HUDSON – It took a while to get things going, but they escalated quickly.
The Concord High football team hit the scoreboard with 34 seconds left in the first half, then broke the game open with two touchdowns and a safety in the third quarter. As the defense combined for 15 tackles for loss, six sacks and a fumble recovery, the Crimson Tide claimed a 37-7 victory over Alvirne on Friday night.
Both defenses made multiple big plays, especially in the first half, but it was Concord’s defensive line that stole the show, led by juniors Jax Diachenko (3½ sacks, three tackles for loss, safety) and Sebastian Telus (five tackles for loss, two sacks), sophomore linebacker Michael Gamache (three tackles for loss, 0.5 sack) and senior defensive back Dustin Ellis (forced fumble and recovery).
“Our D-line had a great week at practice,” Concord head coach Mike Leonard said. “They had worked on getting off the ball. I think their prep really helped them out. We had some pressure from the inside and our linebackers got home a decent amount of times. An overall team effort on defense.”
Diachenko and Telus joined seniors Raider Agan and Curtis Cooper (each with one tackle for loss) on the Tide’s starting defensive line. Diachenko, Telus and Agan also start in the offensive trenches.
“Their line was terrific,” Alvirne head coach Justin Hufft. “They were really good. Their linebackers brought pressure, too. We had a hard time blocking their defensive ends and defensive tackles. They get off the ball really well.”
Alvirne also had big plays on defense. Sophomore defensive back Nick Mitchell had an interception and senior linebacker Angel Kangar forced a fumble, which the Broncos recovered deep in Tide territory.
Each team only had one trip to the red zone in the first half. Kangar’s forced fumble got Alvirne the ball on Concord’s 30-yard line, and the Broncos made their way to the 10. But the drive stalled and senior kicker Suleiman Suleiman’s 34-yard field goal attempt was wide.
The Tide reached the red zone when senior running back Colin Savard (176 yards on 21 carries) caught a short pass from junior quarterback Rhys Craigue (8-for-19, 142 passing yards) and turned it into a 50-yard gain, eventually leading to Craigue’s 11-yard scoring pass to sophomore receiver Methuselah Doe with 34 seconds left in the half.
The tide turned even more in Concord’s favor in the third quarter. Junior Ramon Reynolds (37 yards on three carries) returned the opening kickoff 92 yards, setting up Craigue for a 1-yard dive over the goal line for a 14-0 lead just 17 seconds into the frame.
The Broncos fumbled the ensuing kickoff, recovering it deep in their own end. Alvirne junior quarterback Cam St. Clair then lost the ball under pressure in the end zone. The Broncos recovered it, but Diachenko was right there for the tackle to get the safety to make it 16-0 and put the ball right back in Concord’s hands.
Reynolds had another big return of about 35 yards to set up another short touchdown for Craigue to make it 24-0 with 7:58 left in the third quarter.
“We definitely had some adjustments that we made at halftime. Got the kids fired up,” Leonard said. “Changed up some things on offense, but we stuck with what we were doing on defense.”
Senior receiver Jeremiah Sophos (five catches for 49 yards) caught a pair of passes from St. Clair (13-for-21, 142 passing yards) to get Alvirne a first-and-goal at the 4, but the Broncos couldn’t gain another yard in the next four plays.
Craigue threw a 6-yard TD pass to junior Nick Marquis (four catches for 52 yards) and Savard had a 65-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to round out the Tide’s scoring.
St. Clair threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to junior Alex Bettencourt (68 yards on five catches) with 4:42 left in the game to finally get Alvirne on the board after trailing 30-0.
Although Concord (1-1) earned its first win of the season, the Tide is looking for more consistency moving forward.
“That’s two weeks in a row now that we’ve started slow. We’ve got to put together four quarters,” Leonard said. “But I’m proud of the kids. A win is a win, and in D-I it’s hard to get any win. I’m definitely proud of the effort. We’ve got a tough task against Salem (next game), but we’ll be ready.”