SOUTH DEERFIELD - There was something special brewing at Frontier Regional on Tuesday night.

While the girls volleyball team was sweeping its way to a State Division 3 Tournament semifinal victory, the football team was turning in its own impressive performance as it rode its strong special teams play to a 28-18 upset over Athol in Intercounty League action.

The Red Hawks (5-4, 4-3) made a pair of plays on special teams that turned into 16 points and severely damaged the playoff hopes of Athol (5-5, 5-2).

The 2010 Super Bowl runners-up entered the game in sixth place in the Division 3 rankings. A win over Frontier and Mahar on Thanksgiving Day would have clinched the league title and automatic berth in the playoffs. If Athol forces a three-way tie for first in the league with a win over Mahar, Athol would fall short based on tiebreaker rules.

With so much on the line the Red Raiders quickly fell behind on the opening kickoff. Athol's Ray Hamel fielded the kick at the 20 but ran into a pile of players at the 30. Frontier's Greg Como then came out of the pile with the ball in his hands and the senior returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. Ethan Blake ran in the conversion and Frontier had an 8-0 lead just 11 seconds into the game.

"I've never seen a game start that way," Athol coach Matt Gauvin said. "We were excited to play, our offense has been playing well and we wanted to take that ball and put together a nice opening drive. To give the ball up like that and allow them to score, that's just tough to overcome."

On the very next series, Athol put together a 66-yard drive that ended in quarterback Jerry Parker's 25-yard scoring run. Parker (4-for-12, 42 yards, two interceptions) got the start at quarterback after Jack O'Connell suffered what appeared to be migraines prior to the game and was unable to play. The two-point conversion pass failed as Frontier held an 8-6 edge.

The Red Hawks then leaned on their defense to set up the next score. An unsportsmanlike penalty by Athol's Jake Lajoie put the Red Raiders in a third-and-24 on their own 23. Parker's pass to Zach Amadon was picked off by Adam Ells and returned to the 23. Seven plays later Frontier quarterback Rylan Baronas ran in a 1-yard keeper for a 14-6 lead with 3 minutes, 30 seconds left in the first.

Frontier added to its lead before the halftime. Standing on the Athol 38 with 56 seconds left in the second quarter, Baronas (3-for-5, 74 yards) connected with Marcus Josub on a 31-yard scoring pass that gave Frontier a 20-6 lead with 19 seconds left.

Neither team scored in the third quarter but Athol needed less than two minutes in the fourth to cut the deficit to one score, 20-12, on a Matt Summers (14 carries, 83 yards) 18-yard run.

Frontier then made its second big play on special teams. The ensuing Athol kickoff was fielded by Kevin Skribiski at the 26 and the senior took the ball up the middle and cut to his left where he got into the clear. An Athol defender dragged Skribiski down at the 10, but that set up Clement Watroba's 2-yard scoring run. The two-point pass to Blake then pushed Frontier's lead to 28-12.

"I saw the hole right away and just took off," Skribiski said. "I had one against Mahar too - I've never run that fast in all my life."

Frontier coach Scott Dredge said the special teams play is the result of hard work.

"We have a clock-control offense so we need to make things happen in other facets of the game," he said. "We practice the crap out of special teams every week. It's embedded into our practice schedule and it's nice when we see the results."

Athol drove down the field and scored on a Parker 1-yard run with 2:18 left, but the snap was fumbled on the two-point attempt and Parker was tackled in the backfield. Frontier then grabbed the onsides kick attempt and ran out the clock.

Skribiski led Frontier with 35 rushing yards on three carries. Watroba added 32 yards on 13 carries and Blake picked up 31 yards on nine touches.

The Red Hawks take on Mohawk on Thanksgiving eve at 7 p.m. and try to rebound after losing last season for the first time in 21 years. Athol will take on Mahar on Thanksgiving at 10 a.m.