Friday Night Football
It was another exciting night of Friday night football in the Berkshires.
Saint Joseph's may have made the biggest statement of the week, rolling to a 20-0 halftime lead and blowing out Monument Mountain 28-0. After an ugly loss to Mount Greylock last week, the Crusaders came out looking far better this week, shutting down the Spartans offense sans Corey Woodard. It looks like a Berkshire County playoff spot is still in the Crusaders' sights.
Mount Greylock's students, perhaps the most raucous -- and assuredly the most dedicated to the use of chanting as a verbal art form -- in the county, were chanting "unbeaten" after their 22-7 win over Drury last night, the game that I was at. There's no telling if that's because the team is the only unbeaten team in the county, or because they expect an unbeaten season. If the Mounties play like they did in the first half yesterday, they'll likely be on their way.
Greylock played near-perfect in the first half, barely giving the Drury offense a chance to get on the field. The Mounties reeled off two 16-play drives behind their huge offensive line. Greylock had a chance to score a third touchdown at the end of the half, but was stopped on fourth down. It nearly cost them as the Blue Devils cut the lead to a touchdown before Greylock put it away. The Mounties were stopped twice in the game after having first-and-goal.
"Sure it's a concern," Greylock coach Shaun Flaherty said after the game. "I think the real hallmark of a team is how they play when they get close to the end zone. That's the exclamation point for a team. To be stuffed down there is unsettling. But we're not going to sit here and worry about it, we're going to have other chances."
Personally, I'd love to see the team use fullback Jon LaCasse more inside the red zone. The bruising fullback was stopped for no gain just once in the game, but the team relied on Aaron Castonguay and Preston Trites when they got close. I love Trites' run/pass threat close in and Castonguay will be the team's bread and butter, but give me a big man and a big line when I need a big yard.
The Lee High Wildcats should also be commended for earning their first win of the season against Taconic. The Braves took it on the chin as Lee got its ground game going early, behind Chad Cummings and Eric Wamsley. The pair combined for 317 yards in a 35-14 Lee win. As my co-worker Andy Merritt pointed out -- check out the fourth quarter of that game if you want to see a score-filled period.
Also losing on the road was Wahconah, which fell 20-14 at Northampton. Northampton's played pretty well this season, so it might not say much about the Warriors, but it seems like Berkshire County will have a tough time getting a second team into the playoffs this season. Still, the Warriors kept it close enough to think that their match-ups with Saint Joseph's and Mount Greylock will both be the kind you don't want to miss. The Warriors face St. Joseph's on Saturday, Oct. 14 and face the Mounties the following Friday. You've got to think that both games will go a long way to determining each team's playoff fates.