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Connor Doran

SOUTH HADLEY - The South Hadley football team isn't used to having its season end on Thanksgiving.

But led by their outgoing senior class, the Tigers finished the campaign strong with a 52-6 trouncing of Chicopee Comp Thursday.

"Our seniors have been spoiled a bit by being so successful, so this is kind of foreign territory," first-year Tigers coach Eric Scammons said. "We wanted to send them out on a positive note with a win. We talked about this being our Super Bowl. It also sets a positive tone for the guys next year."

South Hadley (4-6, 3-3 Suburban), which won four of its final six games, raced out to a three-score advantage after one quarter and took a 45-0 lead into halftime.

Senior fullback Connor Doran capped off a tremendous season with 144 rushing yards on only seven carries, all the the first half. He scored touchdowns from 5, 80 and 20 yards.

With his fifth 100-yard game, Doran eclipsed the 1,000-yard milestone for the season.

"It feels really good, especially with such a big crowd," Doran said. "That 80-yarder seemed a little longer than it was."

"One of our goals was to get him to 1,000," Scammons said. "He switched from wingback to fullback this season, and was a little hesitant about that at first. But he works so hard, and he picked it up quickly."

Quarterback Jordan Page completed 4-of-10 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown pass in his final game. He hit Anthony Bullough down the right seam for a 25-yard score early in the second quarter.

The Tigers only ran 33 plays from scrimmage in the victory. They were assisted in the first quarter by three Comp fumbles.

"In high school football, field position and turnovers are very important," Scammons said. "We had those short fields a couple times. The defense did a great job of getting the offense the ball."

On the Colts' second possession, quarterback Tom Duffy rolled to his left. He lost the ball, which was scooped and returned 30 yards by Brian Heady for a touchdown.

Luke Desmarais pounced on two Comp fumbles to set up the Tigers' offense with short fields. Doran scored the first of his three touchdowns, then Shippee took a pitch to the left and found the end zone from 11 yards for a 24-0 lead.

"It was big to get those early turnovers to create momentum for our team," Desmarais said. "Getting those early touchdowns really helped us in this one."

Doran scored twice more before halftime.

The South Hadley defense, led by seniors Doran at defensive end, and Desmarais and Zach Greaney at linebacker, limited powerful Colts running back Kyle Soja to 54 yards on 22 carries.

"We tried to hit him low, that's what Zach and I have done all year," Desmarais said. "When you hit anyone low, they'll usually go down."

When Duffy dropped back to pass, he was harassed by Doran and the Tigers' rushers. Doran had three sacks, while Zaid El-Mullah added one.

"It was a strong defensive effort, I'm really proud of our defense," Doran said. "We stepped it up late in the season, and we're used to having a great defense. This was a building year, and the younger guys got some experience."

TJ Fitzell's interception late in the second quarter set up Doran's 20-yard score. Fitzell returned the pick for a touchdown, but the play was called back on a block-in-the-back penalty.

The Tigers came within three minutes of a shutout, but Duffy hit Harley Kagan with a 31-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing kickoff, Shippee took it back 87 yards to cap the day's scoring.

Following an 0-4 start, including a pair of three-point losses and a five-point setback, the Tigers finished 4-2 and were within two points of Putnam in the fourth quarter.

"We knew the beginning of the season would be tough because we were replacing some key players and we had a tough schedule," Scammons said. "We made it through that stretch and midway through we turned it around."

The win marked the final game for South Hadley seniors Doran, Desmarais, Greaney, Page, Carter Levreault, Anthony Lucia, Connor Sormanti, Niko Gutwaks, Alex Kerkhoff and Taylor Macri. They leave the program with three playoff berths, two Super Bowl appearances, and the Division 2 title last season.

"It's been a fun ride, and I love all these guys," Desmarais said. "I'll remember my time on this team for the rest of my life."

Doran said, "It's a great feeling to be able to leave the field with our heads held high. It was a great experience to play here with such a great group. Our senior class isn't real big, so we're all really close."

Speaking about his first season as head coach, Scammons added, "I learned that the 'head coach' title is a bit of a misnomer. The actual coaching part didn't change from what I'd been used to here. Being head coach is more about managing people, which is what coach Ferro was so good at. I was fortunate to learn from him."

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