the hosts mounted a 12-play drive consuming over seven minutes, helped by a 23-yard gainer from Nathan Sabolevski and a 21-yard completion from Logan Bassett to Cole Bassett. The Bassett brothers combined on a 5-yard TD pass with 2:33 left in the half, but Sabolevski’s two-point conversion run was stopped short.

That left enough time for both teams to punt, and a partial block of Tech’s punt gave Ware the ball at the Eagles 33. Stafford picked off Jurczyk for the second time, in the end zone for a touchback, at the 18.2-second mark. Max Brunette reeled off a 24-yard run and the Bassetts hooked up again for 21 yards, reaching the Ware 35, but the Eagles got no closer before intermission.

Despite trailing 7-6 at the break, Franklin Tech still held a decisive 167-78 edge in total yardage.

On their first series of the third quarter, the Eagles got five straight runs for 42 yards from Brunette and a 20-yard completion from Logan Bassett to Joseph DiSciullo to put the ball at the Ware 3. Brunette took it in from there, then added the two-point run, to make it a 14-7 game at the 5:42 mark.

Ware answered with a march to the Tech 7 before a holding call. On fourth-and-goal from the 17, Jurczyk was picked off by the Eagles’ Landon Smead, whose 14-yard return gave Tech possession at its own 23.

The Eagles punted away as the Indians started at their own 45, and struck immediately as Marquis caught Jurczyk’s pass in the right flat, shook off an open-field tackle attempt, and burst 55 yards down the right sideline for the touchdown. The extra-point kick missed wide left, leaving the score at 14-13 with 10:29 left.

Tech then faced fourth-and-4 from its 41 and tried to fake a punt, but DiSciullo’s pass attempt fell incomplete and Ware took over on downs. Six plays later, at the Eagles’ 21, Jurczyk found Orszulak on a middle screen for the go-ahead touchdown and a 19-14 lead for the Tribe with 5:16 on the clock.

Another four-and-out with Tech failing on fourth down gave Ware prime field position at the 27 and an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty against the Eagles cut that distance in half. Orszulak, a defensive menace all night for Ware, finished off the hosts with a 4-yard scoring run and Marquis’ two-point conversion catch put the Indians out of danger at 27-14.

Jurczyk finished 9-of-18 passing for 182 yards and Marquis was his top target with five catches for 110 yards and two scores. Berthiaume led the Ware rushers with 55 yards on 11 carries.

Brunette topped the century mark for the Eagles with 111 yards on 24 tries and Sabolevski contributed 40 yards. Logan Bassett went 11-of-21 through the air for 106 yards and Cole Bassett caught five balls for 60 yards.

“We’re definitely proud of the way the kids battled,” said Gamache. “The good news is we’re still in the front half of our schedule, so hopefully we can figure out some things and get healthy.”

Franklin Tech has a Thursday night game scheduled next at Greenfield.