Blue Devils keep winning on Thanksgiving
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NORTHAMPTON - The Northampton football team continued its Thanksgiving Day tradition of taking home the Battle of the Bridge trophy on Thursday.
The Blue Devils scored two unanswered touchdowns in the second half to earn an 18-6 win over rival Amherst Regional. It was the fifth time in the five years since the game was moved to Thanksgiving that Northampton (3-7) - which forfeited its 2005 win due to an ineligible player - walked off the field with a victory over the Hurricanes (2-9).
The holiday game "is huge for us and I know it's huge for Amherst," senior Matt Parsons said. "It's always fun to play Amherst, especially like this."
Parsons and DJ Fuentes keyed Northampton's second half, as the Blue Devils pulled away after a 6-6 deadlock going into the locker room.
Fuentes, who returned to practice on Tuesday after suffered a rib injury in the win over Central on Nov. 13, finished with 122 rushing yards on 17 carries. That included 105 yards on 10 second-half carries.
Parsons finished with 71 rushing yards on 17 carries to go with three catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
"I told the kids (at halftime) that they were playing not to lose. They were tentative," said O'Brien, whose team owns a 37-26-3 all-time record against Amherst. "I thought we played hard until the first touchdown (in the second quarter) and then flipped a switch where everybody was tippytoeing and stuff."
"Sometimes it's hard," he added. "It's the last game and the seniors are distracted. No one wants to make the big mistake. We've been very successful on Thanksgiving Day and people get tentative because they don't want to be the guy to lose the game."
The Blue Devils focused on getting the ball to the outside and used Fuentes' speed to get the job done.
"DJ is for sure the fastest kid I have ever coached," O'Brien said. "He's faster than (4,000-yard rusher) Gary Denno. He's a different kind of runner."
Northampton took the lead on the opening possession of the third quarter. Parsons ran twice for a total of 16 yards to the Blue Devils' 45-yard line.
On the next play, quarterback Jake Konowitch (7-for-10, 110 yards, two touchdowns) made a nice play-action fake and fired a strike to Parsons down the middle. Parsons hit the left sideline and outran the defense for a 12-6 lead with 10 minutes, 43 seconds left in the third quarter.
Konowitch "threw the ball well. He was patient and the passing game did all right," O'Brien said. "We didn't come in thinking we'd have to pass a lot, but when we did he did a nice job with it."
Amherst, which had won two of its last three coming into the game, didn't give up without a fight, a trait that has shown up down the stretch for the long-suffering program. Penalties nullified two Hurricanes' touchdowns.
Amherst had an interception returned for a touchdown by Jack McCutcheon called back by a penalty one quarter after Basil Stewart had a punt return for a touchdown called back by a holding call. They then committed a few costly penalties that really hampered their comeback attempt.
"After we had that three-game lull (in October) that was really bad, we lost some players," Amherst coach Glenn Jackson said. "The guys who were left took on an us-against-the-world attitude and we played very well."
Northampton scored its third touchdown, a 6-yard run by Parsons with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter, before the Hurricanes got their offense back into Blue Devils' territory.
O'Brien believes that the rivalry is getting more competitive.
Amherst "is a much, much improved team. Last year, it was obvious that we were a lot better than them," O'Brien said. "This year, it was close. We had opportunities and they stopped us. They played really hard and did a good job."
Willie Jackson completed two passes for 76 yards, including a 69-yard touchdown to Ariel Vallellanes in the second quarter to tie the game at 6-6. Jackson also rushed for 80 yards on 10 carries.
Jackson (offense) and senior linebacker Seb Russell (defense) were honored as Amherst's most valuable players during the post-game ceremony.
Fuentes (offense) and Parsons (defense) were honored for Northampton.
It was the last game for Amherst seniors Jonah Bass, Walker Nambu, Anthony Cruz, Ben Breger, Kurt Russavage, Patrick Asselin, Devin Conley, Taylor Parker, McCutcheon and Russell.
"Those are some important kids, but we have guys behind them who we think can step in," "There are some younger players who we think will be impact players in a year or so."
It was also the end of the high school careers for Blue Devils Ray Chen, Ben Goldman, Matt Bak, Keanu Burke, Dimitri Johnson, Billy Bouche, Fuentes, Konowitch and Parsons.
"It's tough to see these kids go, but that's part of the deal," O'Brien said. "I come down here (on the field) and a lot of the old-timers are down here talking to the kids. That's the allure of Thanksgiving. It's a good feeling and when you win it's even better.
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
