Three For Three: Adams Football Celebrates Winning Season
 iBerkshire file
Three teams, three trophies: Adams football conquered the gridiron in all age groups. Above, Hurricanes coach John Duval holds up the Berkshire County champion trophy the Hurricanes won last Saturday. |
After spending 11 days living it up on the Caribbean island, Beckwith didn't truly have his moment in the sun until Saturday, basking in the Hoosac Valley football team's 23-0 win over Wahconah in the Berkshire County championship game.
Beckwith, one of the original founders of the Adams Youth Football league, was on hand to enjoy the Hurricane's first county title since 1992 and to cap off an incredible season overall for Adams football fans. Besides Hoosac going 10-0 on the year, both AYFL teams also went undefeated on their way to championships in the Junior and Senior divisions.
"I really enjoyed that game," Beckwith said. "It took us a really long time to overtake Dalton. When you combine the Adams and Cheshire Leagues, you have a pretty good team every year up at Hoosac."
It was only fitting that Beckwith was on hand to soak in the Hurricane' victory. The 79-year-old Cheshire resident was one of five men responsible for establishing the AYFL in 1959 and the last living member to fully appreciate the undefeated Adams trifecta in the league's 50th year of existence.
Asked what motivated the five men to start the league five decades ago, Beckwith said it simply came down to helping the Adams High School team become more competitive.
"Cheshire, North Adams, Pittsfield and Dalton all had youth leagues, but we didn't have any," said Beckwith, a longtime Adams resident. "Our high school teams were getting beat every year, so we figured we had to do something."
The AYFL started with two teams, the Bulldogs (Pee Wee) and the Saints (Juniors). Times were tough at first, but Beckwith and his partners made do with the limited resources they had.
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The AYFL has come a long way in the last 50 years and is now one of the most respected programs in Berkshire County. In addition to taking care of its young players, the AYFL also supports and provides fundraising efforts to the league's cheerleaders.
"As far as the program goes, we have great volunteers in the coaches and parents," Harrington said. "We have to raise $20,000 each year, and that way we can provide the kids with the best equipment and a good environment for them to play in."
Harrington has played one of the largest roles in the success of Adams football in the last 15 years. In addition to serving as league president, he has also coached both the Senior Division Saints (ages 12-13) for the past four years after spending the 12 previous seasons with the Junior Division Jets (ages 10-11). You can also find him on the sidelines at Hoosac Valley, for which he is an assistant coach.
As head coach of the Saints, Harrington has helped his team to three out of the past four Berkshire County titles. The Saints have gone 9-0 for the past two seasons and haven’t lost a regular season game for the past four years. This fall, Harrington’s squad knocked off Lanesborough 24-14 in the semifinals of the Senior Division playoffs before nudging Pittsfield 14-12 in the finals.
"Last year, we were undefeated, but we had a lot of second-year players and so-called studs," Harrington said. "This season, they dropped off 25 kids on the practice field and we had to make a team out of them. We only had a few kids back in their same positions, but we had a lot of first-year players. We ended up playing three of the toughest teams in the county early on and we ended up beating them. We got better and better as the season went along and to me, it was one of the best coaching jobs by our staff this year."
 iBerkshire file
Hoosac took down the competition for an undefeated season. |
"I'm kind of an old nuts-and-bolts kind of guy," Harrington said. "We had a pretty well-rounded team. Last year, I started to throw the ball more, and that helped us win the championship. I started to throw the ball more this year as well and it definitely helped us wins some games.
"This year was really fun to watch. We didn’t have any superstars, but we did have some really tough, solid football players."
The only blemish, if you can call a tie a blemish, on the Adams Youth Football League's record this season came courtesy of the Jets' scoreless draw with Pittsfield during the regular season. Pat Waterman's club went into the playoffs with a 6-0-1 record, however, and earned a spot in the championship game by defeating Lee 18-6 in the semifinals. Next up came a rematch with Pittsfield in the finals and this time the Jets had just enough offense to win, getting a Zach Hillard touchdown off a pass from quarterback Nick Lincoln to earn a 6-0 win.
"I think the kids were resilient right to the end," Waterman said. "We played as a group. We didn't have any individual stars. As far as I'm concerned, we had the best coaching staff in Berkshire County, and that was a huge benefit to the kids.
"Our offensive coordinator Donald Carlow did a great job. We were lacking any little bit in offense last year. It was his first year running the offense, but we learned what our mistakes were last year and made some corrections this year. We put together a pretty good game plan, and our offense was able to move the ball. Our defense has always been good, but it was our offense that helped put us over in the finals."
 Photo by Bill Martin/Berkshire Youth Football Association
The Hurricanes weren't the only ones making history this season: The Saints won the senior division.
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Waterman, reached for an interview prior to Hoosac's win over Wahconah last weekend, talked about how good it would feel if all three Adams football teams went undefeated this year.
"As long as I've been coaching, winning that championship is such a great feeling," he said. "Our coaches put so much time in, not only on the field but having the kids over to our house and stuff. It would be great to see Hoosac win also. To have all of us win and then Hoosac win in the same year, it would show a lot for our football program."
The Hurricanes did just that, rolling to a decisive win over the team that had defeated them in the same title game the previous two seasons. It is believed that 2009 is the first year in the history of the AYFL that all three teams have gone undefeated in the same season.
Hoosac head coach John Duval has to be happy with the success of the youth football program. After all, it's those same kids that will be wearing the red and white in the years to come.
"I'm a product of that program," Duval said. "I played for that program and coached there as well. When my boys were playing youth football, I returned there. We're fortunate to have former Adams High or Hoosac Valley coaches there. Mark Harrington runs the same kind of offense that we do, so it's a smooth transition from the youth leagues to high school."
Duval credited the success of the 2009 season to a senior-laded squad eager to amend the shortcomings of the last two years. The commitment appeared obvious in the results as the Hurricanes steamrolled through the competition, beating Wahconah twice and easily handling rival Drury in their final game of the regular season.
"We started three years ago," Duval said. "As a coaching staff, our goal was to bring Hoosac Valley back to a power in Berkshire County. Each year we've improved. I think the attitudes are much better and the players have bought into our program. They've bought into doing work and training in the offseason, and all of the kids and the coaches were focused on one thing. Our goal was to win the No. 1 seed, so we could be at home. We were all focused on winning this championship this year."
 Photo by Bill Martin/BYFA
They start them young Adams. The football program's been running for 50 years, feeding seasoned players into high school team. |
Junior quarterback Nick Bourdon "came a long way this year," according to Duval and has been more much successful and comfortable throwing the ball in the last few weeks of the season. Ben Alibozek and Nick Morey are a few of the team's most valuable lineman, with Alibozek shining on offense and Morey plugging up holes on defense.
Hoosac still has some work left to do in what has been its most successful season in the last 15 years. Duval's team has qualified for the Western Massachusetts Division 2 playoffs, which will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 1, against an opponent to be determined.
