CHICOPEE — The Jeff Bengtson era started with a decisive victory for the Greenfield football team on Friday night, as the Green Wave took down Chicopee, 24-12, at Szot Park.
“A little surreal I guess,” Bengtson said. “This team is special. They bonded together pretty good. Got a lot of stuff we can work on, obviously. But they stayed together and stuck it out.”
The defense smothered the Pacers for most of the game. On two occasions, Greenfield’s Kymel Ramsey found himself with open space and it was over from there for Chicopee. Ramsey had two touchdowns on a blocked punt return and a receiving touchdown.
“It was amazing,” Ramsey said. “This is our practice field, practice how you play. Get the job done. Everyone did their assignment. We did it. It was great. Look at the score. I have full faith in my team, and they have faith in me.”
In his first game as a varsity player, Greenfield’s Casey Burke scored a touchdown and threw for another. Burke returned an interception 10 yards for a touchdown and connected with Ramsey on a 32-yard touchdown just before halftime.
“It was awesome. First game with the high school team,” Burke said. “It feels really good. I didn’t expect it from my first game. Thought it was going to come later on. But we did it tonight. We are going to keep fighting. We came out hot this year.”
Ramsey caught Burke’s pass over the middle and turned on the jets for the touchdown. Greenfield’s defense had a host of players making big plays against the Chicopee offense. Brayden Slauenwhite had two sacks for the Green Wave.
“Communication is the biggest thing I feel like,” Slauenwhite said. “Being on the same page. Hit first, ask questions later.”
The defensive line was stout. Xavier Woodard and Maddox Ramsdell each had multiple tackles for losses for the Greenfield defense.
Greenfield forced a punt on Chicopee’s first possession. Declan Joyce raced in and got his hand on the punt, sending it fluttering on the field. Ramsey picked up the ball and returned it 41 yards for Greenfield’s first touchdown.
With Chicopee backed up near its own end zone, Owen Phisterer-Hill created heavy pressure on quarterback Francisco Nieves. The pressure led to an errant throw that Burke picked off for a 10-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The defensive touchdown gave Greenfield a 16-0 lead late in the first quarter. The second quarter did not create a lot of offense, but Burke found Ramsey for the touchdown with five seconds left until halftime.
Ramsey had a 61-yard interception return touchdown return nullified due to a penalty. The interception stood, as the penalty occurred on the return.
Greenfield’s offense had the most success with quarterback Gavin Arsenault running the football. Arsenault finished with eight carries for 54 yards. Arsenault added a fumble recovery for Greenfield.
Burke played quarterback at times with Arsenault on the sideline dealing with the remnants of an illness. Brandon Thomas had two touchdown receptions for the Pacers.
Smith Vocational 26, Mahar 20 — The Senators fell to the Vikings in their season opener in an independent match up at the Woodward Complex. Carter Hardy had two touchdowns for the Senators. Heyrlackmung Calypso scored on a 31-yard rushing touchdown. Hardy scored on a 3-yard rush, and a 15-yard reception from Freeland Ringer.
Frontier 36, Athol 0 — The Redhawks went to Tool Town and shut out the Bears in an independent match up. Frontier’s rushing attack was too much for the Bears.
Noah Poreda had two rushing touchdowns. Poreda took off for scoring runs of 36 and 44 yards. Ty Skroski returned a punt for a 38-yard touchdown. Connor Sheldon scored on a short rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter with the clock running due to the mercy rule. Konnor James also scored a rushing touchdown.
Collin Healy had a third quarter interception for the Redhawks.
Golf
Franklin Tech 156, Frontier 185 — The Eagles got past the Redhawks in an independent match up at Thomas Memorial. Jack Day shot a 36 for the Eagles. Grady Deery carded a 38. Christian Powell had the low round for the Redhawks with a 44.
Turners Falls 162, Athol 182 — Cam Cogswell shot a 37 for the Thunder in the win over the Bears at Thomas Memorial. Owen Stoddard carded a 40 for the Bears.
Field hockey
South Hadley 2, Mohawk 0 — The Tigers shut out the Warriors in an independent match up in Buckland.
Boys soccer
Franklin Tech 2, Pioneer 1 — Nate Gheorghita and Kaiden Price scored for the Eagles in a home win over Pioneer in a Tri-County North match up. Josh Mauthe scored for the Panthers.
South Hadley 1, Frontier 0 — Mason Weis made four saves in net, but the Redhawks could not get the offense going in a home loss to the Tigers in Holley play.
Volleyball
Frontier 3, Westfield 0 — The Redhawks went on the road and took down the Bombers in a Northern match up. Set scores were 25-16, 25-22 and 25-19. Grace Baronas led the offense with three kills. Avah Spearance had eight digs.
Pioneer 3, Mahar 2 — The Panthers outlasted the Senators in Orange. Set scores were 23-25, 26-24, 26-24, 27-25 and 15-5. Nastastia Sanders had eight kills for the Senators. Madelynn Burgess had 11 aces and 18 assists. Ryleigh Goodwin had seven kills, including the game-winner in the fifth set in her varsity debut for the Panthers. Sophia Wood had nine assists for Pioneer.
Franklin Tech 3, Turners Falls 0 — The Eagles swept the Thunder at home in a Western match up. Emma Petersen and Laura Fuess had three kills for the Eagles. Lily Baldwin had eight digs and 13 assists. Set scores were 25-12, 25-11 and 25-20. Autumn Thornton had four aces for Turners Falls. Abby Moffatt had eight digs, leading the defense. Kaiya Adams had two aces, two digs and a block.
Athol 3, Greenfield 2 — Athol got past the Green Wave in five sets in a Western match up in Tool Town. Amy Mihailicenco had seven kills and 11 digs for the Wave. Ashlyn Koscinski added five kills and five digs. Giana Vaillancourt (eight kills, four digs) and Maddie Desrosiers (seven kills) led the offense for the Bears. Ella Reed had 11 assists for Athol. Set scores were 22-25, 26-24, 25-17, 26-24 and 15-11.
Late Thursday results
Girls soccer
Mahar 7, Smith Academy 0 — The Senators cruised past the Falcons in Bi-County play at the Woodward Complex. Adalynn Almeida had two goals and an assist while Maggie Ringer contributed a goal with an assist. Marley Partridge, Lexi Ares, Jaya McBroom and Lily Bajnoci (assist) also scored. Mackenzie Matthews had two assists and didn’t have to make a save in net to record the shutout.
