Pittsfield Pitches Shutout at South Hadley
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pittsfield senior Keanu Arce-Jackson scored three touchdowns to help the Generals win at home on Friday in a 48-0 blowout of South Hadley.
Arce-Jackson was one of four players to cross the goal line for Pittsfield, with junior Dashaun Brown scoring two touchdowns and senior Francis Mensah and sophomore Marcus Jubrey each scoring one.
Coach Brian Jezewski said the team played its most complete game of the season so far.
“This is probably the only full game we’ve played this year,” he said. “And we talked about 48 minutes of hell, and that’s something that we discuss in the weight room. We time everything we do, we work really really hard.”
Brown was the first to score for Pittsfield on a 40-yard carry with 7:40 left in the first quarter. Arce-Jackson got his first touchdown with just 30 seconds left before the second, putting the lead to 16-0 after a successful 2-point conversion.
A quick interception from Arce-Jackson would give the Generals the ball back to start the second quarter. Shortly after, he scored his second touchdown of the game, bringing the lead to 24-0 after the 2-point conversion.
“When you put the pressure on these guys in practice, they perform in the game,” Jezewski said of the team’s timing on passes and interceptions.
Pittsfield forced three interceptions over the course of the game.
“Friday night’s a test,” Jezewski said. “It’s no different from an English test or a math test. Somebody said a couple weeks ago the football field’s a classroom; if you don’t study, if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, if you don’t come prepared, you’re not going to win. And tonight, we were prepared”
Mensah got his touchdown with just 20 seconds left in the half, pushing the score to 32-0 with a successful conversion.
With nine minutes left in the third, Arce-Jackson scored another touchdown, bringing the Pittsfield lead to 40. A 75-yard run from Jubrey with just a minute left in the third quarter would be the team’s final touchdown of the game.
Despite getting within 6 yards of the goal line on its final drive of the game, South Hadley
was unable to score.
With the victory, Pittsfield has won three games in a row, for a record of 3-3 on the season.
The team will once again play at BBC on Friday, taking on Taconic High School at 5 p.m.
“We’re in the playoff push right now. Our goal is to win the suburban North and this is a step in that direction,” Jezewski said.