Adams-Cheshire, Lee Win Youth Football Titles
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Adams-Cheshire and Lee took home Berkshire County Youth Football League Super Bowl titles on Sunday night in a pair of hard-fought, defensive-minded battles at Berkshire Community College’s Gene Dellea Field.
In the Juniors, Adams-Cheshire edged Dalton, 8-6.
In the Seniors, Lee stopped a fourth-down try in its end of the field with 2 minutes left to secure a 14-6 win over the Pittsfield Bulldogs.
Adams-Cheshire and Wahconah were scoreless at half-time of their title tilt, mostly because Wahconah’s defense stiffened to deny the Hurricanes on the longest drive of the first half.
First, Adams-Cheshire stopped Dalton after it took the opening kickoff and went from its 48 to the plus-30.
Adams took over on its 32 with a minute left in the first quarter and drove all the way to the Dalton 8 before throwing an incompletion with 2 minutes, 1 second left in the half.
Adams’ second long drive of the game yielded points in the third quarter.
Behind the rushing of Mikey Durant and Cole Kalisz, Adams-Cheshire drove from its 49 all the way to the game’s first score, which came on a 2-yard plunge by Durant (80 yards).
Kalisz ran in the two-point conversion, and Adams-Cheshire had an 8-0 lead.
Dalton struck back right away with two big rushing plays – the first for 15 yards to get the ball to the 38 and the second for 30 yards to reach the end zone and get within two points of Adams-Cheshire in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
But Adams’ defense denied Dalton’s two-point try to preserve the lead.
After Dalton’s defense stopped Adams-Cheshire on a fourth down to regain possession near midfield, Dalton earned one first down before losing possession on a fumble with 1:34 to go.
Adams-Cheshire overcame 15 yards in penalties on its final possession, getting runs of 14 and 18 yards from Durant to get the first down it needed to run out the clock.
After the Junior Division finalists combined for two touchdowns in their championship game, the Seniors’ finale started like a barnburner.
Lee took the opening kickoff and went 51 yards, the last 3 on a run by Bryce Hoff. The two-point conversion failed, but Lee had a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Pittsfield was hampered by penalties on its first possession, and Lee got the ball back at its 25. QB Connor Scapin got the drive started with a 9-yard completion on the first play from scrimmage, and Lee went all the way to the plus-37 before fumbling the ball away midway through the second quarter.
The Bulldogs ended up stalling on a fourth-and-1 at midfield, and Lee drove 25 yards before Pittsfield’s defense got the fourth-down stop it needed to keep it a 6-0 deficit at half-time.
After both teams started the second half with four-and-out possessions, Pittsfield got the ball at the plus-49.
Nasir Cobbs and Ben Tobler took turns running the ball to set up first-and-goal at the 9 on the last play of the third quarter. And Cobbs took the ball in on the first play of the fourth quarter to tie the game, 6-6.
Lee’s defense denied the Bulldogs’ conversion try, and the Wildcats got the ball at their own 46 after the kickoff.
Lee methodically worked the ball down the field on eight straight running plays, the last a 2-yard score by Hoff. He then ran in the conversion to give Lee a 14-6 lead with 3:58 left in the game.
Pittsfield got a first down on an 8-yard run by Cobbs to get to the 37, and a pass interference call on Lee almost erased all of a fourth-and-19 for the Bulldogs. But Lee broke into the backfield to spoil Pittsfield’s try on fourth-and-4, getting the ball back with a two-point lead and about two minutes on the clock.
Because of Pittsfield’s timeouts, Lee needed to make a first down to run out the clock, and it got it when Hoff went 10 yards on fourth-and-6 to reach 100 yards for the game and salt away the win.
