Football: Frontier defense clamps down, shuts out Belchertown 20-0

Frontier’s Garrett Dredge runs with the ball against Franklin Tech in South Deerfield earlier this season.

Frontier’s Garrett Dredge runs with the ball against Franklin Tech in South Deerfield earlier this season. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL Franz

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

Staff Writer

Published: 10-25-2024 9:26 PM

BELCHERTOWN — After being shut out two weeks in a row, the Frontier football team was in need of a fast start to gain some confidence against Belchertown on Friday. 

The Redhawks delivered. 

Utilizing its power run game, Frontier scored on both its drives in the first half and added a score in the second half. All the while, the Redhawk defense didn’t give up a score, leading to a 20-0 Intercounty League South victory. 

“We’re obviously not winning the league title but this feels good for these guys,” Frontier coach Scott Dredge said. “It’s good for their self esteem and to see the success and know they can do it. That’s what I’m most happy about – they know what it looks like to win.” 

Belchertown’s defense stepped up in the second half, but the Orioles were never able to consistently move the ball against the Redhawk defense. 

The Orioles (0-7) moved the ball well in the first half despite not having any points to show for it. Frontier (2-5) clamped down in the final 24 minutes of action, giving up just two first downs in the third quarter before forcing a punt and a turnover on downs in the fourth. 

Belchertown drove to the red zone on its final drive but was unable to get into the end zone before the final whistle sounded. 

“In the second half, I thought if we could keep moving the ball and doing the right things we had a chance,” Orioles coach Keith Lebeau said. “We’d move the ball then stopped moving the ball for whatever reason.” 

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Belchertown received the opening kickoff and drove it to the Frontier 34, where Avery Cote was stopped in the backfield on fourth down to give the ball to the Redhawks. 

Frontier proceeded to go on a 14 play drive that milked 8:09 off the clock. The Redhawks spread the ball around, as Konnor James, Kaden James, Brady Poreda and Ben Caron picked up first downs on the drive. 

Facing a third-and-goal from the 2, Kaden James powered in on a fullback dive to give Frontier the opening lead of the game. Noah Poreda made the extra point to put the Redhawks ahead, 7-0, with 10:45 to go in the half. 

On the first play of Belchertown’s ensuing drive, the Orioles put the ball on the ground on a dropped snap. Frontier recovered to take over at the Orioles 37. 

“I think we ran [nine] plays in that sequence,” LeBeau said. “Nine plays on the opening drive, we get the ball back and fumble. That’s a tough one to recover from.” 

Eight plays later, the Redhawks drove it to the red zone but faced a third-and-7 from the Belchertown 8. Caron rolled to his right and fired a pass to Jaxon Spearance in the flat, who got in for the touchdown. Noah Poreda’s extra point gave Frontier a 14-0 lead with 6:16 to go in the half. 

The Orioles ran just one offensive play from the 6:54 mark of the first quarter to the 6:11 mark of the second quarter. 

“That’s the key to everything,” Dredge said. “We’re not shy about admitting we’re a ball control offense. We spent a lot of time this week at practice working on sustaining blocks. We kept saying we want a minimum of four yards and to keep the ball moving. We’re just going to hit it all different ways.” 

Despite that, Belchertown drove into the red zone on its next drive, with Adam O’Rourke, Brian Fuller and Jack Beals gaining positive yards on the ground. 

The Orioles got it down to the Redhawks 2 but the Frontier defense stood tall, making three straight stops to keep Belchertown out of the end zone. On fourth down from the 1, Max Brissette was stopped for no gain, with Frontier taking over with 35 seconds to go in the half. 

“We had an opportunity,” LeBeau said. “We had first-and-goal from just outside the five but we just couldn’t punch it in. Kudos to them, they did a lot of good things up front there. We just couldn’t punch it in and that was a huge sting. It could have been a 14-7 game at the half and it’s a different game.” 

After Frontier coughed it up on its opening possession of the second half, the Redhawks stopped the Orioles short on a fourth-and-two to take over at their own 34. A 37-yard run by Brady Poreda, followed by a facemask penalty, put Frontier in the red zone. 

Facing a fourth-and-three from the Belchertown seven, Kaden James dropped back and fired a pass over the middle to Caron who hauled it in for a touchdown which gave Frontier a 20-0 lead with 2:51 to go in the third quarter. 

James, a running back, was splitting time with Caron at quarterback in place of the injured Garrett Dredge. 

With players playing out of position due to injures, Scott Dredge said how proud he was of guys for filling into roles they don’t typically play. 

“There’s some kids who stepped up tonight,” Dredge said. “Jaxon Spearance played a great game on both sides of the ball. I can’t say enough about Ben Caron and how good of a job he’s done on both sides of the ball. And of course, the rock of our team Kaden James. He’s playing some quarterback and doing a bit of everything. Things are looking good right now so adding Garrett back will only help that.” 

Brady Poreda led the way with 95 yards on the ground while Kaden James rushed for 42 yards. Belchertown quarterback Jack Beals finished with 50 yards while Brian Fuller added 32 yards rushing in the loss. 

Belchertown looks to rebound when it faces Commerce at home next Friday while Frontier prepares to take on unbeaten Lee on the road. 

“We’re going to have a challenge next week against Lee,” Dredge said. “It’s great to prepare for them coming off this victory.”