CHESHIRE, Mass. – Qwanell Bradley ran for 137 yards and a pair of touchdowns Saturday to lead the Hoosac Valley football team into the Division 8 state quarter-finals with a 21-12 victory over Blackstone-Millville Regional.
Bradley turned in one of the most dramatic runs of the year when his team needed it most, spinning out of a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then hurdling over another would-be tackler on the left edge for a 33-yard scamper that broke a 6-6 tie midway through the third quarter.
“I got hit a lot, so it’s a little blurry,” Bradley said after the game when asked to recall the run. “You see the hole open. You see a couple of guys diving low. Gotta make a few moves. No. 2 [Carson Cournoyer] was a helluva player. He ran really hard. He went right at the legs. I knew he was gonna go low. I made the cut inside him. And the blockers were amazing there.”
Hoosac Valley’s defense continued its amazing play after that, stopping BMR on its next two possessions until Bradley’s 16-yard run capped a six-play drive to give the Hurricanes some breathing room, up 19-6, with 8 minutes, 14 seconds left to play.
The Chargers got a touchdown with 1:02 remaining but were denied on the two-point conversion, keeping it a nine-point spread.
Hoosac Valley (8-1) advances to the Round of Eight, where it will travel to face No. 4 Randolph (9-0), a 45-6 winner over Oxford on Friday night.
Saturday afternoon’s contest started with a bang for the homestanding Hurricanes.
Hoosac Valley moved the ball methodically on its opening possession, going from its 24 to the plus-43 in six plays.
Then quarterback Ben Payton called his own number for a keeper up the middle. After picking his way through the hole created by his line, he cut left and sprinted to the pylon to give Hoosac Valley a 6-0 lead, 4 minutes and 10 seconds into the game.
Hoosac Valley’s defense then held the Chargers without a first down on their first three possessions, getting a big play from Carson Durant to knock down a third-down pass and force a punt on the third possession.
The Hurricanes turned over the ball near midfield on their first play after that punt, but their defense held BMR to a fourth straight three-and-out and got the ball to the offense at its 20 with 8:11 left until half-time.
Hoosac Valley drove from its 20 to the Chargers’ 4 in 14 plays that worked the game clock down inside a minute. But a holding call on third-and-3 pushed Hoosac Valley back, and Cournoyer’s interception at the 1 and 20-yard return gave BMR the ball with 1 second left until half-time.
A window-dressing 18-yard run on the last play of the half turned out to give the visitors some life.
Blackstone-Millville started the second half at midfield after a personal foul against the ‘Canes on the kickoff, and Cournoyer directed a seven-play drive that ended in a 29-yard TD pass to Nate Oliveira to tie the game, 6-6.
“We were in man-to-man on that one that they got over the top of us,” Hoosac Valley coach Marshall Maxwell said. “The hardest thing to do on a football field is cover someone man-to-man. And we didn’t blitz a lot like we normally do, but we chose our spots.
“Good quarterback, good offensive personnel, and they converted on that play. But, other than that, I thought we did a very good job in our pass coverage.”
Hoosac Valley got a 15-yard return from Kamarion Kastner to start its next drive at the 27, and it picked up first downs on runs by Noah Rehill (44 yards) and Bradley to set up Bradley’s 33-yard run that gave his team the lead for good. Adan Wicks’ point after kick put the Hurricanes ahead, 13-6 with 5:53 left in the third.
Neither offense could do anything on the next three possessions, and, after a fourth-down stop by the Hurricanes at the BMR 39, Hoosac Valley started the fourth quarter in plus territory.
Six plays later, Bradley took the ball to the end zone from the 16. Rehill’s two-point conversion run made it 21-6 with 8:14 on the clock.
BMR answered with its best-looking drive of the day, taking the ball from its 33 to Hoosac Valley’s 23.
But Julian Feliciano broke up back-to-back passes at the goal line to force a fourth-and-9, and Jayquan Vazquez stopped a scrambling Cournoyer for 3 yards with 4:06 left in the game.
The Hurricanes could not generate a first down, but ate up enough clock that the Chargers got the ball with 1:25 left in the game.
They scored quickly but were denied on the conversion, keeping it a two-score game. Hoosac Valley recovered the ensuing kickoff with 1:01 left and was able to go into the victory formation on offense.
That meant it was time to start preparing for the second week of the post-season. But Maxwell wanted to make sure his players, especially his seniors, did not miss a chance to appreciate what they already have accomplished.
“I just [told the seniors], ‘Hey, guys, just look around. Kind of a special place. Take it in,’ “ he said. “This is it. You got the win.”
