NORTH ADAMS — The Mahar football team found its groove on the ground against McCann Tech on Friday. 

Behind three touchdowns from Jayden Delgado, the Senators walked away with a 22-8 win over the Hornets. 

After McCann turned the ball over on downs on its first possession of the game, Mahar wasted no time, scoring on the fifth play of its opening drive. Delgado set the tone for a stellar offensive day with a run from 15 yards out, giving the Senators a 6-0 lead. The touchdown was set up by a 76-yard run from senior quarterback Morgan Softic.

McCann moved the ball effectively in the opening half, relying on a steady diet of Parker Hart and Musa Thompson, with the Hornets duo combining for 170 yards on the ground, McCann was unable to score on its first three drives but did get aggressive. Early in the second quarter, the Hornets attempted a fake punt, but Thompson’s pass was broken up.

“When we’re behind, I want to get on the board,” Hornet Jon Rochelo said. “I hope people don’t catch on to it. This [fake punt] was planned. I wanted him to run it not pass it, but he did a good job. He sailed it out there, it just didn’t work out.”

Following the failed fake punt, Mahar had a quick four-play drive, capped off by a 39-yard touchdown run from Delgado. Later in the quarter, needing a big play, Rochelo got aggressive, calling a run for Thompson on fourth-and-1. The decision proved to be a good one with Thompson taking it 29 yards to the house. Thompson converted on the two-point conversion, cutting the Mahar lead to 14-8. McCann also forced a fumble on the next drive that was recovered by senior Brody Rhinemiller, giving the Hornets momentum heading into the half.

The McCann defense settled into the game in the third quarter, forcing two punts. The Hornets held Mahar scoreless on four consecutive drives in the second and third quarters. McCann was unable to capitalize, turning it over via a fumble from Izaiah Luczynski. The Hornets also committed numerous penalties that stalled drives.

“It was film study,” Rochelo said of the improvements made on defense. “You got to let some of these kids be ballplayers and naturally see the ball. Mahar did a great job disguising a lot of it, but I thought we were prepared. We watched a lot of film. Hours and hours watching game film.”

Early in the fourth, Delgado added his third touchdown on a run from 5 yards out, giving Mahar a 22-8 lead.