PALMER — To close out Pathfinder Tech, the Franklin Tech football team needed a big play on Friday night. The Eagles got it from Wyatt Whitman on special teams in a 48-20 independent win at Legion Field.
Whitman’s blocked punt and following touchdown return turned a relatively close game into a 33-14 third quarter advantage for the Eagles. The senior made a plan with defensive lineman Seamus Collins just before the play.
“I knew they weren’t really lining up right on the center,” Whitman said. “I told Seamus (Collins) to go right through and take the lineman with him. I am happy I was about to block it. It bounced perfectly right into my hands. Can’t hope for anything better than that.”
Whitman added two rushing touchdowns. The Eagles built a 26-7 lead going into halftime.
“Huge play to open things up a little bit,” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said of the punt block. “I don’t know what would have happened if we returned that punt. What kind of drive we could have put together. The automatic score put the pressure on them.”
Not be outdone was wideout Hunter Donahue, who had another dynamic performance for the Eagles. Donahue had four catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns. He added a 22-yard rushing touchdown and an interception. There is some serious chemistry with quarterback Mason Bassett, and the season is still young.
“Obviously we are great friends outside of football,” Donahue said. “We’ve been clicking really good so far at the start of the season. We’ve had some other receivers go out and that means I have to step it up. He’s been hitting me well.”
Donahue’s interception essentially ended the Pioneer’s chances in the fourth quarter. Franklin Tech’s defense did give up multiple big plays to Pathfinder running back Caleb Crum. The junior had touchdown runs of 39 yards and 55 yards.
“They have some athletes, we knew they were going to throw it around a little bit,” Gamache said. The run game surprised us a bit. We were preparing for them to throw it around. They did a nice job up front. They gave us a different look than what we game planned for.”
Franklin Tech opened the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown from Bassett to Donahue.
Whitman’s 10-yard touchdown in the second quarter gave Franklin Tech a 14-7 lead. Bassett later hit Donahue for a 35-yard touchdown to make the score 20-7 with six minutes, three second left in the second quarter. Brady Gancarz scored on 16-yard rushing touchdown just before the intermission.
Whitman scored again on a 7-yard rush in the fourth quarter. Donahue’s 22-yard rushing touchdown closed out the scoring with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter.
Trevor Alexander scored on a 7-yard rushing touchdown for the Pioneers. A big sack by Franklin Tech’s Zachary Haskell ended Pathfinder’s final drive.
Narragansett 45, Athol 14 — The Warriors scored 33 straight points to pull away from the Bears at O’Brien Field on Friday night. Athol took a 14-12 lead into the second quarter. Cam Cox found Joe Brooks for a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Evan Ke ran for a 5-yard touchdown later in the quarter for the Bears.
Golf
Gardner 174, Athol 204 — The Wildcats took down the Bears at Ellinwood Country Club. Owen Stoddard shot a 41 for the Bears.
Hampshire 160, Pioneer 195 — The Raiders were too much for the Panthers at Northfield Golf Course. Weston Jones and Parker Gerry both finished with a 48 for the Panthers.
Frontier 163, Southwick 191 — Addy Wood shot a 38 for the Redhawks in the win over the Rams at Cherry Hill Golf Course. Jamie McCarthy carded a 39 for Frontier.
Girls soccer
Frontier 9, Greenfield 1 — Skyler Steele and Mara Allium both scored twice for the Redhawks in a win over the Green Wave at Herlihy Field. Maggie Nichols, Amelia Potter and Charley Harrington also scored. Nichols and Calli Gifford added two assists while Danica Kopcza led the offense with three assists. Madelyn Divencenzo had another assist for Frontier. Zephyr Jetzon scored for Greenfield, assisted by Tayler Bergeron.
Field hockey
Frontier 4, Greenfield 0 — Addie Harrington scored twice for the Redhawks in the win over the Green Wave at Woodcock Field. Bella Orrell and Riley Tine also scored. Haly Doucette-Kaplan and Brynna Fahey had assists. Hailey Sadler made 27 saves for the Green Wave.
Mohawk 1, West Springfield 0 — The Warriors took down the Terriers in Buckland. Jayda Waters had the goal with an assist coming from Tristan Feinstein. Brynlee Purington had seven saves.
Hampshire 1, Mahar 0 — Bella Burnett made 19 saves for the Senators in a loss to the Raiders in Westhampton.
Volleyball
Smith Vocational 3, Mohawk 0 — Emmalee Inman had five kills, four blocks and two aces in a loss to the Vikings. Set scores were 26-24, 25-15 and 25-19. Maddie Finn added three aces. Aurora Moynihan had six digs, while Zoey-Mae Shearer added four assists.
Late Thursday results
Boys soccer
Mahar 0, SICS 0 — The Senators went to Springfield and managed a draw against the first-place team in the Schmid. It was the Bulldogs’ first non-win in league play (5-1-1, 5-0-1 Schmid). Lucas Hart stopped 12 shots to lead the effort. Max Kimball, Jackson Burnham, Hector Turury, Carter Archambault, and Coltin Fausett held strong on the backend for the Senators (0-4-2).
