Wahconah Downs Taconic
DALTON, Mass. — The Wahconah football team took care of business at home Friday night, pulling away from Taconic for a convincing 44-12 victory.
Both teams appeared to have this one circled as soon as the schedule came out, and the rivalry did not disappoint.
Wahconah (3-1) got the scoring started after a quick three-and-out from its defense. Quarterback Gio Venable had himself a big night, throwing for 141 yards and three touchdowns. He opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass to give Wahconah an early 8-0 lead.
Taconic (1-2) responded with a couple of big passing plays on its next drive, but the momentum stalled when Troy Baumann brought pressure and recorded a sack on fourth down to force a turnover.
The Wahconah defense continued to come up with big plays. On Taconic's next series, Wahconah forced another turnover, knocking the ball loose after a big run from Taconic and recovering the fumble.
Wahconah quickly capitalized. Just a few plays later, Venable found Micah Roberts for a 66-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 14-0.
It looked like Wahconah might cruise from there, but Taconic held its ground and answered with a quick strike.
A strong kickoff return put the Thunder deep in Wahconah territory, and two plays later, quarterback Cooper Reed found Benjamin Sykes for a 10-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to one score.
Reed finished with 211 yards passing and three touchdowns, all three coming on passes to Sykes. Sykes hauled in 116 receiving yards.
The game was chippy throughout, which came as little surprise given the history between the two teams, but the energy from both sets of fans for an entertaining atmosphere.
"It was so important to keep our cool to start this game, and I'll be honest, the kids really helped me keep my head," Wahconah head coach Gary Campbell Jr. said. "But it's a big emotional thing for a small community to play against a big school like we did. It was a big deal, but our kids backed it up, and I'm really proud of that, especially with all the emotions prior to the game."
Wahconah answered right back, this time on the ground, as Anthony Talora scored on a 20-yard touchdown run to restore Wahconah’s two-score advantage.
Wahconah ran five plays on the drive, all on the ground, covering 50 yards.
The game began to slip away from Taconic when a promising drive ended with an interception by Venable at the 3-yard line. Taconic appeared poised to get the ball back after another interception, but a roughing-the-passer penalty negated the turnover and allowed Wahconah to maintain possession and get some breathing room before halftime.
The drive ultimately ended with a missed field goal just before the break.
Wahconah came out of halftime and marched down the field on its opening possession, finishing the drive with a touchdown run by Jerry Beaubrun, who finished with 109 yards rushing.
Improving the running game was an area Campbell identified as an important step for his team moving forward.
"Our line has gotten better and better little by little. We have skilled guys, we have guys that can make plays, but if we can get better and be more balanced, we will be that much better of a team," Campbell said.
After Wahconah opened the game up, Taconic responded with a 46-yard touchdown play to cut the deficit to 18 points.
But the Wahconah offense proved to be too much.
Venable connected with Talora on a 10-yard touchdown pass, essentially putting the game out of reach.
Both teams added one more score before the final whistle, but the damage had already been done as Wahconah secured the 44-12 victory.
Wahconah will look to keep things rolling next week when it travels to Chicopee Comp.
Taconic will look to get back in the win column when it hosts Agawam.