GREENFIELD — Athol may have had everything to play for -- a Division 8 state football playoff berth and a share of the Intercounty League North title -- but Greenfield applied a steady dose of pressure over the full 32 minutes Friday night, and the Green Wave were rewarded handsomely with their signature win of the season.

Caleb Murray, on at quarterback in relief of an injured Mason Cummings, zipped an 11-yard touchdown pass to Erik Martineau with 31.7 seconds remaining to snap a 14-14 tie. Angel Politis then converted the two-pointer on a direct snap from center, putting the host Green Wave ahead by eight at 22-14.

All that remained was for Greenfield's Krish Patel to intercept a long bomb thrown by Athol's Aidan Melanson, the only turnover of the game, and a couple of kneeldowns secured the Wave's 22-14 upset victory at Veterans Memorial Field.

Greenfield closed out its regular season at 3-5, 2-3 within the IL North, with non-playoff games still ahead. Athol entered Friday holding the No. 15 playoff position in the Division 8 state power rankings, but its hopes for postseason play took a major hit, as the Bears fell to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the league.

"This is the first game that we've really put four quarters together," said Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski. "Those are the things you dream about, the last couple seconds of the game, doing the right things and we did them. We were fortunate to make the play."

Murray boosted his team and the Green Wave faithful with a 66-yard return of Friday's opening kickoff, setting up Greenfield at the Athol 25. Cummings snapped off a 17-yard keeper to put the ball at the 6 and then ran it in himself from the 3. Murray took Cummings' forward flip on a jet sweep in for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 lead with only 1:56 gone in the first quarter.

The teams exchanged turnovers on downs before Athol took over at its 32, using the running of Sawyer Lefsyk and Logan McGrath, who had a key 15-yard gain. Melanson dumped a middle screen pass to Lefsyk who went 26 yards for the Bears' first score, although the extra-point kick pulled wide left, leaving Greenfield ahead 8-6 with 8:13 to play in the second quarter.

Two series later, Greenfield took over on downs at its own 32 and got an instant 23-yard run by Politis. Cummings threw to Patel for an 18-yard gain down to the 25, and Cummings hit Murray on a crossing route that Murray turned into a 25-yard score, extending the ball over the goal line before he was knocked out of bounds short of the pylon. The Wave failed on the two-point try but led 14-6 at the 31.2-second mark.

Melanson managed a 40-yard completion to Logan Cormier that got Athol down to the Greenfield 17 just as time expired in the half.

Athol then controlled the football for the first 7 1/2 minutes of the third quarter but could not get across midfield, and the Wave's Jon Breor blocked a punt to give Greenfield possession at the Athol 39. Politis ran for 16 yards on first down but the Wave moved backward from there, with a sack of Cummings by Ethan Goodwin thrown in, and Greenfield eventually punted to pin Athol deep at its own 6-yard line.

Eight plays and 94 yards later, Athol moved back into a tie. Raydin Sousa had a 13-yard run and a 21-yard reception from Melanson, and Lefsyk had gains of 18 and 14 yards, the second of which resulted in a touchdown with 8:42 remaining. Lefsyk's two-point run created a 14-14 score.

Greenfield took over and advanced from its own 33 to the Athol 20 before failing on fourth-and-7 when Cummings was dropped for a 1-yard loss. Athol couldn't move the ball, with a key illegal forward pass call leading to a loss of down, and Goodwin's 30-yard punt gave the hosts the ball at the midfield stripe with 3 1/2 minutes to play.

Cummings then converted a fourth-and-2 with an 8-yard run to the Athol 34, and completed a 17-yard pass to Murray on the next play. From the 17-yard line, Cummings ran for gains of 4 and 2 yards and threw an incomplete pass, but was forced to come off the field with an injury. Murray stepped in, took the shotgun snap from center, and threw to a wide-open Martineau in the right corner of the end zone, good for the Wave's winning score.

“We knew they were going to be a challenge. They were scary on film, and they were a better football team than their record.” said Athol coach Josh Talbot. “They got on us early and we chased all night. I give our guys credit, because they answered the bell, but we just couldn't finish it off.

“We've got 28 days left together, and you've got to make a business decision about how you want to go out. We had a team last year that would have played until February. It's about how we pick each other up right now, so we have that same vibe as we close out our season.”

Athol put up 286 yards of total offense to Greenfield's 219, led by Lefsyk's game-high 134 yards on 23 carries. Melanson threw for 96 yards and a touchdown, but completed only 5-of-21 passes.

Politis topped the Greenfield ground gainers with 63 yards, just ahead of Cummings' 57. Cummings went 7-of-14 through the air for 86 yards and Murray was 1-of-2 with his 11-yard game-winner to Martineau. Murray (44 receiving yards) and Patel (37) each caught three passes for the Wave.

"That's a good Athol team, and a huge win for us," said Kuchieski. "We didn't have a great week of practice, so I was wondering what we were going to have coming out. We got it going, and hopefully this continues on. When we play four quarters, we have a chance to win. We just haven't done that all year."