SOUTH DEERFIELD —  A pair of late touchdowns by Chicopee High School and a pair of late fumbles deep in Pacer territory spelled doom for Frontier Regional School Friday night, when the hosts’ five-game winning streak was stopped cold with a 20-16 independent defeat.

Trailing by four late, the Red Hawks (5-2, 5-0 Intercounty League North) set themselves up in great shape with a first-and-goal at the Chicopee 7, immediately after a 13-yard pickup by Josh Semaski. Ito McMillan picked up four yards on first down, lost a couple on the next play, and then slipped the ball back to quarterback Garrett DeForest on a third-down double handoff. DeForest lost the handle on the football, which skidded forward toward the goal line and was covered by Chicopee’s Brendan Tadeo at the 1-yard line with only 1:06 to play.

The Pacers worked around Frontier’s last two timeouts and took a delay-of-game penalty to set up fourth-and-6 at their own 5 with 5.3 seconds left. Quarterback Steven Matta took the snap, swept to the left and made his way out of the back of the end zone, and managed to get back into the field of play, stepping out of bounds at the 5-yard line as time had already expired.

“It was there. That quarterback reverse has worked for us quite often,” said Frontier coach Don Gordon of the Red Hawks’ final fateful play. “He just slipped and lost the ball. If he’d just held on to the ball, it was third down and we’d have another go at it from the 2-yard line.”

Friday’s result figured to shake up the Western Mass. Division 7 playoff ratings. Frontier carried a No. 2 ranking into the game, behind top-ranked South Hadley High School, with Chicopee sitting at No. 4. The two teams may well see one another again in the Division 7 semifinals in a couple of weeks.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, right after Chicopee’s go-ahead touchdown, Frontier started at its own 47 and cashed in on fourth-and-4 from the Pacers’ 47 when McMillan broke a 10-yard run. DeForest then added back-to-back gains of 13 and 12 yards as the Red Hawks pushed to the Chicopee 10, but on third-and-8, DeForest’s fumble was recovered by the Pacers’ Jerome Jacobs at the 15-yard line to turn Frontier aside.

The Red Hawks led 16-6 at the half thanks to a pair of DeForest touchdown runs, but Chicopee (5-3, 3-1 IL South) started to come alive at the top of the third quarter, moving all the way to the Frontier 10 on its first series before losing the ball on downs. On the Pacers’ next possession, Javari Dancy (game-high 97 rushing yards) snapped off a 39-yard run to create first-and-goal at the Frontier 6, and Jacobs crashed in from the 5 two plays later. Dancy was stopped short on the two-point try, moving Chicopee to within 16-12 with 3:44 to go in the third.

A short Red Hawks punt gave the Pacers the ball at their own 47, with Matta hitting Jacobs for 26 yards on a jump-ball completion. Dancy finished the drive with a 4-yard scoring run, then Matta threw to Jacobs for the two-pointer and the visitors’ first lead of the night at 20-16 with 10:40 on the clock.

Frontier got on the board first in the last minute of the first quarter, when DeForest made fourth-and-18 look easy with a 27-yard scramble down the left sideline for the opening touchdown. He then added the two-pointer for an 8-0 Hawk lead with 55.5 seconds to play.

Chicopee answered on its next drive, as Matta picked up a key 14-yard gain followed by a Frontier personal-foul call that put the ball at the Red Hawks’ 26. Five plays later, from the 13, Matta lofted a fade-pattern pass to the leaping Jacobs in the back right corner of the end zone to make it an 8-6 lead.

Just before the touchdown, Chicopee’s featured back, John Gonzalez Vega, left the game with an injury and did not return. He’d totaled 62 rushing yards on 11 carries in slightly over one quarter of work.

Two series later, starting at its own 15, Frontier flipped the field quickly on a 71-yard bomb and run from DeForest to Donovan Hoffman, who was dragged down at the Chicopee 13. McMillan picked up gains of seven and four yards for a first down at the 2, and DeForest ran it in on the next play. His two-point flip to Kenny Moulton put the hosts up 16-6 with only 1:05 remaining in the half.

“Their defensive line was teeing off on us. Teams have kind of figured that out,” said Gordon. “We’re just getting beat on the line. Our players know what to do, they’re just not getting it done.”

Total offense reflected the overall tightness of the game, as Chicopee narrowly outgained Frontier, 280 yards to 277. DeForest finished 4-of-9 passing for 111 yards and ran 15 times for a team-best 67 yards, while McMillan and Semaski added 46 and 45 yards, respectively, on the ground. Hoffman had the monster 71-yard catch and McMillan two catches for 24 yards.

Matta (4-of-10 passing) threw for 93 yards for Chicopee and Jacobs had three receptions for 69 yards.

Frontier hosts Athol High School Friday night at 7 p.m. in its final regular-season game before the start of the Western Mass. football playoffs.