Great job Panthers, you may not of won but you played hard and we are proud of you . You've taken this team far and you have accomplished much , for that you are true winners . I know I speak for many when we say we are proud of all of you .
Also, it was great to see Mike Duprey attend and cheer the boys on!! Thanks Mike for your continued support of our boys who saw you and were happy to see you in the stands.
By JASON BUTYNSKI
Recorder Staff
Friday, November 04, 2016
TURNERS FALLS — It was a night of defense in the Powertown.
Turners
Falls High School forced six turnovers from Pioneer Valley Regional
School and survived a solid defensive performance by the Panthers en
route to a 30-7 win in the WMass Division IV-A semifinals at Bourdeau
Field on Friday night.
The top-seeded and unbeaten Indians (9-0)
jumped out to a great start, forcing Pioneer to turn the ball over on
its first three possessions, which led to a pair of touchdowns. That
could have spelt disaster for the fourth-seeded Panthers (5-3), but the
Pioneer defense did not quit and managed to keep the Indians off the
board until the fourth quarter, when the Indians put the game away with a
pair of touchdowns, including one on Jack Darling’s 45-yard fumble
return for a touchdown. That capped off a huge defensive performance by
the Indians, who did their own number on the Pioneer rushing attack,
limiting the Panthers to just 80 rushing yards as a team.
“We
enjoy our defense, we swarm to the football, that’s when we are at our
best,” Turners Falls coach Chris Lapointe said. “Defense is going to win
you championships, but we have to do a better job executing on both
sides of the ball than we did tonight.”
Lapointe was upset with
the performance of his offense, particularly the running attack, which
managed just 101 yards as a team against a stout Pioneer defense that
was also getting after the Indian ball carriers. Quinn Doyle, who
returned after suffering an ankle injury in last week’s win over
Frontier, was limited to just 68 yards on 23 carries, while Darling
managed just 15 yards on 10 hauls.
On a night when both teams had trouble moving the ball, the
game came down to which team protected it best, and the Indians did not
commit a fumble, while forcing five fumbles from Pioneer. The first
fumble came on the very first play of the game when Alex Tyson took the
opening kick at the 18 and returned it to the 30 where he was hit,
jarring the ball loose. Turners Falls defender Owen Ortiz jumped on the
ball and set the Indians up at the Pioneer 30. That was the first of
three fumble recoveries by Ortiz on the night, and the senior defense
end said he has been pleased with how the defensive unit has come
together over the past month-plus.
“We are working really hard,”
he said. “We’re just trying to get the fire up in us. We need to make
sure we know our assignments and we are studying to make sure we are in
the right places at the right times.”
With the running game
stalled out for the most part on the night (the Indians’ longest run was
an 8-yard carry by Ricky Craver midway through the first quarter, and
the team had just five carries of more than five yards), the offense
turned to senior quarterback Tionne Brown, who proved he could get the
job done. After Pioneer fumbled the opening kick, Brown and the offense
went to work, and the quarterback hit a huge 14-yard pass to Ortiz on a
fourth-and-4 to keep the drive alive, eventually setting up Doyle’s
3-yard touchdown run. Brown then hit Craver on the conversion to give
the Indians a 8-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
Pioneer
managed to move the ball on the ensuing drive but fumbled on the
Turners Falls 25, ending the threat, and the Turners Falls offense went
back to work. Brown’s arm came up big again, as he found Nick Croteau on
a 28-yard pass on third-and-4 from the Turners Falls 45, and on the
very next play he hit Darling with a 27-yard touchdown pass in the end
zone, in which Darling used great concentration to haul in the ball over
the Pioneer defender, who was in close coverage. Brown also hit Darling
with the conversion for a 16-0 lead with 2 minutes left in the first
quarter.
That was how things remained into the fourth quarter when
Brown led the offense to the game-clinching touchdown, as his found
Darling on a 33-yard pass play to help set up his 15-yard touchdown pass
to Croteau. Brown ended the night 6-for-11 passing for 158 yards and
two touchdowns. Afterward, he said he was happy to help, but was also
concerned with the two interceptions he threw.
“Coach got on me
lately about making smarter decisions, getting shorter passes in and
making sure plays,” Brown said. “We were in a tough situation, and I had
to throw the ball a little more than we usually do, but my receivers
made some great plays. I really have to give a shout out to them, Owen,
Nick and Jack, they made some great plays.”
Darling finished with
two catches for 60 yards, Ortiz caught two passes for 58 yards, and
Croteau finished with two catches for 40 yards.
Brown’s second
interception of the night led to the late score by the Panthers, as
Pioneer defensive back Karl Wheeler jumped in front of Croteau late in
the fourth quarter to get the interception, which he returned to the
Turners Falls 10. Three plays later Bryce Dobosz (17 carries, 45 yards)
scored from 8 yards out and Wyatt Keith kicked the point-after to get
Pioneer on the board with 1 minute, 30 seconds left. The Indians
recovered a good onside kick attempt by the Panthers, and ran out the
clock.
The Indians advance to play second-seeded Mt. Greylock
Regional High School, which defeated Ware High School, 38-29, in the
other semifinal game. That game will be played Friday night at Williams
College at 6 p.m.
