ORANGE — The most successful formation for the Athol football team was an unconventional one Friday night against Mahar.
The two biggest gains of the night for the Red Raiders came from the punt formation in a 16-0 win over the Senators.
Athol’s second fake went for a 54-yard touchdown by Mason Barrieau that opened the fourth quarter.
“We put in the fake punt this week,” Barrieau said. “We’ve never practiced it before. Coach just gave me a signal tonight. Once he put it up I just knew I had to go.”
Barrieau used his tremendous speed to go up the right sideline on both plays. Barrieau had 12 carries for 113 yards.
The first contest between mentor and disciple went to Athol coach Bill LaRose, who was facing Jim Woodward for the first time as a varsity coach.
“The kids wanted to win this one for their coach,” LaRose said. “Woodward is a professional from the word go. The field is named after him for crying out loud. To be on the same field as him is an honor. I am just glad we got the job done.”
Both teams will meet again on Thanksgiving.
“I can guarantee (Woodward) is over in that huddle already with a notebook out scrolling things down in blood,” LaRose said. “He’s waiting to come back out on Turkey day and there is a blue hurricane we better be ready for.”
The Red Raiders did a good job containing Mahar running back Jon Gariepy, who had 15 carries for 48 yards. The Senators’ postgame huddle with Woodward was lengthy.
“My father told me when I was a kid if I didn’t have anything good to say don’t say anything at all,” Woodward said. “They just did a better job than we did. We didn’t execute the plan. That’s basically it. Yet we were in the game for the most part. Just young kids that don’t get it yet. Just have to keep working at it.”
With Gariepy contained, Mahar had most of its success throwing with Aydan Sevigny and running with fullback Lucas Seney.
Mahar got into Athol’s red zone twice, but both drives ended with turnovers on downs.
With both offenses slow to start, a fake put led to Athol’s first score in the second quarter.
Barrieau took the snap and used his quickness to get the edge on the right sideline. From there, Barrieau’s speed and hurdling ability sent him 30-yards down the sideline.
Dylan Castine’s 23-yard scamper set up his own 3-yard touchdown to give Athol the first score of the game.
Barrieau’s conversion made it 8-0 in the second quarter.
Mahar had one sustained drive in the first half, using the arm of Sevigny. The sophomore quarterback completed passes to Charlie Barnes for a combined 34 yards.
The Senators’ drive stalled at Athol’s 18-yard line after a false start on third-and-short followed by a dropped pass.
Barnes had an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery for the Senators’ defense.
A long drive to start the second half also ended in a turnover on downs for the Senators. After getting to the 1-yard line, a bad snap moved the Senators back to the 13-yard line before Christian Casillas sacked Sevigny on third down.
Sevigny had a fourth quarter interception for the Senators, giving them the ball back down two scores in the fourth quarter.
But Athol’s Riley Paine intercepted Sevigny on the ensuing drive, and Athol ran out the clock using the run game.
Caleb Cox completed a 2-point conversion to Joey Gray on Athol’s second touchdown, Jacob Smith had a 26-yard reception from Cox for Athol.
