HAMPSHIRE COUNTY — After four weeks of practice, the start of the high school football season in Hampshire County begins for most teams on Friday, with four crossover games for local teams. Frontier began its season on Sept. 6 with a loss to Lunenberg and Holyoke opened its season on Thursday at home against Pittsfield.

Friday features Suburban South-Suburban North matchups between Amherst and Putnam, and Wahconah and South Hadley, as well as a Suburban South-Intercounty South game between Northampton and Belchertown, and an Intercounty South-Intercounty North battle between Easthampton and Ware.

In the nine weeks between Friday and the final day of the regular season on Nov. 3, each team will play eight games.

Here’s how each team stacks up in 2024:

Amherst

The ‘Canes got off to a 6-0 start last year before an injury to star running back Jameson Dion and back-to-back losses to Agawam and West Springfield knocked them out of the state playoff picture.

Dion is gone, playing a post-graduate year at Williston Northampton School, but quarterback Gavier “Nene” Fernandez and the entire offensive line return. Junior Ramsey figures to take the bulk of the carries at running back and showed up to fall camp leaner than he was last year, head coach Vinnie Guiel said.

Amherst is switching up its offense to involve the passing game more this fall and Guiel said the ‘Canes receivers are more familiar with the team’s route tree now.

Fernandez, now in year two as Amherst’s starter, worked with West Springfield alum and local quarterback coach Ty Mann over the summer on dropbacks, throws in rhythm, quick reads and long balls. He’s looking for Amherst to take another step in his senior year.

“I think we can improve on starting games slow,” Fernandez said. “I think this year with the team we have, the seniors, the guys we have, we can impact this year a lot. We can win more games than we did last year, the games we should win, we shouldn’t lose.”

In addition to Fernandez, Ramsey and Owen Cunniffe, fellow senior Ty Ty Beckett is expected to play a large role, as well as freshman Brady Klaes.

Cunniffe, a lineman and captain, said the ‘Canes are hoping to keep the momentum rolling from last year, when Amherst’s strength of schedule hurt them come state playoff qualification time. This year, the ‘Canes schedule is more challenging. After the season opener against Putnam, they face Division III semifinalist Westfield and Division II semifinalist Barnstable.

“We’re hoping to keep it going like last year, do better than last year,” Cunniffe said. “Hopefully we’re in the running for a playoff berth this year.”

Belchertown

Keith LeBeau moves from defensive coordinator to head coach and brings with him 14 years of experience from the Belchertown youth levels. Former head coach Dan McCarthy took a job coaching the defensive line at Westfield State.

Last season, Belchertown went 7-1 during the regular season and qualified for the Div. 5 state playoffs, where they fell to an undefeated Shawsheen Valley Tech team, 49-8. But the Orioles lost several large contributors from a year ago, including quarterback Landon Andre and running backs Chris Daskam, Nico St. George and Josh Grillo. 

Senior Jack Beals will quarterback Belchertown this fall after winning the preseason camp competition. At running back, the Orioles will use sophomores Adam O’Rourke and Coleman Longley and Grillo’s younger brother, Eli, a junior.

Much of Belchertown’s experience is on its offensive and defensive lines, led by senior captain and starting center Brycen Vann, senior left tackle Jackson Hennessey and junior guard Logan Duke. Vann has been starting for three years now and has seen the evolution of the Orioles’ lines.

“A lot more (size),” Vann said. “When I started, in terms of numbers, we had enough for a line. Now we’ve got a line, backup line and also separate defense.”

On the defensive line, seniors Elias Nikitas and Max Bessette return after productive seasons in 2023. 

Belchertown has also added a number of promising freshmen and sophomores that gained valuable experience playing for the Belchertown-Granby-Amherst youth team.

“I think it’s going to be underclassmen where we see what we’re about at the end of the day,” LeBeau said.

Easthampton

Head coach Kyle Dragon returns for his second season after a 5-6 campaign last year. The Eagles started 4-1 after wins over Monument Mountain, Palmer, Lee and Frontier, but lost five of their last six games, including an 18-14 Thanksgiving Day defeat to a previously-winless Northampton team.

The Eagles will have to make up for Topher Reardon’s production, but seniors Connor Donnis, Nelson Gomez and Tommy O’Connor and junior Colin Hogan captain an experienced group led by eight seniors. With a cast of returning starters and 26 underclassmen – including 17 freshmen – Dragon said the Eagles are looking to improve on last year’s successes.

On offense, Hogan returns at quarterback. O’Connor, Gomez and Jake Kostek figure to be some of his top targets. Guard Donnis and tackle Cooper Goudreau lead the offensive line. Sophomore Angel Salgado is one of several running backs expected to play a larger role this season.

On defense, sophomore Vynce Carr is a player to watch at middle linebacker and Donnis plays alongside him at outside linebacker. Goudreau fits in at defensive tackle and Gomez slots in at defensive end. O’Connor, Hogan, Kostek and Salgado all play in the secondary.

Frontier

The Redhawks opened up their schedule on Sept. 6 with an 18-0 loss to independent foe Lunenberg.

Frontier fell behind 11-0 in the first half and allowed a touchdown on a fourth-and-17 play where they forced a fumble on an option pass, but Lunenberg recovered it and ran it all the way in for a touchdown. Though they held Lunenberg to just a pair of touchdowns, Frontier never managed to advance the ball past midfield.

“We're hoping the defensive unit can carry our team, and for the most part, they did tonight,” said head coach Scott Dredge after the game. “I can't say enough about Kaden (James), he's a tremendous football player and he really held the team together tonight. Aside from that fluke play, I thought we were doing a good job.”

