SOUTH DEERFIELD — With all the skill-position talent on the field, the battle in the trenches was especially important Friday night.
Matt Carlson and his Frontier Regional School linemates won just about every battle. The rest of the host Red Hawks followed suit.
Behind a dominant effort on both sides of the ball, Frontier moved into a tie for first place in the Intercounty League North Division. The Hawks were in control for just about the entirety of the evening en route to a convincing 34-8 victory over Easthampton High School.
“They threw the kitchen sink at us and we were able to shut it down,” said Carlson, a senior tackle, of Easthampton’s offense. “We adapted to what they were throwing at us and after their first drive, we were able to keep them off the board.”
Easthampton (4-3, 4-1), which could have clinched the outright league title with a win, was unable to spring its multitude of offensive weapons free for the majority of the night.
The Eagles did march down and score on their opening possession of the game, staking themselves to an 8-0 lead with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Nick Pellegrini to Quintin Baker-Cisero.
From there, however, the Red Hawks (6-1, 4-1) dominated. The Easthampton backfield contingent of Ish Akanour (8 carries, 47 yards), David Helems (16 carries, 71 yards) and Sopie Pek (2 carries, 17 yards) was held in check. Pellegrini completed 10-of-20 passes, but for just 105 yards. He tossed for just 57 yards after the opening drive.
“All week we stressed defense at practice,” Carlson offered. “Whatever happens, we’re shutting them down. That was the mindset. Coach talks about how nobody comes to South Deerfield and runs between the tackles. We took pride in making sure that was the case again tonight.”
With the defense settling into the game, the Frontier offense got to work. The line, anchored in the middle by 6-foot-4, 310-pound center Xavier Santiago, had the Easthampton defense on its heels the entire night.
The Hawks cut the deficit to 8-6 on a 7-yard touchdown run by Stephen Worthley, just three plays after backfield-mate Aaron Landry eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season on the team’s opening play from scrimmage. Landry entered the night with 983 yards on the year.
On the ensuing Frontier drive, the offense ground out a 12-play stanza that took place exclusively on the ground. The Hawks churned out the go-ahead score on a 3-yard Worthley TD, putting the hosts on top, 12-8, with 5:36 remaining before halftime.
Frontier’s offense cashed in again just before halftime, showcasing a quick-hitting offense to really put the pressure on the Eagles. Taking over at their own 31 with just 1:20 left, the Hawks went 69 yards on eight plays in 1:13. Quarterback Matt Hildreth, who was efficient on the drive, hit Kiernan Freeman for a 14-yard touchdown after a perfect play-fake, and Hildreth’s extra-point kick had Frontier up 19-8 at intermission.
It was all Hawks in the second half, as they put the game out of reach on a bizarre play late in the third quarter. Facing a third-and-14 from its own 16, Frontier was in danger of giving Easthampton possession in prime real estate. Hildreth was hit and fumbled the ball in a scrum, and while both teams had chances in recovering, the ball wound up squirting back through a pile of bodies to the Frontier 13. It landed into the capable hands of Worthley, however, and he calmly scooped it up and took off running up the right sideline. With the majority of the Easthampton defense trying to regain possession, Worthley ran around the outside and free into the secondary, ultimately burning two defenders and scoring an 87-yard touchdown that took the wind out of the Easthampton sails and put the hosts on top, 26-8.
Bryce Dobosz scored a 2-yard insurance touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and Frontier kept Easthampton off the board the rest of the way for the 34-8 win.
Worthley ran for 160 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns, while Landry also went over the century mark for the fifth game in a row with 118 yards on 11 carries. All told, the Hawks amassed 344 yards on the ground in the victory.
“We get the first level out of the way and those guys take care of it from there,” said Carlson of the speedy Frontier backfield.
The eight points were the fewest Frontier’s defense has allowed all season other than a 35-6 win over Palmer High School on Sept. 22. Carlson said the unit was able to force Easthampton into difficult down and distance situations, and that took the Eagles out of their comfort level.
“We were able to force them into some situations where we could more predict what they were going to do,” Carlson explained. “They like to mix in all sorts of looks and plays but we prepared for that. It’s a lot harder to run the things they like to run when it’s third and long.”