PALMER – After defeating Smith Vocational Technical School the week before, the Pathfinder Regional Vocational football team was looking for a repeat of fortunes on Friday night at Legion Field.
In addition to another victory, the Pioneers were one win away from their first appearance in the vocational school state finals.
Standing in their way was Cape Cod Regional Vocational Tech, which had just pulled off an upset the week before when it had beaten Franklin County Tech.
With 11:09 left in the fourth quarter, it appeared that victory was in sight for the hosts. But then came a 16-yard run from Anthony Bartlett for the Crusaders.
Bartlett barely crossed the goal line, but it was just enough, and it put the visitors up 18-16. They were unable to convert on the two-point conversion, but it was enough for Cape Cod Tech to walk away victors on Friday night over Pathfinder Tech.
“Well, you’re disappointed to see the seniors’ season come to an end, and I’m proud that they got this far,” Pioneers head coach Bill Darling said. “We’re one of the only teams playing at the end of the season here for some type of trophy, so I’m really proud of the boys.”
Just like they were the last to get on the scoreboard, the Crusaders also got on the board first, but it wasn’t without resistance, as the first quarter was scoreless. It remained that way, however, until a four-yard touchdown run by Thomas Allen.
The two-point try on this score was no good, and it was 6-0 with 10:18 to play in the second quarter. Pathfinder, however, took the score personally and scored the next 16 points of the game.
The most impressive score came off a 52-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Grayson Griswold to Cassian Kowalik. Griswold turned a play that looked like a loss of yards into a deep pass downfield that Kowalik caught with one hand at the 30-yard line.
Kowalik then turned to his left, broke a tackle, and scampered into the end zone.
“On that play, it was a go ball, so I went into the middle because the middle was open,” Kowalik said. “I saw my quarterback running out, so instead of running towards the middle, I turned around and started running towards the sideline.
“I knew the corner was on my back, so I couldn’t really back up. So I jumped as high as I could and I let my hand up and hoped I could catch it, caught it, spun off them, and saw green grass, so I went for it.”
Griswold had an excellent game in all aspects, completing 4-of-11 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown. He also ran the ball 10 times for 57 yards and one score as well.
In fact, Griswold’s offensive numbers alone in the first half nearly doubled what Cape Cod Tech had as an entire team.
“At times he’s a little immature, but his growth this year was fantastic,” Darling said. “We’re looking forward to him in the coming years, and he represented himself well. He really was a competitor out there.”
Due to a play with under 1:30 to play in the fourth quarter that had him a bit shaken up, Griswold was not available for comment following the game. Darling, however, said he was simply taken out of the game that late for precautionary measures, and he should be “good to go” on Thursday for Pathfinder Tech’s Thanksgiving road game vs. Belchertown at 9 a.m.
For the Pioneers, their Thanksgiving game vs. the Orioles will close out the season for them. But the Crusaders will move on to the Upper Cape Regional Vocational Tech on Thanksgiving before facing off with South Shore Vocational Tech on Friday for the small school vocational state championship.
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