High school football: Holyoke’s running game shines in 32-12 win over Northampton

HOLYOKE — Jesus Morales and Georlee Aponte served as the Holyoke football team’s one-two punch in its 32-12 win over Northampton at John F. Gilligan Field on Thursday.

The duo secured all five of the Purple Knights’ touchdowns, via the run game, in their first win of the season.

“Our running game was fantastic,” Holyoke head coach David Guzman. “We protected the ball this week. Last week we had four fumbles. It’s tough to win when you turn the ball over four times and they score all four times, so we protected the football this week. I knew if we protected the football, then I think we had an advantage in the run game. We showed up today. Our running backs went crazy.”

Aponte led the way for the Knights with three rushing scores while Morales trucked into the end zone twice in the 48-minute affair. Holyoke’s harriers racked up nearly 150 yards on the ground in its TD scores.

None were bigger than the game’s very first play from the line of scrimmage, a 65-yard dart from Morales, which put the hosts in front, 7-0, in a flash, following a successful extra-point attempt.

“I saw the open gap on the left side and I trusted in my tackle, Avery Feliciano, and once I saw that gap, it was just daylight for me,” Morales said. “I was taught that from my coaches. I hit the gap and there it was, I scored a touchdown.”

The Blue Devils answered later in the first quarter on a 4-yard rush from Gerald Lopez, but missed the extra-point, to trail, 7-6, with four minutes, 28 seconds to go in the opening frame.

However, three consecutive touchdowns from the Knights turned the tide back in favor of the hosts on the way to their 20-point victory.

First, a 50-yard dash from Aponte — the sophomore’s longest of the night — doubled Holyoke’s lead to 14-6 midway through the second quarter.

Then, Aponte struck again, this time on a 2-yard TD with 2:04 left in the third quarter, as the Knights’ advantage grew to 20-6.

Finally, Holyoke regained possession right away after Aponte’s second score due to a Northampton misplay on the ensuing kickoff and Morales made the visitors pay with a 2-yard plunge into the end zone and a 26-6 Knights edge early in quarter No. 4.

Blue Devils QB Dion Cadiz sprinted in his own rushing touchdown about four minutes later, cutting Holyoke’s cushion to 26-12, with 6:23 left in the contest.

But, Aponte sealed the victory for Holyoke with a 20-yard rush, shedding multiple Northampton tackles before crossing the goal line with 50 seconds showing on the clock for the 32-12 final.

“Our run offense is great,” Aponte said. “We depend on our linemen… the blocking up front was amazing. Nobody got through.”

Penalty flags littered the playing surface all night long as both squads struggled limiting the infractions. The Blue Devils, especially, were impacted by the plethora of penalties assessed against them.

Although, Northampton head coach Rocco Fernandez saw areas of improvement in his squad from its 46-0 loss to South Hadley in its season-opener. Most notably, the offense made some progress, per Fernandez.

“We moved the ball, we scored some points,” Fernandez said. “Our passing game looked pretty good. Our run game is still a work-in-progress, hopefully we improve on that next week on both sides of the ball. I think overall, kids put forth a great effort today.”

Cadiz connected with receivers Jasius-Cezar Flores and Bradyn Rios, specifically, multiple times each throughout the evening, with a couple of those throws forcing the Northampton wideouts to make sprawling grabs.

“They just came up with some great plays,” Fernandez said. “Jasius had a nice little head-tapper. Bradyn Rios down in the fourth quarter, set up touchdown, for a freshman, that kid is going to be a huge part of our future.”

The Blue Devils (0-2) will look to use their extra time to prepare for its next game against Wahconah on Friday, September 26.

On the other hand, the Knights (1-1) will bask in the joy of snatching their first win of the 2025 season for now, then will head right back to work to gameplan for Agawam, their next opponent.

“Any time you get the zero out of that first column the pressure is off a little bit,” Guzman said. “But the pressure is back on tomorrow. Football is a weekly thing and everyone we play is good … so we got our work cut out for us for Agawam.