The Mount Greylock football team will look to extend its three-year winning streak to 30 games tonight against a depleted Hoosac Valley team.
The Hurricanes will be without at least four starters for this rematch of the last two Berkshire County championship games. Coach Dayne Poirot declined to name three of the four players or disclose the reasons why they will not be in uniform. Senior center Zach O'Neill is still dealing with a shoulder injury he suffered in Week 2 and will be one player not in the lineup. Poirot preferred to focus on preparing his young team to play a very experienced and talented Mountie squad.
The Hurricanes will be without at least four starters for this rematch of the last two Berkshire County championship games. Coach Dayne Poirot declined to name three of the four players or disclose the reasons why they will not
"We'll handle it the way we did last week," the first-year coach said. "We have some younger kids that we asked to step up to perform last week and they'll have to step up again.
"I think it's going to be our responsibility as coaches to push them this week and help make them better players."
Despite being shorthanded, Greylock coach Shawn Flaherty still believes Hoosac will be a challenging team.
"We've played Hoosac Valley the last two times in the Berkshire County championship game, and [they were] great games, hard-fought contests," Flaherty said. "So it's just always a big game. It's just an automatic big game for us."
The contest will also be the home opener for the unbeaten Mounties (3-0) and the first road game for the Hurricanes (2-1).
As the Hurricanes improve, they know they'll have to be prepared for an offensive juggernaut. The Mounties have outscored opponents 112-20 in the first three weeks.
"They are good at a lot of things," Poirot said. "They get [Tyler] Picard and [Eric] Leitch out in open space. Even Tyrell Thomas will get open on you because of his speed. And then Hank Barrett gets them the ball. He is really good on the move, we'll have to watch for that."
Hoosac Valley is also aware of Greylock's run game. Ethan Ryan is third in Berkshire County with 316 yards on the ground, he leads the league with eight touchdowns. Daivon Clement has also been a challenging force in the Mounties ground game, gaining 150 yards through the first three weeks. Stopping the run will be huge for a Hurricane team that couldn't do that in a Week 2 loss to St. Joseph's.
"Against St. Joseph's our defense just couldn't get off the field," Poirot said. "We need to do a better job at the fundamentals to keep their offense off the field."
In that loss, Lavante Wiggins torched the Hurricanes for 165 yards.
The Hurricanes offense revolves around the running game, as well. Blake Gaylord -- who didn't record a carry last week -- has 117 yards this season. Sophomore Tyler Mach, junior Ian Hill and junior Colby Gage did the majority of the work against Monument last week, carrying the ball 37 times for 207 yards. Mach had a breakout game rushing for 112 yards and two scores. He's rushed for 172 yards this year.
"I think they have five to six great backs," Flaherty said. "You talk about a two-headed or three-headed monster, I think for the most part, they have a four- or five-headed monster and they can just and keep them going and kids fresh."
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