The Redhawks don’t play again until a Sept. 20 matchup against Franklin Tech, which will give their already-thin roster some time to get healthier.

Brady Poreda features at running back and recovered a fumble against Lunenberg. Garrett Dredge starts at quarterback. Kaden and Konnor James, Julian Adams and Max Hunter led the defense against Lunenberg, and Collin West flipped the field several times with booming punts.

Smith Vocational

It’s not an opinion to say the Vikings had their best season in the history of the school’s football program last fall. It’s a fact. Smith Vocational won the most games (seven) in a single season in team history, and its quarterback Alex Martinez broke several individual records.

But he and the most successful senior class Smith Voc has ever had departed, so head coach Alex Subocz and the rest of his staff will be trying to fill in some gaps to get the Vikings back to that same level.

The good news? A ton of the players that started in 2023 are back in 2024, on both sides of the ball.

Ty Chapdelaine and Jared Baer are two senior captains who provide a powerful one-two punch in the backfield. Chapdelaine has the tall task of replacing Martinez at quarterback, while Baer continues to be the starting tailback for a Smith Voc team that loves to lean on its ground and pound attack.

Once the opposing defense loads the box to stop it, that’s when Subocz opens up the playbook and brings in the pass-catching trio of John Majewski, Bryan Leyton and Jamie Tobin.

Defensively, the Vikings will still run a 4-4 shell, but Subocz defined each position’s role and assignments. They’re putting a major emphasis on stopping the run in 2024.

Even without some of last season’s key seniors, the large returning bulk means Smith Vocational is eyeing the same success it had a year removed from a historic campaign.

“We expect a competitive league schedule and look forward to competing for a Tri-County title,” Subocz said.

Smith Vocational starts its season on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.) at Nashoba Valley Tech.

South Hadley

It’s always fun for a coach to have those generational players that come through their program once in a while. The ones that elevate everyone else with their work ethic and have the perfect mix of dedication and talent. Well, that’s exactly what Owen Dawson was to head coach Brian Couture and the Tigers over the last several years. He did just about everything for them.

The hard part, however, is replacing them.

But South Hadley, which went 8-2 and made the Div. 7 state tournament in 2023, feels like it has the guy to step in and perform with little-to-no drop off, and that’s senior Julius Hebenth.

“It’s big shoes to fill and Julius knows,” Couture said. “Between him and (Noah) Hambley, they know it’s big shoes to fill right there. The two of them were here all summer working hard.”

James Buckley steps in as the new offensive coordinator, and Couture said the Tigers will run more single wing this season than they did last season. The quarterback position was open competition throughout camp, but Couture named junior Griffin Soderbaum as the starter. The former wide receiver will be under center (or in the shotgun) for South Hadley.

The backfield will be running behind an offensive line led by senior captain Jayden McMains, a terrific tackle that can play on either side of the line. Couture is confident he’ll play college football at a high level when the time comes.

South Hadley opens its season at Wahconah on Friday night at 7 p.m.

Northampton

Head coach Joe Kocot would be the first to say last year’s 1-8 record was disappointing. He might even use a stronger word than that.

The Blue Devils may not get back to the dominant eight-win, Div. 4 state playoff appearance form they were in back in 2022, but Kocot is adamant they have taken a step in the right direction. Having the entire offseason to take a break, get in the weight room and train has helped refresh his players.

Northampton is optimistic about this fall.

“We changed a lot of things, and we made an example of last year,” Kocot said. “We know it cannot be repeated. And it was all attitude. Some injuries, but mainly attitude. This is a good group we have this year. And next year only two of these guys will be gone. We’re young, but we’ve got athletes and they all have real good attitudes. It’s fun coaching at practice again.”

Sophomore Dion Cadiz steps in to play quarterback for the Blue Devils, and he’ll have tight end/running back Ethan Rivera to aid him in the backfield as the two of them – and a whole host of emerging skill position players – are likely to shoulder the playmaking duties for Kocot.

Most positions aren’t set in stone outside of a couple. The 63-year old head coach is moving pieces around until he finds the right combination, and he’s got a lot of potential on both sides of the ball.

“It’s hard to know who’s going to stand out, because we only have one or two guys pigeon-holed into one position,” Kocot said. “We’ll have to wait and see, but we have a handful of guys that can play. It’s up to me and the coaches to get them in the right spot and be successful.”

Holyoke

The 2023 season was a disappointing one for head coach David Guzman and the Purple Knights, as they won only two of their 10 games and fell to South Hadley 20-6 on Thanksgiving after having a chance to win through three quarters.

But Holyoke returns a chunk of its contributors from last year, including eight seniors who either started or played a significant amount of snaps. Guzman’s roster has 19 total seniors, one of the largest numbers in the area.

Jayden Cauley-Guzman, Jayderson Lugo, Asa Allen (captain), Matt Dumoulin and Xavier German are all playmakers on the outside that have speed and skills to impact the game at any point. Lineman Jaden Diaz is a captain and plays both ways, the leader up front in the trenches on offense and defense. Toss in captain Gedeon Ortiz (tight end/linebacker) and senior Avantaey Rivera (running back/linebacker), and it’s clear Holyoke has some talent to compete at a higher level this season.

Guzman expects his secondary to be one of the best in the area given the overall experience and ability of the group.

“We will have a very skilled defensive backfield with the amount of returning skilled positions players we have,” he said.

Holyoke opened its season on Thursday night, hosting Pittsfield.