ORANGE — The Greenfield football team has responded well following a loss to Palmer two weeks ago.
The Green Wave beat Franklin Tech 34-8 last week and on Friday night, relied on its stout defense to add another tally in the win column against Mahar.
The only time the Senators possessed the ball on Greenfield’s side of the field came after an onside kick, with the Green Wave defense producing three turnovers to earn a 32-0 shutout at the Woodward Complex.
“We are what we are,” Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski said. “We have some athletes. We have to make some plays and in that Palmer game we didn’t make plays. When we do make plays we’re pretty successful. You make plays you win football games and we had some guys who did that tonight.”
While its offense was unable to find a rhythm, the Mahar (1-6) defense came to play, flying around all game and holding the Green Wave (6-1) to just one touchdown in the second half of play.
Senators coach Chris Bailey was proud of the way his players fought until the final whistle.
“It’s hard when you’re so young and the kids are so inexperienced,” Bailey said. “To see them fight and play hard is all we can ask. We’re going to make mistakes but you have to get up and go get the next one. You can’t get down on yourself. We’ve all made plenty of mistakes and it’s part of learning, especially in football.”
Following a Mahar turnover-on-downs on its first possession, Greenfield took over at the 50. A chop block penalty in the red zone sent the Green Wave back to the Senators 27, but it didn’t matter as David Carey hit Trevor Kuchieski on a slant and the junior beat the safety and made it into the end zone to give Greenfield a 6-0 lead with 5:02 to play in the first quarter.
The Green Wave found the end zone on their next two possessions. The first was an eight play, 42-yard drive capped off by a six-yard Ryan Pulizari touchdown, with Carey connecting with Brendan Driscoll for the two-point score to give Greenfield a 14-0 lead with 8:34 to go in the first half.
A blocked punt set the Green Wave up at the Mahar 24 and four plays later Pulizari plowed in for six to put Greenfield up, 20-0, with 3:27 to play in the half.
The Senators opened the second half with a successful onside kick but three plays later quarterback Kaleb Lemcke was picked off by Driscoll to halt a potential Mahar scoring drive.
Driscoll ended up making the Senators pay for the turnover, taking a reverse 22 yards to the housefor a 26-0 lead with 7:18 to play in the third quarter.
The Green Wave’s final score came with 4:40 to play, as Carey intercepted Morgan Softic and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown to make it 32-0.
“The score doesn’t indicate how well Mahar played,” Kuchieski said. “They didn’t give up and played the whole way through. They hit well. Chris has them going in the right direction. In a few years, you’re going to see some really good football from that team.”
Carey led Greenfield with 121 yards on the ground while Pulizari ran for 78 yards in the win. Dominic Cacciollfi was Mahar’s leading rusher with 19 yards.
Despite the loss, Bailey said he’s continuing to see his young squad take steps forward.
“We’ve seen improvements,” Bailey said. “We’re getting a little bit better every day. We’re getting there. We still have a long way to go but we’re having less missed assignments, we’re starting to know where to go.”
The Senators travel to Palmer to close out the regular season while the Green Wave host unbeaten Ware at Vets Field next Friday in a showdown with the IL North league title on the line.