Last week, the Athol football team let a victory slip away in Greenfield. The same was true with Mahar, which held a fourth-quarter lead against Mount Greylock.
Both teams get back on the field Friday night with home games.
Mahar (0-7, 0-6 Intercounty North) will host Franklin Tech (2-5, 1-4) on the turf at Woodward Field. The Senators played last week’s game without running back Jon Gariepy after the first quarter.
Gariepy re-injured his bothersome shoulder, but he will play against the Eagles.
Noaha Chabot will play his third game at quarterback for Mahar. Both Chabot and Aydan Sevigny got repetitions at practice for Mahar.
Mahar will have to stop running back Bailey Young, who gets a ton of carries for Franklin Tech.
While the Eagles pound away with Young, they are more than capable of getting the ball downfield with quarterback Owen Bashaw.
The Eagles like the receiver screen game as well, utilizing quick throws designed to get their wide outs in space.
Hunter Wozniak is Bashaw’s top target.
The Red Raiders (2-5, 1-4 Intercounty North) host the formidable Frontier Regional Red Hawks (4-3, 3-2) and their power running game.
Garrett DeForest has been a terror for defenses all season out of Frontier’s backfield. The Red Raiders gave up close to 400 yards rushing last week against Greenfield.
Ito McMillian gets carries as well behind Frontier’s massive offensive line.
Alec Kirkendall is Frontier’s power runner. Matt Hildreth can run the ball from the quarterback position for the Red Hawks.
Every now and again the Red Hawks will take shots through the air, and Hildreth is effective at getting the ball downfield.
The Red Raiders combination of Mason Barrieau, Keegan Lutz and Dylan Castine can eat up plenty of yards for Athol’s offense.
But the question against Frontier is whether they can be more effective at stopping the run.
