There aren’t any postseason implications on the line like there usually is during the final week of the high school football schedule, but the Greenfield football team still has a lot to play for in its final game of the abbreviated season.
The Green Wave close out the year with a showdown with Franklin Tech on Friday, hoping to keep their unblemished 3-0 record — the best in the area — intact.
“Before the season, as a collective crew, we came together and set some goals,” senior Jake Sak said. “We wanted to go 4-0 from the beginning. We wanted to shut everyone out to show everyone who the best team in Franklin County was.”
Not only is Greenfield unbeaten, it indeed hasn’t surrendered a point yet, recording shutouts in all three games.
It opened its season with a 12-0 triumph on the road against Mahar, then blanked Frontier, 14-0, shutting down a pair of offenses that ran wild during the 2019 season.
On Sunday, the Green Wave went on the road to take on Athol in a battle of 2-0 squads but Greenfield came out and dominated from the opening snap en route to a 58-0 blowout.
The Green Wave take pride in their shutout streak. Sak said they were begging the coaches to keep the starters in late to assure the Bears wouldn’t put any points on the board.
“Coach [Mike Kuchieski] was saying that not giving up any points has never been done before,” senior Ryan Duclos said. “Even in a four-game season, we’re trying to make history for us seniors.”
A few years ago it would be crazy to think the Greenfield football season wouldn’t end with a Turkey Day showdown against rival Turners Falls. It would have been unimaginable that the two schools would team up on one squad, but that’s what’s happened this year.
The Thunder formed cooperative program with Mohawk Trail in 2019, and the two schools joined the Green Wave as part of a new co-op this season. Players from all three schools have found a way to assimilate and grow as a team throughout the season.
“I knew a lot of the Greenfield kids already,” quarterback Shawn Davenport — a Mohawk Trail senior — said. “Coming over here felt normal. We’ve all fit together really well. It was the perfect scenario for all of us.”
The 2020-21 season has offered plenty of challenges. That includes gaining chemistry as a team, as getting together off the field isn’t what it was in past years with COVID restrictions.
Despite that, Greenfield was able to find a way to gel as a group. With snow falling at the conclusion of Thursday’s practice — their final of the season — the senior group felt all the emotions of taking the practice field together one final time.
“We’ve all been friends for a long time,” Duclos said. “It’s come together. Getting to play together now that we’re older is what’s really fun. We all clicked, we all get along great together. For some people it was difficult at first but here we are at the last practice getting emotional together. It was an emotional practice [on Thursday]. Especially in high school, it’s where you grow up. A lot of your childhood memories come from high school. Knowing it’s gone soon is hard.”
“When you’re a freshman, they tell you to cherish the moments,” Sak added. “Time flies but you don’t believe it until it happens to you.”
The Mohawk Trail and Turners players weren’t the only ones who had to adjust to the co-op. Some Greenfield players were forced to switch roles and positions, adjusting to the infusion of talent on the roster.
They did so without argument, doing whatever the coaching staff asked of them in order to win.
“It helped us all learn that there’s a bigger purpose than just ourselves,” Sak said. “You have to make the sacrifice for the team and we’ve all done that and we’ve put it all together. It’s not about you, it’s about the team and what puts the team in the best position.”
If the Green Wave are able to finish the job against the Eagles, it’d bring the satisfaction of completing the goals they set out to accomplish. On the flip side, they’ll always have to wonder what this team would have been able to accomplish during a normal season, one where they got a normal preseason, a full schedule and a postseason to show how far they’ve grown.
“I feel like we’re still ascending,” Sak said. “We’re not even at the peak yet. I feel like if we did have a postseason, we would have made a deep run in it. It’s the most special group I’ve ever played with. Our main goal at the beginning was to create a winning culture for all three schools combined. I feel like we’ve done that.”
Had there been a postseason, Greenfield has little doubt they’d be playing after the regular season.
“There’s no doubt we were making Western Mass. if there was a postseason,” Duclos said.
Kickoff between the Green Wave and Franklin Tech is set for 6 p.m. at Vets Field.