ORANGE — Marcus Sanders put on a show in his first game in a Greenfield football uniform.
The senior tailback ran for 208 yards on the ground and got into the end zone twice to lead the Green Wave to a 12-0 win on the road against Mahar in season-opening action at the Woodward Complex on Friday.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski said. “We had a long opening drive and didn’t put it in but they overcame it, came back and kept plugging along. That’s a credit to them. They did what they had to do and played hard.”
Following a scoreless first quarter that was dominated by both defenses, Mahar looked destined to get on the board first with a touchdown early in the second quarter. A Jake Tenney run was called back for a hold, however.
Two straight incompletions in the red zone resulted in a Senator turnover, and the Green Wave made them pay for it three plays later.
With 3:51 to play before halftime, Sanders took a toss to the right, made a guy miss and used his speed to race 79 yards into the end zone to make it 6-0. It was the first touchdown for the new Greenfield cooperative program, which features players from Greenfield, Turners Falls and Mohawk Trail.
“He got north and south and that’s what we ask of them,” Kuchieski said of Sanders. “Unfortunately, he only has three games left in his career so we’re going to make the best of them.”
While Greenfield was able to establish a running game — fullback Cam Lococo added 57 yards on the ground — Mahar was unable to get much going on the ground.
Tenney, the Senators’ reigning 1,000-yard rusher, was kept in check by the Green Wave defense, finishing with 42 yards on the ground.
“We just didn’t handle them up front,” Mahar coach Jim Woodward said. “If you can’t block them, you can’t run the ball.”
The second half saw the defenses once again get the better of the offenses. Greenfield marched just outside the red zone on its two possessions in the frame but was unable to get any points out of it.
Following a turnover at midfield, one in which the Green Wave stopped Tenney on a fourth-and-3, Sanders ripped off a 19-yard run and Lococo followed it with a 16-yard dash to set Greenfield up in the red zone.
Two plays later Sanders took a carry up the middle, made a Senator miss and went into the end zone untouched to make it 12-0.
Mahar took the next possession into Green Wave territory, but a pair of sacks by Greenfield stopped any threat of a Senator score.
“We were all over the ball,” Kuchieski said. “They did what we’re trying to teach. Hopefully we keep getting better these next couple weeks.”
On a windy night in Orange, neither team was able to do much through the air.
Mahar had a shot to drive down and try to put points on the board just before the half, but Brendan Driscoll picked off a Noaha Chabot pass with 1:23 left on the clock.
Two plays later Green Wave quarterback Shawn Davenport connected with David Carey over the middle, but Tenney stripped the ball out of his hands to prevent Greenfield from scoring and keep it a 6-0 game going into the intermission.
Davenport finished 2-for-3 for 17 yards passing while Chabot finished with 90 yards through the air.
“I didn’t expect a low scoring game,” Woodward said. “The wind played a factor for both teams. We have a lot of work to do. We have to get some blocking schemes up front. There’s no reason we should have been beaten up front like we did but we’ll get better.”