DALTON, Mass. – The Lee football team moved the ball at will on the ground Friday in a dominating 48-0 win over Wahconah.
Jaydee Reber ran for 109 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Dawson Reber had 84 yards and a pair of scores in the first half alone as the Wildcats improved to 2-0 with a pair of road wins over Berkshire County opponents.
A week after throwing the ball for 146 yards at Monument Mountain, Lee did not throw a single pass as it surpassed 40 points for the second time in as many games.
“We leaned on our horses,” Lee coach Tom Salinetti said. “We thought that our line was the more physical unit in that battle between the offensive and defensive lines, and we wanted to lean on our horses and lean on our hogs and just let them get to work.”
After the teams traded punts to start the game, Lee marched 69 yards in 12 plays, ending in an 8-yard score by Dawson Reber on the first play of the second quarter.
The Wildcats scored two more times in that quarter.
A 59-yard drive ended in a 13-yard run by Seamus Cooney. Then, after a Wahconah fumble on the ensuing kickoff, Lee needed just two plays to score from the 22. Dawson Reber again did the honors, taking the ball in from the 5.
That fumbled kickoff was just the start of a sign of things to come for Wahconah (0-2).
The hosts had their only sustained drive of the game on the next possession, taking the ball from their 34 to the Lee 33 thanks to four completions from Gio Venable (70 yards passing).
But on 2-and-15, Gabe Ranzoni made a pick and returned it 38 yards with 19 seconds on the clock. Lee elected to take a 22-0 lead into half-time.
After the break, things went from bad to worse for Wahconah.
Lee kicker Kodie Mendoza recovered a fumbled kickoff to start the third quarter and returned it 20 yards. Dawson Reber’s 2-point conversion made it 3-0.
Then, two plays into Wahconah’s next drive, another fumble gave Lee the ball at the plus-35.
Five plays later, Jaydee Reber was in the end zone, and the Wildcats had a 36-0 lead with 8:16 left in the quarter.
In 49 seconds of game time, starting with Ranzoni’s pick, Wahconah turned the ball over three times.
And Lee took full advantage.
“Wahconah is a very composed team,” Salinetti said. “Our defense was incredibly physical tonight, and they were scheming a lot of things open really well on us. But everybody was keeping things in front of them … and making them earn it. Right at the end [of the first half], they take a shot, maybe get a little impatient, and our guys came up with it.”
Wahconah committed yet another turnover with 6:34 left in the third, a fumble recovered by Jaydee Reber that gave Lee possession at the plus-42.
He then carried the ball four straight times for those 42 yards and a 42-0 lead.
Before the third quarter ended, Lee scored one more time – off one more Wahconah turnover.
This time, Mason Lucy tipped a Venable pass, and Blake Hoff made the interception, returning the ball 20 yards for the touchdown to cap the scoring.
Lee – which was on the doorstep at the end of a scoreless first quarter – ended up scoring all 48 points in the second and third quarters.
The Wildcats next Friday will finally play for their home fans when Pittsfield visits.
Wahconah next week hosts Northampton.
