By DYLAN THOMPSONFor the Gazette

GREAT BARRINGTON — In a battle with the Tri-County League title on the line, the Smith Vocational football team took an early lead but couldn’t sustain it on Friday night.

The visiting Vikings led 8-0 after one quarter, but Monument Mountain scored 26 unanswered points to capture a 26-8 victory and put itself in the driver’s seat for an outright TCL title.

Monument Mountain’s Shaun Frank and Isaiah Keefner combined for 280 rushing yards and four total touchdowns, as the Spartans improved to 5-2 overall, 4-0 in the league.

Smith lost for the first time since its season opener against Keefe Tech, dropping to 4-2 overall, 3-1 in the league. 

The Vikings got the ball first, executing a stellar 11-play touchdown drive that took over six minutes. Bryan Leyton capped off the drive with a touchdown run from 2 yards out, and Ty Chapdelaine tacked on the two-point conversion to make it an 8-0 game with 5:50 left in the opening quarter.

It stayed that way into the second quarter. After forcing a punt, Monument broke through offensively. The Spartans executed a 10-play touchdown drive that was capped off by a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dominic Calautti to Frank that cut the lead to 8-6.

Monument kept its foot on the gas and picked off Chapdelaine on the next Vikings possession. Frank eventually ran it in from 1 yard out, giving Monument a 12-8 lead that it would take into halftime.

Monument got the ball to start the second half, executing a quick five-play drive that was finished off by a 22-yard touchdown run from Keefner. He later made a great catch in traffic before turning on the jets to get into the endzone, giving Monument a 26-8 lead.

Chapdelaine finished with 70 yards through the air and 47 on the ground for Smith Voc, which looks to bounce back next week with its regular season finale at home against Pathfinder.