Phillips Leads Hornets to Third Straight Win

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – McCann Tech senior Landyn Phillips threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns Friday as the Hornets came back from a two-score deficit to beat Monument Mountain, 20-16, for their third win in a row.

 

Phillips also ran for 113 yards, and McCann Tech’s defense got two interceptions and a fumble recovery in the second half to hold the Spartans scoreless after Monument went on top, 16-0, early in the second quarter.

 

Riding a two-game winning streak and coming off its bye week, McCann Tech was not phased when the Spartans got the early lead, Phillips said.

 

“We had a slow start in the first quarter, but we knew we just needed to pick it up a little bit Phillips said. “We own the second half.”

 

They certainly did on this night.

 

Monument Mountain ran just eight plays from scrimmage in the second half and just 13 plays from scrimmage after Gavin Fol (83 yards rushing) ran in his second score of the night to cap an 81-yard drive that spanned the first and second quarters.

 

The Hornets answered that drive with a 66-yard march of their own.

 

Phillips kept the drive alive by running for 14 yards on fourth-and-10 at the Spartans’ 29.

 

Then, after an 8-yard run by Hunter Lancto, Phillips hit Lanto in the end zone to make it 16-6.

 

“He’s settled into his own,” McCann Tech coach Jon Rochelo said of Phillips. “He’s an incredible leader, incredible role model for this team. They put the work in all summer long.

 

“[Phillips] was prepared. He’s the voice during practice to push. During the games, you see it. He believes in himself. And we believe in him. We have each other’s backs, and it’s just an incredible job by him.”

 

Chris Rickert ran in the 2-point conversion to get McCann Tech within a score with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in the half.

 

The teams then traded possessions in the closing minutes with Monument Mountain getting the ball at its own 44 with 29 seconds left.

 

The Spartans tried to get something going with two straight pass plays, but the second was picked off by McCann Tech’s Deondre Phillips, who returned the ball 20 yards to the plus-35 with 13.6 seconds on the clock.

 

Phillips ran for 8 yards and completed a pass to Lancto for 10, but the clock expired with McCann Tech in the red zone but down a touchdown.

 

The second half was all Hornets.

 

After taking the second-half kickoff, Monument Mountain managed just 1 yard on three running plays before punting the ball back to the Hornets.

 

McCann Tech then went 67 yards in 12 plays, the last a 7-yard run by Lancto to make it 16-14. The 2-point conversion was no good, and the Spartans clung to a two-point lead with 3:45 left in the third quarter.

 

The Spartans’ next possession ended with a Lancto interception that gave McCann Tech possession at its 38.

 

Phillips then went 4-for-4 for 42 yards and ran the ball once for 26 yards in a six-play drive that ended with a 7-yard scoring toss to Marquese Moody.

 

Moody, another of the seniors honored on Senior Night before the game, took a shot on the goal line but hung on for the catch that made it 20-16.

 

Monument Mountain still had 9:46 on the clock to try to recapture some of the offensive success it found early on.

 

The Spartans just didn’t have the ball, at least not for very long.

 

Monument Mountain muffed a short kickoff, and Evan LaBonte recovered for the Hornets at midfield.

 

McCann Tech earned a couple of first downs but was stopped on fourth-and-7 at the Spartans’ 22 with 5:57 on the clock.

 

Plenty of time, but the Spartans fumbled the ball away on their second snap.

 

Monument Mountain’s defense then stopped the Hornets on another fourth-and-7 to get the ball at the Spartans’ 18 with 2:10 on the clock and a couple of timeouts.

 

But on second-and-7, Moody made his second-biggest catch of the night, an interception that gave McCann Tech the ball with 1:21 left and just one Monument Mountain timeout to wait out before the Hornets could go into their victory formation.

 

After giving up 38 points at Franklin Tech in its opener, McCann Tech has allowed just 28 points combined in the next three games – all wins – heading into three straight road games to finish the regular season.

 

“Our defense definitely stepped up this year,” Rochelo said “Like I said before, they put the work in. They bought into what we’re trying to do here. And they’re sick and tired of being the ‘nobody’ of Berkshire County, so they’re hungry.

 

“Everyone laughs at them. Everyone thinks it’s funny. They don’t think it’s funny anymore.”

 

McCann Tech goes to Pathfinder next Friday.

 

Photos from this game to come.