ORANGE — The final play before halftime told the story Friday night at the Woodward Complex.
Turners Falls High School quarterback Kyle Dodge somehow managed to sail his Hail Mary heave over the heads of two Mahar defensive backs. The players collided, and Turners wide receiver Andy Craver reaped the benefit, snagging what wound up being a 49-yard touchdown as time expired before intermission. The improbable score lifted the visiting Thunder to a 28-7 victory over the Senators in an Intercounty League North contest.
“It was obviously a huge play,” said Turners coach Chris Lapointe of the touchdown, which enabled his team to turn a one-score advantage into a 21-7 halftime lead. “A play like that gives you separation and kind of changes the complexion of the game going forward.”
From the Mahar perspective, the back-breaking touchdown made for a disappointing end to what was a promising first half. The Senators, riding a bend-but-don’t-break defensive effort, were within shouting distance down 14-7 when Turners took over with 38 seconds remaining at its own 28. With three timeouts remaining, Lapointe’s team got completions from Dodge to Craver (14 yards) and Jaden Whiting (9 yards) to get the ball to the Mahar 49 with just 6 seconds left.
During a timeout before the final play, Mahar coach Jim Woodward said he emphasized the necessity for his defenders to keep the Turners receiving corps in front of them.
“We tell them in the timeout, don’t let anybody behind you and just knock the ball down, don’t try and catch it,” Woodward explained. “And what do we do? We go out and don’t do any of it. (The play) killed us.”
Turners (4-1, 3-0) rode the momentum into the second half, especially on the defensive end. The Thunder shut down the Mahar offense to the tune of minus-14 yards in the second half, limiting the Senators to just one first down after intermission.
Tailback Wyatt Keith (32 carries, 224 yards) provided some insurance with 6:08 left in the fourth quarter, scoring his second touchdown of the night on a 14-yard run to give the visitors a 28-7 cushion.
“Certainly our defense is growing,” Lapointe said. “At halftime, there wasn’t necessarily anything to fix there but just assignments and cleaning up a couple things. It was a better effort in the second half.”
Turners took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a Keith 12-yard scamper, but the Senators (0-5, 0-4) eventually got a stop defensively and turned it into points. Senior Jon Gariepy (13 carries, 96 yards), who returned after missing last week’s game against Frontier with an injury, provided the spark, a 66-yard rush that got the ball to the Turners 3. Three players later, Joey Brozell (7 carries, 17 yards) punched it in from 2 yards out, tying the game 7-7 with 6:21 left before halftime.
“In some phases of the game, we’re getting better,” Woodward said. “We’ll put together a play or two, here and there, but we just aren’t as consistent as we need to be. There’s a lot of inexperienced guys in different spots.”
The Thunder responded, riding Keith on the ground for a lengthy drive that was capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from Dodge to Craver that made it 14-7 with 3:11 remaining.
Mahar picked up a first down on the ensuing drive but Turners eventually forced a punt and cashed in again on the 49-yard touchdown toss right before the break.
Craver caught four passes for 91 yards and the two touchdowns, while Whiting had four receptions for 34 yards. Dodge finished 10-for-20 for 150 yards and two scores.
Mahar takes to the road to play at Greenfield in Week 6.