I think it’s important to remain as objective as possible when I cover local sports teams, but once in a while that objectivity gets tested by the actions of a certain coach or group of players.
In that context, I have no apprehension about saying how happy I am for one area high school football coach who, after many seasons of frustration, finally seems to be in a position to compete—possibly even for a berth in the Super Bowl.
The Franklin County Technical School Eagles football team recently hosted the Mohawk Warriors in a showdown of former Thanksgiving Day rivals. This has typically been a fairly easy win for Mohawk, which plays in the Intercounty League one division higher than the Eagles.
But this is no ordinary year. This year’s Warriors are small, young and inexperienced, but that’s not why they lost 12-0. The difference is Franklin Tech, which is playing some of the best team football in the history of that program.
And while they have a couple of good offensive weapons in quarterback Jeremy Roberts and receiver Jake Smith, the real story this year has been the defense, which put up back-to-back shutouts for the first time in the tenure of current head coach Joe Gamache.
“I think the difference this year is that the kids are really buying into the system,” Gamache said. “They are really flying to the ball, and everyone seems to want to get in on every tackle.”
Believe me, it wasn’t always this way. I’ve seen the program end up on the receiving end of numerous ass-kickings over the years. One of the most memorable occurred on a raw afternoon in Easthampton, when Tech was utterly demolished 55-0 by another Eagle team that wound up winning the Super Bowl that year.
The thing I remember most about that game was what happened at the end, when an out-of-control Easthampton parent went into a fit of hysterics because Easthampton Coach Joe Kocot didn’t give enough playing time to his son, who was, at the time, a freshman lineman. Ironically, the screamer in question was a high school coach with a pretty impressive record of success in his own right. But what made the asinine outburst more pronounced was the behavior of the kids on the other side of the field. Franklin Tech had just been handed one of the most humiliating drubbings in school history. If anyone had an excuse to throw a nutty, they did.
But do you know what happened? Not a thing. They kept their mouths shut. They didn’t commit a single penalty the entire game—no cheap shots, no frustration fouls, not even a thrown helmet. They played hard and acted like gentlemen, which is as much a reflection on the coach as on the players.
Now, a couple of years later, Gamache is finally starting to enjoy the fruits of what has been a few years of pretty hard labor in Turners Falls.
“This one does feel good,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve beaten Mohawk since I’ve been here, but more importantly, I’m happy about the effort we showed out there today.”
Another fellow who was just as happy as Gamache was the guy on the other side of the field, who knows first-hand the frustrations that can plague a struggling Franklin Tech program. Mohawk’s Jim Smith was the first head football coach in Franklin Tech history, and he couldn’t help but be a little bit tickled to see Gamache finally enjoy some success.
“I’m happy for Joe…he’s a good guy and those kids work awful hard,” Smith said. “The better team definitely won today.”
Smith clearly believes the legacy he started at Tech is in good hands.
“They’ve got a good club there, and Joe’s got them believing (in themselves),” Smith said. “They could be going places this year.”
For now, though, Gamache prefers to take it one series at a time.
“I think if we keep the effort up, and the kids keep coming to play, we’re going to have a good season,” Gamache said. “We’re having fun.”
Almost as much fun as it is to see a good guy finally “get over.”•
