Reed, Roccabruna Lift Taconic to Dramatic Win
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Taconic football team Friday rallied for two touchdowns in just more than four minutes late in the fourth quarter to earn a 28-21 win over West Springfield.
Sophomore Cooper Reed completed his second touchdown pass of the game to senior Evan Roccabruna with 10.9 seconds to overcome a 21-20 deficit, and Reed then ran in the two-point completion to provide the final margin of victory.
“I had my trust in ‘Coop,’ our sophomore quarterback,” Roccabruna said. “I had no doubts that he wouldn’t get me that ball. We ran that play probably three or four times this game, and I knew it was coming back to me.”
Taconic watched the Terriers score 21 straight points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 14-0 half-time deficit.
Then, after the Thunder scored with 4 minutes, 13 seconds left in the fourth, it was disappointed again when West Side broke up a two-point conversion attempt to maintain its 21-20 lead.
But after giving up a first down at midfield that allowed West Springfield to get to the plus-43, Taconic’s defense returned to the form it showed in the first half, stiffening and denying the Terriers on fourth-and-7 at the Thunder’s 40 to set the stage for a game-winning drive that began with just 1:30 on the clock.
Reed, who finished with 167 yards passing, two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown, went 3-for-6 for 51 yards to get his team into the end zone.
“Just stay focused, take a deep breath and take what they give you all the time,” Taconic coach Brian Jezewski said of what he told Reed in the closing minutes. “See what they see. Our whole offense is based on numbers, grass and leverage, and he did a really, really good job.
“I’m really proud of Cooper. He’s a leader. I mean, he won the job because of his leadership abilities. Obviously, he has a strong arm. He makes the right decisions. He’s smart, and the kids love to play for him.”
And the Thunder players loved playing with one another, earning a dramatic win just two weeks into life as a cooperative team, combining the programs from Pittsfield High and Taconic.
“We work hard during the off-season just to show the City of Pittsfield who we are,” senior lineman Aldy Badolo said.
Badolo was a force to be reckoned with on the defensive side of the ball all night, getting into the backfield and hauling down West Side QB Abel Varzeas on multiple occasions.
The entire Taconic defense was impregnable throughout the first half.
On the other hand, so were the Terriers on Taconic’s first three possessions.
But the fourth time Reed touched the ball, he drove the Thunder 68 yards for the game’s first score.
A big key was a 26-yard completion to Kelvin Santos that got the ball to the West Side 18.
Three plays later, Owen Letalien took the ball in from the 4. Benjamin Tobler-Campoli then went under center and threw a two-point conversion pass to Caysen Blasioli that gave Taconic a 14-0 lead with 2:45 left in the half.
After Taconic’s defense forced a punt, a 25-yard return by Roccabruna got the ball to the 20, and a late hit out of bounds flag on the play gave the Thunder possession at the 10 with less than a minute left in the half.
On third-and-goal at the 12, Reed found Roccabruna for their first TD connection and a 14-0 Thunder lead at half-time.
Roccabruna’s punt return was one of several big special teams plays in the game for Taconic, which started the night with a 45-yard punt return by Ka'Zahni Daniels and later got a perfectly placed 27-yard punt out of bounds at the West Side 10 from Tobler-Campoli.
“I have a great coaching staff,” Jezewski said when asked about the team’s special teams play. “These guys do an amazing job. I’m like the old man on the coaching staff now. I have a bunch of young guys. A lot of them played for me. They understand the expectations. They understand the standards. And they’re doing a really good job of implementing our plan and implementing their standards onto these kids.”
Everything was coming up roses for Taconic until the midway point of the third quarter. That is when West Side’s Varzeas busted loose around the right side and scampered 75 yards for his team’s first score. The Terriers kicked the first of their three extra points to make it 14-7 with 6:01 left in the quarter.
Taconic was unsuccessful on fourth down at midfield on its ensuing possession, and West Springfield took advantage with another big play, going 58 yards on a throw by Varzeas, who finished with 165 yards passing and 130 yards on the ground.
The next Taconic possession ended in a punt from its 44 that gave West Springfield possession at its 30 with 17 seconds left in the third quarter.
It drove for a score that ate up 5:45 and ended in a 13-yard Varzeas completion to give the Terriers their first lead, 21-14, with 6:32 left to play.
Taconic’s woes continued when it fumbled the ball away at the West Side 41 with 5:46 on the clock.
But two flags against the Terriers put them behind the sticks, and Tobler-Campoli broke up a third-down pass attempt from the West Springfield 30. The Terriers were forced to punt, and Taconic came up with yet another big play on special teams, blocking the punt and recovering the ball at the 1-yard line.
Reed ran it in to get his team within a point at 21-20.
But West Springfield preserved its lead by stopping the two-point conversion with 4:13 on the clock, setting the stage for Taconic’s defensive stand and game-winning drive in the closing minutes.
Reed’s first two passes were incomplete, but then he hit Daniels for a 2-yard completion to bring up fourth-and-8.
With the game on the line, Reed lofted a throw down the right side toward Roccabruna, who high-pointed the ball, pulled in the catch and landed at the 30.
West Springfield hauled down the intended receiver and drew a defensive pass interference call that got Taconic to the 15 with 21.8 seconds left.
Reed’s next pass was batted down in the backfield. But on second and 10, he found Roccabruna in the end zone for the game-winner.
Taconic (1-0) next week goes to Hoosac Valley for a Saturday matinee.
Photos from this game to come.