Housy football pulls out 42-20 win

FALLS VILLAGE — The Housatonic/Wamogo Mountaineers, playing in front of a large home crowd on Saturday, Nov. 20, knew they were in for a real dogfight when a spirited Granby team scored on their first two plays from scrimmage.  

But in the end Housy prevailed 42-20, giving the senior class reason to celebrate before the Thanksgiving Day showdown with arch rival Gilbert.  The win propelled them to a 5-4 record going into the Berkshire Bowl, but it wasn’t easy to come by, despite the lopsided appearance of the score.

In fact, when the Granby Bears scored on their first play, with a 70-yard sweep down the left side, the Mountaineers were caught flatfooted. Housy regrouped upon receiving the ball, and put together a nice drive culminating with an 8-yard touchdown run by Tanner Brissett to tie the score at 6-6. But then the Bears shocked Housy once again, with basically the same play, a 72-yard touchdown run along the left side by Chris Brown, on the first play of their second possession.

“My stomach was in a knot,� lamented Coach Deron Bayer afterward. “The kid is a good athlete, and they bounced it outside. But to get caught twice like that is inexcusable on our part.�

Fortunately, the Mountaineers shrugged it off and equalized the score at 12-12 when Marc Wildman plunged into the end zone from 3 yards out. But Granby wasn’t done. They mounted a drive that resulted in another touchdown to take the lead again at the end of the first quarter.  With a successful two-point conversion, the Bears moved ahead 20-12. Tanner Brissett met the challenge by scoring his second rushing touchdown and the two-point conversion, and at the half it was all tied up 20-20.

During halftime, the coaching staff challenged the team to play with more intensity, and the Mountaineers answered with two third-quarter touchdowns, both passing plays, with Will Perotti finding Forrest Hayden wide open both times, scoring from 29 and 22 yards out. Brissett, who had almost 300 yards rushing in the game, converted on both two-point tries, and Housy jumped to a 36-20 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“Granby was all ‘walked up,’ with all their players near the line of scrimmage, so we knew we could pass on them,� Bayer remarked. “In the first half we overthrew the ball, but made the proper adjustments to get those scores in the second half.�

The final quarter saw the Bears passing on the majority of their plays, trying to gain the quick score, but Chris Roberts-Jacquier had his second interception of the game to end one drive, then Gabe Lefferts had a pick-six near the end of the quarter, scoring the final Housy touchdown with a 35-yard return.

With a game-ending score of 42-20, the senior class, composed of players Tanner Brissett, Sam Carling, Aaron Csehak, Richard Johnson, Mike Kenny, Gabe Lefferts, Connor McClusky, Roger Newkirk, Will Schutt and Kira Taylor, could walk off the field with a smile and a great memory, ready to compete for a winning season on Thanksgiving.

The Berkshire Bowl will be held at Housy at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and the Mountaineers look forward to the clash with their long time rivals, the Gilbert Yellowjackets.

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