TURNERS FALLS — With a Palmer side that got the best of them last year coming to the Powertown Friday night, the Franklin Tech football team wasted no time making a statement.
From the opening drive, it was the Gabriel Tomasi show, as the senior quarterback passed and ran all over Palmer in the first half, tallying up 169 yards in the air and another 86 yards on the ground. It wasn’t just Tomasi, though, as the Eagles defense pitched a shutout and posted a dominant 44-0 Intercounty League North win.
It was the second straight IL North win for Franklin Tech (4-1, 2-0), which opened league play against Athol last week. It was also the first league loss for the Panthers (1-4, 1-1) after clipping Mahar last week.
“We feel like we’ve got a better than we had a year ago and we talked a lot about this being kind of a statement game,” said Franklin Tech head coach Joe Gamache. “[Palmer] is a team that beat us last year – Athol beat us last year – so now we start out 2-0 in the league and hopefully can string some more wins here and really put a challenge for the league title, that’s our goal.”
Friday night was also a chance for the Eagles to get their passing game going – Gamache noted torrential downpours last week prevented them from throwing the ball – with Tomasi completing a 21-yard pass to open the game, which was followed by a 40-yard touchdown strike to fellow senior Shaun Turner just four plays later. Tomasi also completed a pass on the two-point conversion to cap off the drive.
After a three-and-out, it was Tomasi’s legs leading Franklin Tech to the endzone on its next drive, as the senior ran left up the field, dodged several defenders and cut back right for a 73-yard touchdown run on the first play of the series.
The Eagles then scored on their next two drives with junior Ethan Smarr catching a 31-yard touchdown pass and Josiah Little cashing in on 1-yard touchdown run to give the hosts a 28-0 first quarter lead. Little finished the game with 132 yards on the ground.
“We wanted to give Gabe an opportunity to sling it around a little bit. He made some great reads, threw some great balls, made some great decisions,” Gamache said, highlighting the efforts of Little, as well as sophomores Maxon Brunette and Nathan Sabolevski. “Those guys are starting to get some touches and make contributions. All in all, good stuff; we continue to grow.”
Tech’s domination continued beyond the first quarter, as the defense only gave up a handful of first downs throughout the game. The Panthers began driving in the final minutes of the first half, but the drive stalled out in the red zone. The Eagles forced several punts in the second half and closed out the game with an tipped interception pulled down by freshman Hunter Donahue.
Also finding the end zone were senior Cameren Candelaria, who caught a 12-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, and Sabolevski, who scored from the 4-yard line to close out the scoring in the third quarter.
With two league wins in hand, Franklin Tech’s revenge tour continues in Greenfield next weekend. The Green Wave survived a furious Eagles rally last year in a 32-22 win in Turners Falls, which saw Franklin Tech nearly claw back from an 18-point deficit.
“Another team that got us last year,” Gamache said. “We’re hoping to show up and keep improving and see if we can keep this train rolling.”
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.