LONGMEADOW — Behind Nate LePage’s four total touchdowns and suffocating defense, Chicopee Comp defeated Longmeadow in lopsided fashion, 33-6, Friday night on the road.
Despite fumbling the opening kickoff, the Colts (5-3) responded on their third drive of the game. Finding a hole, Isaiah Gomez cut the outside for a 47-yard rush on their second play of the game to the Longmeadow (2-6) 35 yard-line after a horse collar tackle.
Although his team gave up an early turnover, coach Anthony Couture was proud of his defense’s early resilience.
“You know we didn’t really say much," Couture said. "Things happen in a football game. Bad things are going to happen. We say all the time to our kids, life knocks you down sometimes. Are you just going to lay there, how are you going to respond when bad things happen? It was a tough break to start the game, not the ideal start to the football game, but the defense got a stop. I think some of the nerves came out and we started to play better football.”
Only three plays later, LePage bootlegged to the right and took it himself for a 23-yard rushing touchdown to get Chicopee Comp on the board first with under two minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Forcing Longmeadow to punt on their next possession, Gomez scored his first touchdown of the game cutting to the left side of the field for a 51-yard rushing touchdown. The score gave Chicopee Comp a commanding 14-0 lead less than five minutes into the second quarter.
“He’s an incredible player,” Couture said of Gomez. "He goes under looked because he’s not the fastest guy and he’s not very big, but his football instincts are incredible. His technique is great and we’re lucky to have him.”
Chicopee Comp’s defense continued its stellar first half, forcing another Longmeadow punt the following drive. Anthony Folta took advantage of the defensive stop and put the Colts in strong field position, breaking off an 18-yard screen pass. Comp capped off their eight-play drive with Travis Kagan’s five-yard touchdown reception near the front pylon. With less than seven minutes to play in the second quarter, Chicopee Comp took a 20-0 advantage after a missed extra-point.
Longmeadow responded to Chicopee Comp’s third score of the game less than a minute later. Colin Hoffman moved around in the pocket and broke free through the middle. He then outran a series of Colts defenders for a long 60-yard touchdown run. The score cut the Lancers’ deficit down to 14 after a missed extra point.
Both teams were unable to finish either of their next drives with points, leaving Chicopee Comp with a 20-6 lead at the half.
After punting on their first possession of the second half, the Lancers ended Chicopee Comp’s five-play drive recovering a LePage fumble in the red zone. After driving down the field in 13 plays, however, Longmeadow did not capitalize on the fumble, leaving the Colts with the ball at the 28-yard line after turning it over on downs.
Longmeadow got another strong opportunity to score with just under a minute to play in the third quarter. After stopping Chicopee Comp on third down, the Lancers blocked the punt, and took over at the 25-yard line.
Although Longmeadow was threatening in the red zone, Chicopee Comp’s defense stood strong. Sitting at the six-yard line on 4th-and-3, the Colts’ defensive line pushed back Maurice Powe, leaving Longmeadow still trailing by a pair of touchdowns.
Aware of the importance of making a stop early in the fourth quarter, Couture gave credit to his defense’s ability to make stops when they needed it most.
“Our defense is playing some good football and you know our guys were playing really tough," Couture said. “Kyle Jones and Tyler Tanguay in the middle there. We’re doing a great job. D-line was great and then Isaiah Gomez on the outside was just making tackles all over the place that kind of took away the perimeter. So yeah, proud of those guys.”
LePage, along with his strong running attack, marched his offense down the field on the following possession. Lining up at the 20 yard-line, Lepage floated a pass to the right side of the field where Brennan Fields hauled in the second passing touchdown of the game to extend Chicopee Comp’s lead to 27-6.
After another defensive stop to close out Longmeadow’s chances of scoring, Chicopee Comp sealed the deal with another 20-yard strike to Kagan in the final minute for his second touchdown of the night.
Moving to 5-3 on the season after the victory, Couture has his eyes set on playoffs.
“We were pretty confident we were in no matter what," he said, "and we’ll just see who we got next week”.