Mount Greylock Scores Early, Often in Win Over Drury
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock football team ran just nine offensive plays after the first quarter on Friday night.
But those first 11 minutes were more than enough.
The Mounties jumped out to a 30-0 lead after one quarter en route to a 46-14 win over Drury on John T. Allen Field.
Michael Wellspeak was 5-for-6 for 60 yards and a touchdown in that first quarter, and he picked off a pass and returned it 13 yards to set up a 52-yard Cal Messina touchdown run.
Taylor Cummings and Tyler Carnevale also ran the ball for first-quarter scores. The latter's TD pushed the margin to 30-0 with 12 seconds left in the period.
The Mounties (1-1) then opened the second quarter with two touchdowns without an offensive snap.
First, Sean McCormack returned an interception 30 yards for a score. Then Reece Gillette recovered a fumble and went 33 yards the other way to make it 44-0. After a holding call on the extra-point try, Jude Rorke ran it in from 13 yards out to score his team's final points of the night with 9 minutes, 3 seconds left in the second quarter.
The three takeaways in the first 13 minutes of the games really made the difference in turning the game into a blowout.
"We obviously spend a lot of of time on offense, and we throw a lot, and that takes a lot of time to get down," Mounties coach Andrew Agostini said. "But defense is certainly something we've talked a lot about this year -- being better, more competitive. And it's good to see those things. Everybody likes to see defensive touchdowns.
"So it was a good start, but for us we've got to keep going and keep doing these things. But it was good to see for sure."
Drury (0-2) got a turnover of its own midway through the second half on the first play for Mount Greylock's second offensive unit.
The Blue Devils then marched from their 28 to the Mount Greylock 9 with less than a minute left before half-time. But on third-and-goal, Mounties freshman Malcolm Waynick ended the half, fittingly enough, with an interception to preserve the shutout.
In the second half, Drury continued to move the ball well on the ground against Mount Greylock's reserves. Frankie Cooper finished with 147 yards rushing. QB Obilio Rodriguez had a 2-yard TD run, and Dante Woodson ran for 36 yards and a score.
Mount Greylock finishes a three-game homestand to start the season next Friday against Belchertown.
Drury plays its home opener on Saturday, Sept. 23, against Lee.
With just 10 seniors and juniors on his roster, Drury coach Al Marceau knows it is a rebuilding year for the Blue Devils. But he is encouraged by how much the program has grown since pre-season got under way.
"The first day of practice, we had 13 [players]," Marceau said. "We're up to just about 30. A bunch of young kids, a bunch of kids who work hard.
"It's keeping them. It's keeping them still having fun and keeping them through the whole season and having them understand we're building toward something for when they're sophomores, juniors and seniors.
"That's going to be the tough part: keeping them having fun. That's basically the challenge right now."