ATHOL — Midway through the second quarter of Friday’s game, Athol running back Sawyer Lefsyk had given his team momentum with a 64-yard touchdown drive.

On the next series, Lee quarterback Omari Smith was picked off by Raydin Sousa and the Bears were in business.

Not for long, as Athol went 3-and-out. On the punt, Lee’s Thomas Lucy blocked a kick attempt by Ethan Goodwin, the Wildcats recovered on the Athol 2-yard line and Lee’s Devin Schwab scored the third of his four touchdowns as the visitors from Berkshire County eventually pulled away for a 42-7 win.

"They did a couple of things different than what we had seen on film," Athol coach Josh Talbot said. "They hit a couple of counter plays and exposed some of our overloads. To be honest, a couple of special team screwups really changed the complexion of the game. The blocked punt and then we punt snapped it over our heads. We have to win all those facets against good football teams.

"We got some life with Sawyer's run, and then special teams just killed us."

Schwab finished with a game-high 93 yards on 21 carries. He scored on touchdown runs of 12, 19, 2 and 6 for the Wildcats, who improve to 3-0.

It is the first time Lee has been unbeaten this late in the season, since the Wildcats opened 6-0 back in 2018.

The Wildcats were pretty close to dominant in all three phases of the game. They outgained the Bears 223 yards to 66. The defense held Athol to one first down in the second half and, after Athol quarterback Aidan Melanson was 4 for 6 in the first half, he completed only two of 10 in the second half. And to top that off, Lee sophomore Thomas Lucy blocked a second-quarter punt that popped the home team's balloon.

It took the visitors exactly one unsuccessful drive to get unlocked. Athol punter Ethan Goodwin, in a bit of foreshadowing, almost had a punt blocked on his second kick. The short kick gave Lee the ball on the Athol 37.

The Wildcats needed only seven plays to get in the end zone. Jaydee Reber got six yards on a fourth-and-five run to keep the drive going. Three plays later, Schwab took a pitch from Lee quarterback Smith, went around right end and virtually untouched into the end zone. Luke Gamberoni's kick made it 7-0.

After another three-and-out, the Wildcats went 52 yards in five plays. The big play was a 21-yard run on a quarterback draw by Smith. Lee got the ball to the 18 when, on the play, Schwab went around the left side and got into the end zone. Again, he was untouched. But a rough exchange on the PAT attempt kept the Wildcats off the board, and it was 13-0.

Gamberoni's kickoff went out of bounds, giving Athol the ball on its 35. Hayden Barrieau ran for one yard, and Lefsyk took it the final 64 yards for a touchdown. The Wildcats were pinching defensively and once Lefsyk got to the third level, there was nobody near him. Ben Kearney's PAT made it 14-7, and it was a game.

The game got much, much closer when Smith had a pass intercepted by Athol safety Sousa at the Athol 30.

A procedure penalty on first down moved the Bears back, but again, it was three-and-out. This time, Lee's Thomas Lucy got in untouched and blocked Goodwin's punt attempt. The Wildcats recovered on the Athol 2-yard line, and Schwab scored his third touchdown on the play. It came with 3:12 remaining until halftime. Lee was up 21-7, and the Bears never got closer.

"At the time, [the block] was massive," Salinetti said. "They started getting a little momentum, and then Tommy came flying around the edge and that was a huge play. You saw the scramble for that ball. Those guys are so hungry, just scrapping and clawing to get the ball.

Schwab got his fourth touchdown with 4:40 left in the third quarter, coming after a horrible snap back to the Athol punter was downed on the Bears' 6-yard line. Dawson Reber scored on runs of 5 and 22 yards in the fourth quarter.