Belchertown football clinches playoff berth with win over Greenfield
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BELCHERTOWN - The Belchertown football team achieved its every goal Tuesday night.
The Orioles clinched a Division 3 playoff berth with a 43-24 victory over Greenfield on senior night.
With the win, they completed a second straight undefeated home campaign, while also maintaining hopes for a share of the Intercounty League title.
"This is 11 straight at home, and it's nice to set goals and see the guys achieve them," Orioles coach John Mayo said. "Hopefully, Athol can knock off Mahar on Thanksgiving so we can get a piece of the league, but the big thing is to do something in the playoffs, and if we're healthy we'll be right there."
The Orioles' nine seniors haven't lost a home game since their sophomore season.
"I always dreamed when I was younger of playing on that field, and now having done that I'm so proud of what we've accomplished," captain Zach Lebeau said. "It was tough to look up into the stands and see all those people watching and knowing I would never see that again.
"Being undefeated at home is a great thing to accomplish, because that's what good teams do. We need to carry that success into the playoffs."
Senior quarterback Chris Ladd accounted for nearly 300 yards in the victory. He rushed for 168 yards, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the season, and passed for 118 more.
"It feels great, but I don't think about stats much," Ladd said. "I just go out every day and do what the team needs. But it's nice to achieve these things."
Ladd called his own number for a pair of rushing touchdowns and tossed for two others, both to James Ryan.
The Orioles raced out to a 29-0 advantage by the last few minutes of the first half.
Greenfield's Zach Bartak fumbled the opening kickoff, which Jake Loughman returned to the Greenfield 17. Three plays later, Ladd reached the end zone for the first time from 5 yards.
Belchertown had touchdowns on all five first-half possessions.
"That's huge, because coming out and scoring first gives you the momentum for the rest of the game," Ladd said. "That's what we've done the last four games, a trend we hope to continue."
Loughman, a senior running back, also surpassed 100 yards in his final home game. He gained 111 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns.
"Jake's only about 146 pounds, so I don't know how he does it," Mayo said. "He's a tough runner and makes great cuts. We run a lot of cutback stuff, so he has great vision. He also protects the ball very well. He's a kid who gets the absolute most out of his ability."
Ladd only threw 11 times, completing nine of those attempts.
"If we can get our run game going, that will really help us in the playoffs," Ladd said. "That will take the pressure off me having to throw the ball a lot."
Mayo added, "Having Jake at full confidence will give us another dimension, with teams focusing on Chris. Against the better, more physical teams, that will be important."
Ryan led the team with 54 receiving yards on just two catches, both of them touchdowns from 35 and 19 yards.
Senior Kevin Comeau had four receptions for 40 yards.
"Other than Kevin Comeau, we're smurfs at receiver," Mayo said. "But James, Tyler Rodriguez and Nick Leduc do a really nice job of getting open. And Kevin keeps getting better, he might be our most improved player. He could be an x-factor in the postseason."
Greenfield (1-8, 1-6) got on the board late in the second quarter. Bartak's 66-yard carry set up a 4-yard touchdown catch by Mike Lively.
However, any momentum was blunted when Belchertown traveled 64 yards in the final minute-plus to extend its lead to 36-7 at the half.
Greenfield sophomore quarterback Bartak gained 78 yards on just four carries, and threw for 78 yards and two scores as the Green Wave (1-8, 1-6 Intercounty) put up the game's final 16 points.
But the Orioles defense limited the Wave to 228 yards, most of those coming with the starters pulled in the second half. Rodriguez had an interception in the first half.
"After the Sci-Tech loss, Chris and I got the team together and said that this is where we need to buckle down and play solid football," Lebeau said. "That's what we've done. We've really been focusing on our defense because that's how we are going to win a Super Bowl. Our defense has answered that challenge and we plan to keep that going."
Belchertown concludes its regular season at Pathfinder (4-4) on Thanksgiving morning.
"We're preparing to win that one," Ladd said. "We know we're in the playoffs either way, but winning means we'll be the hot team going into postseason."
Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.
