NORTHAMPTON - When the final seconds ticked off the clock at David Wright Field, everyone on the Northampton bench leaped in the air.

The team sprinted and formed a mosh pit at midfield, jumping around in celebration. Assistant coaches jumped in the arms of players.

On the eve of Halloween, the Blue Devils' nightmare came to an end with a 21-19 victory over Westfield Friday night.

"It feels great. It feels great. It feels like we won the Super Bowl," Northampton senior D.J. Fuentes said. "We came out here and played our hearts out for four quarters and got the #W'."

The Blue Devils (1-7, 1-5 AA Conference) were one of five winless teams left in western Massachusetts. Rival Amherst Regional (1-7) also ended its skid with a 6-2 win over Commerce on Friday. McCann Tech (0-6) hosts Palmer at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Monument Mountain and Pittsfield, also are both 0-6 and have games Saturday.

Westfield (2-6) fell to 2-4 in the conference.

"It feels good because they were a good team," Hamp senior quarterback Jake Konowitch said. "We knew we could win."

The Blue Devils made plays on both sides of the ball, something which had not happened in their first seven games.

"You can't say enough about what the defense did tonight," Fuentes said. "You can't say enough about how hard our defense played. How hard our offense played. How hard our line played. It was great day for us."

D'Jon Andrews, Adrian Hylton and Konowitch each had one interception. Hylton returned a fumble 40 yards for Northampton's first touchdown, also the first by the defense this season.

Hylton didn't see the end of the game. The junior was taken off the field on a stretcher with 2:56 left in the third. He was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital for precautionary reasons following a defensive hit.

Freshman R.J. Ramsden also recovered a fumble inside Northampton's 10-yard-line late in the third quarter. Northampton also stopped Westfield on fourth-and-one at the Blue Devil 21 with 2:21 left in the second.

"It was great to have a game when the secondary comes through," Hamp linebacker Matt Parsons said. "They're some hard-working kids."

Another key stop came when Konowitch stuffed Conner Laraway on third-and-one at Westfield's 24 with 5:13 left in the fourth. The Bombers had to punt and Parsons (14 carries, 95 yards) converted three first downs on the next series as the Blue Devils killed the clock.

"It's the old adage if you let a team hang around they're going to get better and better," O'Brien said. "They showed it tonight. They played hard and did a good job. Everyone did well."

Trailing 13-7, Northampton answered a Bomber scoring drive with an eight-play, 64-yard drive, capped by a 19-yard TD run by Andrews. It appeared that Andrews was shot out of cannon as he raced through the Westfield line and gave the Blue Devils a 14-13 lead early in the second quarter.

Hamp stopped Westfield on its next series and struck quickly. Fuentes (18 carries, 138 yards) raced 76 yards, sprinting past Corey Babinski of the Bombers along the sideline en route to the touchdown and a 21-13 lead.

"I got out there and used my speed to my advantage," said Fuentes, who has been clocked 11.1 seconds in the 100-meter dash during outdoor track.

Clinging to the eight-point lead, Ramsden recovered a fumble by Anthony Namakeo inside the five late in the third. Hamp took over and facing third-and-eight at the 6, Konowitch found Dan Kane for a first down. But Kane fumbled and Westfield recovered.

Four plays later Namakeo scored to pull the Bombers within 21-19 with 10:18 left. Westfield attempted a 2-point conversion but the run was stuffed.

Hamp killed the clock behind a running game which totaled 280 yards.

"It was a big team effort," Parsons said. "The credit goes to the line. They blocked phenomenally."

Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.