SOUTH HADLEY - The South Hadley football team played undefeated Putnam tough all game, but were not able to overcome the powerful Beaver running attack, lead by senior back Malquawn Pinkney, as Putnam topped South Hadley 22-12 Friday night.

"I don't think I could be more proud of the effort we put forward," South Hadley coach Eric Scammons said. "Nobody really thought we would hang with them. They're the most athletic team in western Mass. For us to come off of a long week, the power outage and the lack of practice for us to come out and play the way we did I couldn't be more proud."

The Tigers (3-6, 2-3 Suburban) trailed Putnam 14-12 with 6:37 left to go in the game when senior Connor Doran intercepted Beaver quarterback Elizer Vazquez in the end zone to give South Hadley a chance to take a late lead. Putnam (9-0, 5-0) though pushed the Tigers back on the next two downs leading to an unusual play on third down as South Hadley chose to punt.

"There was a lot of excitement when (Doran) made that pick," Scammons said. "To give us a chance to maybe go ahead was huge but we just couldn't get anything going in that fourth quarter offensively."

Following the punt, Vazquez threw a 20-yard pass to junior wide receiver Rishawn Harris that set up a 4-yard touchdown trot for Pinkney with 2:08 to go, clinching the win for the Beavers. That was the second score of the night for Pinkney, who had 179 yards on 33 carries.

Pinkney also scored on a 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter to give Putnam a 6-0 lead. The run was set up by a 22-yard Pinkney gallop two plays prior.

South Hadley answered back on its next drive. Doran rushed for 29 yards leading up to a 35-yard field goal by junior Liam Murphy bringing the score to 6-3 with 9:37 remaining in the half.

Pinkney then lead the Beavers back the other way as Vasquez found junior wide out Tavis Frazer for 17 yards and a score.

The Tigers tacked on another three before the half thanks to Murphy's second field goal of the game. This 30-yard kick was the result of a 46-yard screen pass from senior quarterback Jordan Page to Doran as Putnam took a 14-6 lead into the break.

The final score of the game for South Hadley came with 40 seconds to play in the third. Junior running back Bryan Shippee had just broken off a 58-yard sprint a few snaps earlier when Doran took it to the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown. The Tigers failed to run in the two-point conversion attempt for the potential tie.

The Tigers return to the field one more time when they face Chicopee Comp at home on Thanksgiving Day.

"That's always a tough game regardless of the records," Scammons said. "But the beauty of that game is that the records don't matter. This will probably be the first time that one of us isn't playing for a playoff spot but obviously you want to end the season on a win so that will be our goal."