LONGMEADOW - If the Northampton football team could have punched in from the 10-yard line in the third quarter Thursday night, hopes of a monumental upset might have carried into the final 12 minutes.

But trailing only by 13 points at the time, the Blue Devils were turned back by Longmeadow, which went on to score two quick touchdowns and coast to a 27-0 victory.

"We were very optimistic at that point, but our offense is hit-and-miss," Hamp coach Ken O'Brien said. "I thought we did some good things, but we just can't play consistently."

Northampton (2-8, 1-6 AA) stayed with the top-ranked team in Division 1 for three quarters, and had a great opportunity to cut the lead to one score. The Devils marched from their own 26 to a first-down at the Lancers 11.

"We were looking at the possibility of 13-7 or 13-8, and who knows?," O'Brien said. "But Longmeadow's such a tough team to beat."

After a pair of carries for just one yard, RJ Ramsden threw incomplete on third down from the 10. On fourth down, a pitch to Nate Bones turned into a halfback pass, which was intercepted by Mike Sell.

"We got down in the red zone, but couldn't finish, which is a constant struggle for us," senior Jack Lyford said. "We played our hardest, and held them to 13 into the second half."

Longmeadow (8-2, 5-1), playing without quarterback Jake Lazarus and running back T.J. Norris, covered 78 yards in only six plays to put it away. Four of the plays garnered double-digit yardage, and Connor Samuelson scored around the right side from 19 yards.

Hamp fumbled on its next snap and Dylan Kelleher returned it 32 yards for another score with 11:11 left in regulation.

Northampton couldn't stop Longmeadow fullback Austin Sierra, who rushed for 172 yards on only 15 carries. He put the Lancers on the board less than two minutes in with a 62-yard touchdown run right up the middle. Lyford nearly tracked him down from behind.

"Line play is so important at this level, and Longmeadow always has tremendous lines, on offense and defense," O'Brien said. "That's a tremendous program."

The Lancers scored again on their third possession, as Sierra burst into the end zone from 8 yards for a 13-0 advantage.

The Blue Devils defense did an admirable job against the high-powered Lancers. Other than Sierra, Longmeadow only gained 62 yards. Lyford, David Konowitch, Jake Griffin, Alex Stokowski and Adam Osherow played well defensively.

Five of nine Longmeadow possessions resulted in a three-and-out, and Konowitch recovered a Sierra fumble late in the second to snuff out a scoring chance.

"They're a great team every single year, and we respect them a lot," Lyford said. "But we played our hardest, which is all you can do."

In the final seconds, Hamp drove from their 30 to the Longmeadow 10, but a muffed exchange between Ramsden and Willy Vazquez resulted in a fumble recovered by the Lancers.

Ramsden ran for 69 yards on 10 carries, Christian Rivera had 33 yards on nine attempts, and Vazquez rushed 11 times for 27 yards.

Lyford caught a pair of passes accounting for 37 yards, while Griffin made a nice catch down the right sideline for 38 yards, the team's longest play of the night.

Northampton played yet again without top running back Danny Mam, whom O'Brien said could return for the Thanksgiving Day game against Amherst Regional (3-5).

"One good thing about playing Amherst is that I don't need to get the guys up for it," O'Brien said. "They'll be excited to come in on Monday and get going. When it's a rivalry game, the records don't matter. It should be fun."

The Hurricanes beat the Blue Devils 15-13 in Amherst last season.

"Coming off a loss to them last year, we're looking forward to this one," Lyford said. "It's always big playing Amherst on Thanksgiving."

Michael Wilkinson can be reached at mwilkinson@gazettenet.com.