ORANGE — On paper, Division 8 schools aren’t supposed to be able to hang with Division 4 schools.
Somebody forgot to tell the Mahar football team that.
Hosting Northampton on Friday at the Woodward Complex, the Senators knew they would need a near-flawless performance to take down a team four divisions higher.
They got just that.
Mahar took a 7-0 lead after 12 minutes and carried a 13-6 lead into the half. That score held into the fourth quarter, when the Senators put together an 11-play drive that took over seven minutes off the clock and ended in a Ronnie Stone touchdown to put the game away, with Mahar pulling off a 20-6 victory over the Blue Devils.
“I’m elated,” Senators coach Percy Eady said. “We have a win streak now. That’s no small win. They’re in Division 4 and four divisions higher than us. It feels amazing. These kids earned it. They worked so hard this week. I challenged them on Monday because I didn’t like my practice and boy did they ever respond.”
It was a week of listening to the doubters for Mahar (2-1), which felt nobody gave them a shot heading in.
“The whole school doubted us,” Stone said. “We came in here hoping we could get this win, brought the energy and got the win. It took the whole team. Blocking, run game, pass game, pass defense, run defense. It took everything. We’re a Division 8 team and they’re a Division 4 team. We’re feeling confident.”
For Northampton — which was playing without starting quarterback Mykal Norris, who was injured in a loss to Westfield last week — it came down to not being able to execute on key drives, something that will happen with a young team.
“We lost our quarterback in the Westfield game,” Blue Devils coach Joe Kocot said. “We took our running back and moved him to quarterback. Now we’re taking our running back out and putting our second and third string running backs in. They did OK. Any time you have injuries on a small squad, it’s tough.
“We had four bad snaps in a row that killed a drive,” Kocot added. “We had a penalty that killed a drive. When you have a lot of young kids, that happens. We’re young and not deep. The effort was there.”
Northampton (0-2) was driving on its opening possession of the game, reaching the 50-yard line when Marty Maslowski threw a pass over the middle that was picked off by Mahar’s Jayden Delgado.
Delgado returned it to the Blue Devils 26 and following four runs from Stone, Morgan Softic found Delgado for a five-yard touchdown pass. Mitch Krasco’s extra point was good, giving Mahar a 7-0 lead with 6:39 to play.
Both teams traded punts before Northampton went on a drive to score its lone touchdown of the day. The Blue Devils scrapped their way to the Mahar 41, but faced a third-and-17. Maslowski rolled to his left and found a wide open Ian Paradise, who had slipped behind the Senators back line. Despite rolling to his weak hand, Maslowski put the ball right on the money for a touchdown.
Softic broke up Maslowski’s pass on a two-point try to keep Mahar ahead, 7-6, with 4:53 to go in the half.
The Sens drove it down to the Northampton 35, and facing a fourth-and-seven with under two minutes to go, Eady decided to roll the dice and go for it.
The gamble paid off. Softic found Stone over the middle and the sophomore used his speed to get to the goal line, running over a Blue Devil defender along the way and crossing the goal line to give the Sens a 13-6 lead with 1:15 to go in the half. Krasco’s extra point was no good.
Northampton had a chance to even the game before the half. Maslowski threw a dime down the left sideline to JJ Moore for a 46-yard gain, setting the Blue Devils up at the Mahar 13.
That’s when the Senators defense stood tall, forcing a pair of incompletions and stopping Maslowski for a four-yard gain to set up a fourth-and-six from the Mahar 9.
Maslowski kept it on a QB keeper and was stopped inches short of the line to gain, as the Senator defense got a stop with 20 seconds left in the half and keept points off the board before the break.
“We’re up to nine turnovers this season,” Eady said. “You couldn’t ask for more. Our defense showed up. My defensive coordinator has made it easy for them to digest. They know where to be.”
That Mahar defense continued to make plays throughout the second half, holding the Blue Devils to just 12 yards of offense before their final drive of the game.
The first stop was the biggest, as Northampton came out firing on defense and partially blocking a punt in the end zone to take over at the Senators 11 for its first drive of the half. The drive went nowhere, as Maslowski was stuffed on a fourth-and-six to give Mahar the ball back.
Snapping issues plagued the Blue Devils on their second drive of the half, leading to a fourth-and-20 snap that didn’t stand a chance after the ball went over the quarterback’s head.
Mahar got another stop on a fourth down at the Senators 44 on Northampton’s next possession and took over with 10:20 to go. Eady put the ball in Stone’s hands, who rushed the ball eight times on the drive for 41 yards while continuing to pick up first downs. Softic also hit Delgado for a pair of gains to keep the chains moving.
The drive ended with Stone plowing in from four yards out, with Krasco’s extra point giving Mahar a 20-6 lead with 3:15 to go.
Softic picked off a pass in the end zone to close out the win.
Stone finished with 105 yards on the ground, consistently churning out tough yards when the Sens needed it most.
“I wasn’t satisfied with seven points week one and seven points week two,” Eady said. “We know the horses we have under the engine. Now we have to get them going. It took a lot of focus and detail to make sure they knew exactly where they were and they did that. Everybody was right where they needed to be and it was great to see.
“To be able to stay on track with the run game is what I envision with this team,” Eady said. “As much as we want to go air raid you need a horse to run the ball. Ronnie Stone is that guy. My manta this week was to give Stone the rock.”
Next up for Mahar is Palmer, which heads to Orange in Week 4. Northampton will look to get in the win column when it hosts East Longmeadow next Friday.