Published: 4/23/2021 9:44:18 PM
Modified: 4/23/2021 9:44:16 PM
SOUTH DEERFIELD — A high school football season unlike any other came to its end Friday night, only a few months after many wondered if there’d be football at all within the Commonwealth. Frontier Regional School made the most of its abbreviated spring 2021 campaign, finishing with a winning record after rolling Athol High School, 42-0.
Josh Semaski ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns and Jake Dodge added 71 yards and a pair of scores on the ground for the Redhawks (3-2), who closed out the year with back-to-back 42-0 shutouts. Frontier did not throw a single pass and totaled 289 rushing yards, while limiting Athol (2-2) to 45 yards of total offense.
“Our goal was to send these seniors out with a victory,” said Frontier coach Scott Dredge, who saw seven senior players honored during Senior Night festivities. “We were feeling good about how things were progressing. I wish we had some more games that we could play, we were just starting to pick up the momentum. We’re very grateful to just be able to play football and have something fun for these kids.”
Frontier went right to work Friday after Ethan Machon recovered a fumble on the third play from scrimmage, giving the hosts possession at the Athol 30. Semaski broke off a 16-yard run to put the ball at the 3, and Alec Kirkendall took it in on the next play for a 6-0 Hawk lead with 8:49 left in the first quarter.
The Bears punted on their next series, with a nice return by Iain Spearance somewhat negated by an illegal-block call that forced Frontier to start at its own 42. Semaski went for 30 yards on the next play and Dodge rambled in from 28 yards out one play later to make it 12-0.
The hosts kept the pedal down in the second quarter, getting a 5-yard scoring run by Semaski and a two-point conversion pass from Dodge to Connor Hoffman to bump the Redhawk lead to 20-0. Athol punted on its next series, but Frontier came through with a partial block, leading to a 3-yard kick and a first down at the Athol 37. Semaski then took a pitch from Dodge and swept around the right edge for the touchdown, followed by Kirkendall’s two-point run, to make it 28-0 with only 2:15 left in the half.
Frontier then went long-field to begin the second half, starting at its 30 and covering the 70 yards in only five plays. On a quarterback keeper, Dodge bolted off right tackle and ran 35 yards for the score, and Semaski added the two-point run to push the game into running-time territory.
Semaski capped off the scoring on a 17-yard TD run with 9:18 left in the fourth. The Redhawks then took a knee on the conversion attempt.
Dodge, Machon, Kirkendall, Kenny Moulton, Ethan Russell, Jacob Bryant and Jackie Phong each played his final game for Frontier, while Athol’s senior contingent included Noah Pottinger, Keegan Lutz, Anthony Vescovi, Jake Smith, Evan Dubrule, Matt Jillson, Christian Casillas and Manny O’Lari.
Lutz paced Athol with 25 yards on the ground. Pottinger completed 2-of-11 passes with an interception.
“We had 28 (players) in uniform to start the season, got the injury bug, and we ended up with 16 tonight,” said Bears coach Bill LaRose, whose team counted a win over bitter rival Mahar Regional School as its top 2021 highlight. “I think we found some players. We played a lot of freshmen and sophomores this year, with a good mix of seniors. We need to start a tradition here and get the Athol Bears program going back where it should.
“The kids answered the bell. There were no issues. They understood we’re in a pandemic, and they took this season for what it was – a gift.”