McCann Football Coach LeClair Gets Milestone Win
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – It was a special afternoon at McCann Tech High School as coach Bob LeClair got his 45th win as head of the Hornet football team by beating visiting Smith Vocational, 53-0, to give him the title of winningest football coach in school history.
"You know, it's a really nice feeling," said LeClair. "It means I've been around for a while and that we've been successful. I think our record lately has shown that. I owe it all to the kids who come out and work hard everyday and to my assistant coaches who help me tremendously. It's not just me, it's everyone in the program that does this. The administration allows me to do what I want to do but it's the kids that do the job."
LeClair passes the late Fran Milliard who held the previous record for wins as head coach at McCann.
"I worked with him for a long time," LeClair said. "I learned a lot from that guy so I owe an awful lot to him."
When asked about how it felt to be on the team that got coach LeClair the title of winningest football coach in school history senior captain Gustavo "Goose" Montoya said, "It feels great just doing it for Coach Bob today. That's all we really wanted was to win this game for him. It meant the world for him and it meant the world for us too."
Just two minutes into the game it looked pretty obvious that McCann would get their coach that 45th victory and senior captain Rahmer Vincent had a lot to do with it. On the opening kick off of the game he received the ball on his own 15-yard line and went 85 yards down the field to put the Hornets on top 8-0. Then on Smith's first possession facing third and 12 it was Vincent again, this time intercepting a pass and bringing it 25 yards back for his second score touchdown of the day.
Leading 16-0, the McCann first team offense got their first shot with the ball with 2 minutes, 48 seconds left in the first and made quick work of the Viking defense. Senior captain running back Brett Pecor ripped off runs of 52 and 28 yards with the latter going for the Hornets' third score. Pecor finished the day with 114 rushing yards on 12 carries and one score.
After another punt by Smith, McCann took over on their own 40 and this time needed just one play to cushion their lead. Junior Eathan Heller took the handoff, broke a few tackles and rumbled 60 yards to the end zone. On the ensuing kickoff Smith mishandled the ball and the Hornet special teams came up with it on the Smith 33. Senior Levi Lawson got in on the scoring next as he took the first handoff of the drive and dashed 33 yards around the right end for McCann's fifth touchdown of the day.
But the Hornets weren't done yet and after another mishandled kick return by Smith, McCann took over again on the Smith 33. After a holding penalty on their first play, Heller took his second carry of the day and ripped off a 43 yard touchdown run to make it 45-0. with just under eight minutes left in the second quarter. Heller finished the day with 103 rushing yards on just two attempts, each going for a touchdown.
After the game Montoya talked about staying focused in practice this week after the lopsided win.
"You don't want to really get too cocky with this game because if you get too cocky the same thing that happened last year to us is going to occur,” he said. “Where the team came in and wanted to beat us more and we went in cocky and lost. So we just need to work hard this week."
"Just stay focused at practice," added Vincent. "Bring the intensity always because Ware is going to be tough so we need to make sure and go hard."
"Ware is a tough ball club,” LeClair said. “They have some talented athletes and they are certainly going to pose a problem for us. They have a good young quarterback, they are hungry and had the week off so we won't let these kids relax.”