Venne, Salvadore lead Quabbin football past David Prouty
SPENCER – Luke Salvadore rushed for two touchdowns, while Bryce Venne returned an interception for another score and quarterback Jaxon Warburton found Jake Leazott for a 10-yard touchdown pass as the visiting Quabbin football team held on to edge David Prouty in Spencer Friday night, 34-29.
“Luke’s been working so hard all offseason to be our feature tailback and he’s doing a really, really good job,” Quabbin coach Wayne Page said of Salvadore. “He tries so hard, he studies film, he asks the right questions so I’m just super happy for him that it’s showing on the field.”
David Prouty's Cameron Goodrich rushed for a pair of touchdowns and caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Logan Josti. Josti also rushed for a score.
Goodrich was a go-to option for the Panthers (1-1), carrying the ball for three touchdowns and multiple big offensive plays. Trailing Quabbin 34-15 in the third quarter, Prouty scored 14 unanswered points. Their rally in the third quarter almost overcame Quabbin, but Page’s squad dug deep, making crucial plays to stop Prouty’s momentum and gain back possession of the ball to finish out the game.
Keys for Quabbin
Jake Leazott started things off for Quabbin, grabbing a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jaxon Warburton. Salvadore carried for the 2-point conversion.
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Additionally for the Panthers, sophomore Chase Talbot is making an impact as an underclassman. He rushed for Quabbin’s final touchdown of the game – one he had to fight for. Talbot had multiple Prouty defenders against him trying to force him out, but Talbot pushed forward, completing the 11-yard run to score. Once again, the 2-point rush came from Salvadore and Quabbin made it 34-21 in the third quarter.
Venne’s Key Moments
The play of junior wide receiver Venne was integral to Quabbin’s momentum throughout the game. His pick-six in the first quarter, making over a 60-yard run to score, gave Quabbin the lead it needed early on. With Goodrich making big plays for David Prouty (0-2), this first play from Venne was key to the Panthers' momentum.
“Bryce can do almost everything…he’s kind of like our utility guy," Page said. "He’s a really good football player."
After Goodrich made a great run to barely sneak into the end zone, putting David Prouty within a possession of Quabbin, Venne stepped up. Venne got up over three Prouty defenders to collect a 38-yard reception, putting them up 26-15 going into halftime.
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“One thing that I always do is focus on the ball and nothing else,” Venne said. “If I get hit, I get hit, but I just focus on the ball and if I catch it, good. And if I don’t, I don’t get in my head and just get to the next play."
“Bryce is just my target,” Warburton joked. “I look for other people and I’m going to throw to other people, but Bryce is reliable and all my balls to him were not very pretty but I knew he was going to make the catches.”
On defense, Venne made a big play to stop Prouty from scoring in the final moments. On a fourth-and-20 and trailing by five, Prouty needed to go for it and Venne caused the incompletion, stopping the hosts' chance to score.
David Prouty brings the offense
Midway through the game, Quabbin began to struggle to stop the duo of quarterback Logan Josti and Goodrich. Time and time again, Goodrich carried the ball, earning first downs play after play. Quabbin struggled against this, as Prouty’s offensive line was in all the right spots to block Quabbin’s defense from getting to Goodrich.
While Goodrich had a big day, Quabbin defenders like Wes Sanderson and Ed Guertin made big plays to slow Prouty’s energy.
“It’s really relieving knowing my teammates have my back and all know what they are doing,” Venne said.
Despite letting a 19-point lead nearly slip away, Quabbin held tough when it had to.
“It’s really resilience,” Salvadore said “We buckle down and we lock in and we go get the win. That’s our mentality.”
Next up, Quabbin will host Quaboag on Friday, Sept. 22 (7 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Quabbin digs deep, defeats David Prouty despite defensive struggles
