A pair of 2-1 teams are looking to build off confidence gained during the independent high school football slate at O’Brien Field on Friday night.
Athol — which got off to a hot start with wins over Murdock and Pathfinder — will host Franklin Tech, which was a late touchdown against Frontier away from being 3-0, at 7 p.m. on Friday in the opening Intercounty League North contest for both squads.
For the Bears, it’s been an offensive resurgence in Josh Talbot’s second year running the program.
Athol was depleted with injuries throughout last season, playing most of its games down multiple lineman. Now with a clean bill of health, the Bears have been able to move the ball in their opening three games of the season.
Athol threw for 180 yards and added 432 yards on the ground in its opening game win over Murdock. Against Pathfinder the Bears tallied 174 yards through the air and rushed for 226 yards and last week against Lee, Athol gained 187 yards on the ground despite being held to six points.
Dom Curtis and Aiden Melanson have played well under center for the Bears while Sawyer Lefsyk has been a force on the ground with a pair of 100-yard games on the season. Hayden Barrieau is another threat out of the backfield while Aaron Ouellet and Raydin Sousa have been the top weapons on the outside for Athol.
Despite the explosive start to the season on offense, Talbot said there’s still plenty to clean up heading into league play.
“There’s some stuff we were doing that we need to clean up from a coaching technique standpoint,” Talbot said. “We’ve talked about that. This team will be much more committed to excellence.”
One of those areas is finishing drives in the red zone. While Athol moved the ball up and down the field against Lee, it was unable to punch it in for points. On the last drive of the game, a last-minute interception in the red area allowed Lee to walk away with a 9-6 victory.
Moving forward, cleaning up those mistakes will help showcase the full potential of this Bears offense.
“We’re very confident in what we have and what’s worked to date,” Talbot said. “We also got a reality check of the type of football that is out there. One little mistake or one penalty can be the difference between winning and losing. Hopefully we don’t let one play be the difference.”
Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said he’s seen the strides Athol has made this season, and knows his team will face a tough challenge to open the league slate.
“Their line is solid,” Gamache said. “They have some good-sized guys and have some kids that get after it on both sides of the ball. Their run game is strong and they can put up points with the athletes they have. They can give you a variety of looks by spreading it out and both quarterbacks can make plays. Then they can also ground and pound.
“They’re the most versatile team we’ve seen so far,” Gamache added. “This will be our biggest test and the most talented team we’ve seen to this point. It’ll be a real test for where we are and what we’ve learned about ourselves.”
The Eagles got their season underway with a shutout win over McCann Tech, then fell to Frontier after giving up a late touchdown. But the team responded with a 14-7 victory over Pathfinder in Week 3.
Franklin Tech has confidence in its squad this year, and it’s easy to see why. Gabe Tomasi has been a multi-year starter under center for the Eagles and has thrown for 178 yards and a pair of scores while adding 117 yards and a trio of touchdowns on the ground so far this season.
Josiah Little is well on his way to a third straight 1,000-yard campaign, having rushed for 402 yards through three games. Ethan Smarr is Tomasi’s top receiving threat with 124 yards receiving yards on the season.
The Tech defense has been strong to open the season, with 15 tackles for loss — five from Landen Hardy and four from Nathan Sabolevski — to go along with five sacks.
“We’ve shown defensively we have some kids who are willing to get after it,” Gamache said. “They work hard at practice. It’s a talented group. This team has a different feel than what we’ve had the last couple years. There’s a higher level of focus. It’s a very coachable group.”
The talent the Eagles have on offense is evident to Talbot, who said his defense will do its best to slow that group down.
“They do things differently than what Joe’s done in the past there,” Talbot said. “Gabe’s a school-record holder as a passer, Josiah has back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons and is on his way to another and Smarr was an all-league receiver last year who poses a threat. We’ll do our best to limit them and see if we can counter.”
If Friday’s game is anything like last year’s tilt, those in attendance will be in for a treat.
The Bears battled their way back from two different 16-point deficits to force overtime, with Lefsyk running in a touchdown to lift Athol to a 34-28 victory.
Putting together an offensive performance like it did last year is something Talbot said he’s hoping to see on Friday night.
“We’ll have to put some points on the board,” Talbot said. “We’ve been dominant on offense this year but don’t have the points to show for it. We’ve shown we can go on 15-20 play drives without a problem, overcame penalties and turned out yardage. The key will be finishing drives off. Hopefully we can control play from in front, do a little less grinding and be a little more on the attack.”
With possible rain in the forecast, Gamache said that ball security will be key for both teams. With both rosters fairly similar to the ones last year, Gamache expects another good game between the two IL North foes.
“The key for us is hopefully being able to control the clock and limit the turnovers,” Gamache said. “Those are two big keys for us. Last year their roster was similar to what is is now and our roster now is similar to the one they played last year. It was a great football game that was decided in overtime. I expect if both teams show up it’ll be another good one.”
Elsewhere Frontier (2-1) kicks off its Intercounty League South campaign by heading to Springfield to take on Commerce (2-1) at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The Redhawks are coming off a big win over Greenfield (38-16) last week. The Raiders kicked their season off with a loss to SICS (14-0) but responded with back-to-back wins over Putnam (26-18) and Chicopee (26-15).
Back in the IL North, the Green Wave will (1-2) play host to Ware, who won the league title last season. Ware is off to an impressive start to the season with wins over Easthampton (20-0), Narragansett (28-27) and Drury (21-0). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Vets Field.
Mahar (2-1) will look to earn a third straight win when it travels to take on Palmer on Friday at 7 p.m. The Panthers are winless on the season and weren’t able to keep it close against Pathfinder (33-6), Quaboag (34-0) or Easthampton (56-8).