LUDLOW - In a dominating performance throughout the field for the South Hadley football team, it was the imposing figure of Mike Chieco that was in the middle of the everything.

Chieco, a senior interior lineman on both sides of the ball, opened holes in the running game, protected quarterback Jason Bourque in the passing game and was an immovable object on the defensive side as the Tigers earned a 40-16 win over Ludlow Friday night.

"I really feel Mike has a bright college future," South Hadley coach Ray Ferro said. "I'm hoping they use him as a center because he's a very good one. But there may be the opportunity where they're going to use him as a defensive player, too. We want to give him as much experience and exposure to the defensive side of the ball as we can."

Chieco said Friday he's currently considering some Ivy League schools as well as Holy Cross.

The passing game exploded behind Chieco, who is listed at 6-foot-6, 290 pounds, and the rest of the offensive line as Bourque completed five of seven pass attempts for 118 yards and three touchdowns.

"It was (a weapon) tonight. We saw that there was a mismatch with their defense and our receivers," Ferro said. "Ludlow played very hard from what they had to play with. We are known as a run-oriented offense, but with the next two games, I think we're going to have to become more diverse. We're going to need to throw the ball to be effective. (Friday) was a good opportunity for us to work on that."

The Tigers (5-4, 4-3 Suburban) are in a tight battle with Sci-Tech (5-3, 3-3 Intercounty) for the fourth and final spot in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament.

Through last week's games, the Cybercats held a slim 8.29-7.75 advantage for fourth place behind Hoosac Valley (15.75), East Longmeadow (15.71) and Wahconah (13.75).

"Before we left the school, I told the team that I wasn't concerned about the scoreboard," Ferro said. "I was more concerned with how aggressive they played, with the enthusiasm they showed and what kind of execution we had. I was very happy with that."

South Hadley has games against Division 1 Westfield (2-7) and Chicopee Comp (7-1) and would likely gain points on Sci-Tech by winning them.

The Cybercats play Division 3 Frontier Regional (7-1) and Division 2 Putnam (5-3) in their final two games.

"We want to play with an attitude the rest of the season," Chieco said. "With that, we want to win out and possibly get a chance to play in the playoffs."

In Friday's game, South Hadley scored 20 first-quarter points and cruised to the win. The Tigers led 40-0 in the fourth quarter before Ludlow (0-9, 0-7 Suburban) scored two late touchdowns.

"Everybody played. Even all the freshmen," Ferro said. "It's unfortunate that Ludlow doesn't have a freshman team, so it was good that we could give our freshmen some time out there."

Sean Bouthiller and Matt Roy each scored a pair of first-half touchdowns.

Bouthiller (six carries, 21 yards) ran for each of his scores, while Roy (three catches, 87 yards) caught touchdown passes of 45 and 21 yards from Bourque in the first quarter.

"We worked on everything coming into the game," Chieco said. "With the way we struggled in last week's (39-6 loss to Putnam), we needed it. We worked hard on our run game, but also on our passing and it paid off today."

Bourque connected with Connor Fenton for an 18-yard touchdown pass in the third period, and Luke Desmarais rounded out the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.