H.S. Sports: Franklin Tech’s Brunette scores 3 touchdowns in 28-16 win over Greenfield

GREENFIELD — The second half of the local high school football regular season got off to an early start Thursday evening at Veterans Memorial Field, with two teams looking to make moves within the Intercounty League North Division.

Thanks to a touchdown with less than 15 seconds left in the first half, host Greenfield pulled into an 8-8 tie at the break, but Franklin Tech kept the pressure on with the next two scores and managed to keep the Green Wave at arm’s length for the duration with a 28-16 victory.

Max Brunette ran for 115 yards and three scores for the Eagles (3-2, 1-1 IL North) and Nathan Sabolevski added the touchdown that put the visitors ahead to stay midway through the third quarter, set up by a huge punt return from Brady Gancarz.

“The way the statewide playoffs are designed, every game’s a must win,” said Tech coach Joe Gamache. “We talked about this being a big, big week for us; if we fall to 0-2 in the league, we’re in a lot of trouble. We were able to refocus and fix some of the mistakes we made last week (a 27-14 lL North opener loss to Ware).”

Greenfield, off its road victory last week at Palmer, couldn’t sustain that momentum and fell to 1-1 in the IL North, 1-4 overall.

“We stayed in there right to the end. Our kids played hard, but they made the plays and we didn’t,” said Green Wave coach Mike Kuchieski. “We got banged up against Palmer, and we were wondering what we were going to do mid-week. Having a short week and a Thursday game put a little pressure on us, but the league is very level all the way through.”

Angel Politis powered the Wave with a workhorse night of 153 yards on 29 carries and a touchdown. Gavin Arsenault’s 10-yard TD pass to DaSean Carter just before the half lifted Greenfield into the 8-8 deadlock.

Greenfield blocked a Tech punt on the game’s first series and took over at its own 45, but had to punt itself and Brunette’s 25-yard return set up the Eagles at the Wave 42. Three plays later, Brunette found the end zone from 31 yards away, and Sabolevski added the two-point conversion run for an 8-0 Eagles lead with 6:38 left in the first.

The Green Wave’s next two possessions ended in punts before taking over at their own 40 with just over 3 1/2 minutes to go before the half. Arsenault and Carter hooked up on a key 9-yard completion on which Carter fumbled, but teammate Taj Diabi recovered and advanced the ball to the Tech 38. Politis later had a 14-yard run and Greenfield got first-and-goal from the 10, cashing in on second down with Arsenault’s throw to Carter in the back right corner of the end zone. Politis ran for the two-pointer to make it 8-8 with only 12.5 seconds on the clock.

Greenfield then took the second-half kickoff and advanced into Tech territory, but Cole Gamache came up with a big third-down sack of Arsenault for a 10-yard loss. Gancarz then fielded the ensuing punt at his own 20 and tore up the left sideline until he was caught from behind at the 5, and a horse-collar tackle personal foul advanced the ball half the distance to the goal line.

Sabolevski made it count on third down with a 2-yard TD run, followed by Brunette’s two-point conversion as Tech took the lead to stay, 16-8, with 5:45 remaining in the third.

After another Greenfield punt, Franklin Tech chewed up nearly six minutes with an 11-play, 56-yard drive on which Brunette rushed seven times for 44 yards. His last carry, a 6-yarder, boosted the lead to 22-8.

Down by two scores with just over nine minutes to play, Greenfield mounted its own 65-yard drive, helped along by Arsenault’s 35-yard gain on a keeper to the Tech 25. Politis carried the next three times for 8, 12 and 5 yards, the last for a touchdown, and Arsenault ran in the two-pointer to pull the Green Wave within 22-16.

The Eagles then recovered the ensuing squib kickoff at midfield and Nolyn Stafford ripped off an 18-yard gain to put the visitors in plus territory. A late hit out of bounds later advanced the ball to the Greenfield 12, and Brunette notched his third score of the evening with 3:45 to go to create the 28-16 final.

Franklin Tech held a narrow 212-205 advantage in total offense. Both quarterbacks, Arsenault (4-of-10) and Tech’s Mason Bassett (4-of-6), threw for 28 yards Thursday.

The Eagles next host Palmer in their Homecoming game on Oct. 17, while Greenfield goes on the road to Mahar that night.