AGAWAM — In the mid-November cold, the breakaway speed of visiting Pittsfield football’s many playmakers proved to be the deciding factor in a wild and crazy 40-29 win over Agawam Friday night at Harmon Smith Field.
The Berkshire school from the Suburban North finalized its up-and-down season at 3-6.
The 2-8 Brownies suffered their seventh straight loss with the annual Thanksgiving clash vs. rival West Springfield still on the agenda.
Pittsfield turned over the ball five times — four fumbles and a pick — and even more remarkably, allowed Agawam to recover all three of its onside kicks.
But Pittsfield received plenty of reprieve from the Brownies, who generously played catch with the Generals secondary on six interceptions, four in the first half and two more in the second.
Amassing 561 yards total offense, the Generals found wide-open spaces and plenty of room to roam on passing plays covering 59, 26, 73, 34, 74, and 51 yards from sure-armed quarterback Patrick Rindfuss (8 of 12, 327 yards, two touchdowns, one pick).
Rindfuss salted his personal stats with two rushing touchdowns of the short variety — one yard and three yards (15 carries/59 yards).
Tailback Emmanuel Nda, one of those explosions waiting to happen, added touchdown jaunts of 51 and 44 yards (17 carries/145 yards).
Agawam hung in there by generating a relentless ground assault led by senior Tom Caracciolo, a workhorse of a back who pounded out 206 yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns.
And fast, fast quarterback Griffin Levesque, a sophomore, zigged and zagged on designed keepers and scrambling out of harm’s way for all of his 155 yards and a touchdown in the first half where Agawam trailed by a scant 26-23.
Pittsfield began the scoring parade on the game’s third play when Rindfuss found wideout Sam Taylor in stride for a 59-yard score. Agawam then marched 58 yards in six plays, all on the ground. Levesque’s 28-yard keeper up the gut would set up his five yard rush to pay dirt around left end for the 6-6 tie at 7:50.
After Nda tore for 29 yards to the Agawam 26, Pittsfield fumbled.
Caracciolo registered three straight carries for 47 yards to the Pittsfield 24 but a deflected pass near the goal line turned into a pick.
It didn’t take long for the Generals to climb out of the shadow of their own end zone when Rindfuss located Mateo Ramos wide open down the left seam for a 73-yard connection to the Agawam three.
Rindfuss plunged in for the touchdown on the next snap and the General led 12-6 with 1:36 left in the first quarter.
In the Pittsfield secondary, Rindfuss grabbed an errant pass less than a minute later at his own 48 (Agawam’s second straight turnover).
On the final play of the opening period, Nda wove through heavy traffic before darting to daylight for a 51-yard touchdown. The Generals missed on their third two-point conversion try but still led 18-6.
The Brownies were victimized by a third straight pick, this time by Pittsfield’s Mike Charles at the Agawam 43.
Pittsfield returned the favor when a diving Jermaine Norfleet snared a pass at the 24 to thwart what appeared to be another Pittsfield march to the end zone.
This time the Brownies held on to the rock. On a keeper, Levesque raced up the middle and 69 yards later was hauled down at the Pittsfield six. Caracciolo cracked into the end zone from five yards, and sophomore Josiah Bass-Collins booted the kick to slice the lead to 18-13 at 8:43.
Pittsfield survived Agawam’s first onside kick (recovered at the 48) by stopping the Brownies on downs.
From the 41, a 34-yard catch-and-run to Louis Rhodes (2 catches/108 yards) was the start of Rindfuss taking the game over. Rindfuss followed with five consecutive keepers capped by a one-yard plunge to pay dirt. Nda added the two-pointer for a 26-13 advantage with 3:52 remaining.
But Agawam stayed in the thick of it on the back of a seven-play, 73-yard drive engineered by Levesque evading a horde of defenders on scrambles of 11 and 47 yards. A 15-yard end-around by receiver Jovaun Tudor to pay dirt, followed by the point-after by Bass-Collins, cut the lead to 26-20 (1:04).
The Brownies orchestrated another onside kick and recovered the bouncing rock at midfield. Levesque’s 13-yard completion to senior Nick Thompson (3 catches/30 yards) had Agawam knocking on the door with time running out.
Levesque’s next release near the goal line was pilfered by Pittsfield’s Sincere Moorer who was then stripped at the 10. An alert Vinny Wallace pounced on the loose ball with six seconds left.
Out trotted Bass-Collins and he his boot of 27 yards rifled through the uprights for three as the half expired and so did Pittsfield’s once commanding lead (26-23).
On the first snap of the second half, Pittsfield fumbled (recovered by senior Jacob Bode) at midfield.
The Brownies, however, failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to forge ahead when their drive stalled on downs at the Pittsfield 26 (wasting a 30-yard run by Caracciolo).
The game completely turned over seconds later and Agawam was left chasing Pittsfield’s playmakers.
An innocent quick hitter over the middle to Rhodes resulted in many missed tackles en route to an electrifying 74-yard touchdown. Moorer caught the extra two giving Pittsfield some room to breathe at 34-23.
Pittsfield’s defenders held fast to force the game’s only punt.
From the 23, the Generals rambled 77 yards in seven plays, finished by Nda taking the rock up the middle and accelerating 44 yards to pay dirt with 1:46 remaining in the third, expanding the advantage to 40-23.
Caracciolo finalized game scoring at the 1:21 mark of the fourth on his second five-yard foray to the end zone.
Of course, Agawam succeeded on its third onside kick attempt before committing its sixth and last interception of the game with a few seconds left.