Comp, South Hadley in Thanksgiving Day thriller
SOUTH HADLEY – There have many close games in the long history between the Chicopee Comprehensive and South Hadley foot ball teams, but none so dramatic as this year’s Turkey Day affair. The Tigers won this game in the final second. With just one tick left on the clock and time for one last play from the eight yard line, Jason Bourque found Matt Roy in the corner of the end zone for the winning touchdown. After falling behind the Colts with 1:29 to play, the Tigers drove 80 yards for the 24-22 victory.
There were playoff implications for both teams. South Hadley, with the win, leapt past SciTech for the fourth and final spot in the Division II tournament, giving them a date with top seeded Hoosac Valley. Comp had already qualified, but the loss dropped them into the fourth spot in Division I, pitting them up to play number one ranked Longmeadow. A win would have set them up for a rematch with cross town rival, Chicopee.
Thought they may have won by way of the air, the Tigers are primarily a running team and they came out doing just that on the game’s opening series. When they ran, they moved the ball, attested by gains of 11 yards by Conor Doran, pickups of 7, 13, 5 and 1 by Sean Mulveyhill and 5 by Bourque. With that, the Tigers moved the ball from their 28 downfield, finally stalling at the Comp 35, after two incomplete passes. That drive alone, consumed just over half of the first quarter. The teams traded possessions after that with Comp punting after a short series and the Tigers going three and out. The first break of the game came on the next play, when Mulveyhill recovered a fumble near midfield as time expired in the first quarter.
This time the Tigers would not be denied. Mark Dubois carried for 4; Sean Bouthiller picked up 15 for a first down; Mulveyhill gained 5; Bouthiller ran around the Colt defense for 23 and touchdown. The kick was blocked, but South Hadley had drawn first blood at 6-0.
It was three and out for Comp again and a punt to the South Hadley 25 yard line. Once again the running moved them downfield for the most part. After a 10 yard completion from Bourque to Connor Fenton, it was all on the ground until the Tigers found the end zone. Mulveyhill had four carries of, 1, 5, 2 and 4 yards; Dubois went for 11 and 3; Bourque for 8; Bouthiller ran for 13 early in the drive and then mirrored his first score with another 23 yard reverse and a 12-0 lead for the Tigers.
But there would be more excitement before halftime. After Cody Richards took the kickoff to the 37 yard line, the quick strike Chicopee Comp offense went into high gear. They took over with 1:40 left on the clock. Two incompletions later, they faced 2nd and ten. Then Jesse Warren hit Roberto Carrasquillo on the left sideline for a 38 yard gain to put the ball at the South Hadley 15 yard line. An 8 yard strike to Richards and a 4 yard run by Trent Schieb, gave Comp a first and goal at the 3 with half a minute still to go. Warren took it in himself of the next play. When he found Matt Toczek in the end zone for the two point conversion, it was a 12-8 game.
Despite a time of possession difference of two to one and a total yardage gap of the same, the Colts were back in this one and they would be receiving to open the second half.
Chicopee Comp would make the most of that first series after the break, once again doing that they do best, through the air. After a touchback on the kick, they got the ball at their 20 yard line and looked, at first, as if this would be a continuation of the inconsistencies of the first half. A loss of a yard on first down and false start had them at 2nd and 15 and buried at their own 14 yard line. Then Warren found Richard for 38 yards and suddenly the ball was past midfield. A 16 yard pass to Sam Majeran gave them another first down and then it was Warren to Toczek for 31 yards and a touchdown. Chicopee Comp took the lead and with the point after, it was 15-12.
The momentum seemed to have turned, as South Hadley went three and out, but then Chicopee Comp did the same. In the exchange, the Tigers won the battle of field position, as the Comp punt went just 10 yards to their 30 yard line. South Hadley took advantage of that in just one play, as Mulveyhill ran through the Comp defense for the score and now an 18-12 Tigers’ lead.
Back came Comp, or so it seemed. Warren hit Toczek for 40 and Carrasquillo for 20 to get the ball to the ten yard line. But a personal foul set them back to the 25 and the drive stalled right there. After South Hadley went three and out, the Colts once again moved downfield from their 27 to the South Hadley 24. Passes of 19 yards to Richards and 30 to Carrasquillo got them there. But back to back sacks ended the drive and forced a Comp punt with just five and half minutes to go.
Comp would have to stop the Tigers and get the ball back quickly, which is exactly what happened. Two minutes and three plays later, South Hadley punted the ball to Comp and in the exchange, the Colts took over at the South Hadley 35.
Starting with a short field, it took Comp little time to get back the lead. Warren hit Richards for9 yards and Toczek for 10. When they were set back after offensive pass interference to the 35, it looked like a repeat of their last two possessions that came up short. This time, Warren found Toczek in the end zone and with the extra point, Comp took a 22-18 lead.
The kickoff was retuned to the 20 yard line and with 1:21 to play, the Tigers would have to go 80 yards to win the game. Mulveyhill ran for 9 and 3 yards, but the clock kept moving. Bourque went to the air and hit Roy for 2, 22 and 5, putting the ball at midfield with less than a minute to play. After an incompletion, making it 3rd and 5, the key play of the game came next. Looking as though he would be sacked, Bourque somehow broke free and let the ball fly. Bouthiller came down with it at the Comp 8 yard line with 5 seconds left. Bourque’s sideline end zone pass was out of the reach of his receiver, but the play took just four second and left one on the clock, time for one more play. That would be the game winner caught by Roy.
“I knew if I could get the ball in the right spot, he would catch it,” Bourque said. Added Coach Ray Ferro, “We had the right people in the right places and they did what they do best.”
The statistics were skewed towards the team’s relative strengths. Warren had a banner day going 16-24 and passing for 339 yards. Toczek caught 5 for 120; Richards had 6 for 99 and Carrasquillo 3 for 88. On the South Hadley side they ran for 249, behind 92 from Mulveyhill and 87 from Bouthiller. While Bourque’s overall passing numbers were just 7 for 16 and 73 yards, he was near perfect when he had to be, as attested by going 5 for 6 and 69 yards in that final drive.
