ATHOL — It was fitting that Friday night’s final regular season Intercounty League North game came down to the final play at O’Brien Field.
Franklin Tech came out on top in a back-and-forth thriller with Athol, using a 26-yard touchdown pass from running back Ryan Demers to quarterback Gabriel Tomasi.
The touchdown, followed by a successful two-point conversion put the Eagles up 29-28 over the Bears with no time left on the clock.
“We had to roll the dice and try something, we didn’t have any time so we just tried to catch them sleeping,” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said. “When you throw it back to the quarterback, a lot of times they kind of forget about him.”
Eagles running back Josiah Little ran in the crucial two-point conversion to finish the game. Little finished with 105 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown and a kick-return score.
Franklin Tech opened the second half with back-to-back touchdowns on kickoff returns from both Logan Call and Little.
“We spend a lot of time on special teams. There’s three phases of the game. We tried to do a couple different things and made some adjustments, and it paid off with big returns,” Gamache said.
The Eagles defense forced a goal-line stand with 8:20 left in the fourth quarter, giving them the ball at their own 1-yard line. Three rushing attempts brought them to the 8-yard line, but a failed snap on fourth down led to a safety, putting the Bears up 22-21 with 5:26 left in the game.
“This is probably one of the most exciting football games I’ve ever been a part of,” Gamache said.
Athol was able to run all over the Franklin Tech defense, as running back Dilan Fountain amassed 134 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Caleb Cox ran for 91 yards and had three rushing touchdowns.
“Our kids didn’t quit, that’s what high school should be about. It was a hard fought game, somebody’s going to win, somebody’s going to lose and unfortunately we’re the team to lose,” Athol coach Bill LaRose said.
Fountain opened the game up in the first quarter with a 47-yard rushing touchdown with 5:01 left in the frame, followed by a missed two-point attempt to put the Bears up 6-0.
The Eagles responded with a 20-yard rushing touchdown from Little and a successful extra point from Jack Reynolds to put them up 7-6 with 9:06 left in the second quarter.
A 6-yard rushing touchdown from Cox put the Bears back on top along with a successful pass from Cox to Call on the two-point attempt to make it 14-7.
Trailing 14-7 at halftime, Franklin Tech opened up the second half with a kickoff return touchdown from Little and a successful extra point to tie the game at 14.
Athol responded with a Cox rushing touchdown with 7:48 left in the third quarter, followed by a failed two-point conversion to put them up 20-14.
Another touchdown on the kickoff return, this time from Call, with a successful extra point put the Eagles up 21-20 with 7:35 left in the third quarter.
After the safety and then a failed onside kick attempt set the Bears offense up at the 31-yard line, Cox capitalized with his third rushing touchdown of the game to put his team up 28-21 with 1:46 left in the game.
Franklin Tech led a drive from the Athol 43 up to the 26-yard line in just over a minute. On fourth down with just six seconds left, Demers completed a 26-yard pass to Tomasi for the score that pulled the Eagles within a point. Gamache decided to go for two and the win, where Little scampered in for the game-winning conversion.
“We’re a young football team so we need games like this to show that we can be successful and that hopefully gets those young guys to buy in and keep working hard and improving,” Gamache said. “Best football game we’ve been a part of all year, so it was great.”
Max Bastarache had 59 receiving yards for the Eagles offense. Demers finished with 46 rushing yards, 26 receiving yards and the passing TD.