Bradley, Hurricanes Roll on Senior Day
CHESHIRE, Mass. – The Hoosac Valley defense had four sacks and held an opponent to 6 points or fewer for the fifth time this season Saturday in earning a 35-6 win over Holyoke in the regular season finale for both teams.
Qwanell Bradley ran for 89 yards and a pair of touchdowns and intercepted a pair of passes as Hoosac Valley made its final case for earning a top-four seed in the Division 8 State Tournament.
The Hurricanes (7-1) went into Saturday’s game ranked fifth in the final MIAA in-season power rankings in D8. No. 4 Randolph (8-0), which played on Thursday night (a win already accounted for in the power rankings), was seven-tenths of a point ahead of Hoosac Valley in the state ranking system, which incorporates average margin of victory and opponents’ rankings.
Hoosac Valley maxed out the margin of victory in Saturday’s 29-point win and could get a bump in opponents' ranking for playing the Division 5 Purple Knights (2-6).
On Sunday, the MIAA will release the brackets for the 16-team D8 playoffs, and Hoosac Valley will learn if it moves into the No. 4 spot and a potential state semi-final and rematch against presumptive No. 1 Lee (8-0).
On Saturday, Hoosac Valley had a 23-0 lead by early in the second quarter and kept Holyoke at arm’s length on Senior Day with a defensive effort that allowed next to nothing in the run game while containing the elusive Devin Velez, who threw for 133 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
“Holyoke presented kind of a unique challenge,” Hoosac Valley coach Marshall Maxwell said. “I think they threw the ball 35 times today. They have good personnel. The quarterback is quick. That kid can scramble. We were concerned about him and really focused on trying to keep them contained.
“And even with us focusing on keeping him contained, he still got loose a few times. But we had great team pursuit. And we take a lot of pride on defense chasing the play until the whistle.”
Hoosac Valley got a big play on offense to start the game when Bradley got around the edge on the left side and ran 53 yards for a score just three minutes into the game. He then ran in the two-point conversion to give the ‘Canes an early 8-0 lead.
After the teams traded possessions, a Jayquan Vazquez sack on third-and-10 and a blocked punt gave Hoosac Valley the ball at the plus 20, and two plays later, Noah Rehill was in the end zone after taking a double handoff from Bradley and running against the grain to the right from 14 yards out.
Holyoke’s ensuing possession ended in a pickoff by Bradley, who returned the ball 44 yards to the Knights’ 32 on the fifth play of the second quarter.
Three plays later, Bradley’s 25-yard touchdown run made it 22-0, and Adan Wicks’ extra point gave the Hurricanes a 23-0 lead that they took into half-time.
A sack and a QB pressure by Jacob Borawski forced a three-and-out for Holyoke’s offense to start the second half, and a bad snap on a punt attempt led to a safety and a 25-0 Hoosac Valley advantage.
The Hurricanes then took over at the Knights’ 37 after a short free kick and drove to the 12, where Wicks made a 30-yard field goal to give his team a 28-0 lead.
“We just wanted to make sure we could do it here before we try it in a state playoff game,” Maxwell said of the field goal try on fourth-and-6. “Maybe in that situation, in the past, we go for it, try to run an offensive play. But we need to know if, on this surface – we’ll be playing on the same field next week … It’s November, this field is not going to get in better shape. That was very encouraging.”
Holyoke was bailed out on a fourth-and-5 on its next possession when Hoosac Valley was flagged for being offsides and took advantage, going 59 yards for the score, which came on a 28-yard throw from Velez to Gerolee Aponte.
The next Knights possession ended in a pick 6 by Bradley for his third score of the game to provide the final margin.
Since taking its only loss of the season against Lee, Hoosac Valley has outscored its next three opponents by a combined margin of 107-24 (a 27.6-ppg average). And in its seven wins, the Hurricanes have scored an average of 34.4 points per game, going for at least 32 points in each win.
But Maxwell agreed there are things that the team needs to clean up going into the post-season, including 55 yards in penalties on Saturday.
“We’re a team that can come out and score 56 points if we execute properly,” Maxwell said. “We’re a team that can come out and lose to anyone if we don’t execute. Two weeks ago, it was 37-0 against Taconic at half-time. Clearly, in that game, we executed in all three phases.
“When we are clicking and we are executing, we’re a top team in the state. When we aren’t, any team in the playoffs will beat us and beat us badly.”