GREENFIELD — Last year’s game between the Greenfield and Mahar football teams was a defensive battle, with the Sens grinding out a 13-0 victory. 

Through the opening few drives, it appeared another low-scoring affair was on tap. The Green Wave offense had other ideas. 

Greenfield found the end zone on its final three drives of the first half and carried that over to the second half where it scored on all four of its possessions, allowing the Green Wave to pull away with a 48-14 victory at Veterans Field on Friday. 

“We were aggressive,” Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski said. “We needed to be aggressive to win this football game and I think we did that. We capitalized on some Mahar mistakes. They played hard but they made some mistakes and we were able to capitalize on them. Our kids played hard.”

It was Angel Politis and Mason Cummings that led the charge for the Green Wave (2-3) offensively. Politis ran for 108 yards and two scores while Cummings — a senior playing football for the first time this fall — started at quarterback for the injured Caleb Murray and threw for 146 yards and a touchdown while adding a score on the ground. 

“Mason did a nice job,” Kuchieski said. “I wish we had him the last three years but you can’t cry over spilled milk. We move along.” 

It’s been a disappointing stretch for Mahar (2-3), which has dropped its last three after a pair of wins to open the season. 

“Greenfield played a solid game,” Eady said. “Like the last few teams we’ve seen, they had us scouted. We have contingencies for all of it but we have to stay strong with our contingencies, see what the problems are and alleviate the problems. All the checks are there, we just have to learn it better.”

One of the major points the Green Wave coached harped on was slowing down Senator quarterback Morgan Softic. 

The senior was held to just two yards with his legs, as the Greenfield defense was able to get to him in the backfield and not let him use his speed to get the edge. 

“Defensively we contained the quarterback,” Kuchieski said. “Morgan is a pretty good player and we were worried as heck about him. Our kids did a pretty good job containing him.” 

Politis got going to help set up Greenfield’s opening touchdown of the game. Runs of 13, five and 18 yards helped set the Wave up at the Mahar three, where Mason Cummings faked the handoff, rolled to his left and found Jerad Goulston for a three-yard score. 

Cummings found Krish Patel on a slant for the 2-point try, giving Greenfield an 8-0 lead with 58 seconds left in the first quarter. 

The Green Wave defense forced a punt and the Wave offense went right back to to work to add to the lead. A 19-yard pass from Cummings to Patel set Greenfield up in the red zone, where Politis ran it in off the left tackle from six yards out that put the Wave ahead, 14-0, with 6:39 to go in the half. 

With Greenfield holding the momentum, the Senators offense needed to put a drive together and they did just that. 

Mahar drove it down to the Greenfield 23 following a personal foul penalty but faced a fourth-and-six. Morgan Softic rolled to his left and found a wide open Danny Quigley and the junior waltzed in for six. Jayden Delgado ran in the two-point try to cut the lead to 14-8 with 2:31 to go until the intermission. 

The Green Wave needed just two plays on the ensuing possession to add their third touchdown of the game. 

At the Greenfield 48, Cummings rolled to his left and found Patel along the left sideline. The Mahar defense tried forcing him out of bounds but the senior was able to keep his balance and stay in bounds, running another 40 yards for the score. Politis ran in the conversion to put the Wave ahead, 22-8, with 1:33 to go in the half. 

The second half opened with a pair of explosive plays. 

After just one carry in the first half, Mahar got running back Jayden Delgado going on its opening drive of the third quarter. 

Delgado ran for a 31 yards on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and on the next play, the senior broke a pair of tackles to burst in for a 20-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 22-14 with 11:06 to play in the third. 

Greenfield snatched the momentum right back. 

The Senators dribbled the kickoff and Patel snagged the bouncing ball at the Wave 40. He eluded the first few defenders before using his speed to breakaway for the score, giving the Green Wave a 28-14 lead. 

Mahar punted on its next possession and Greenfield struck again to add to its lead. 

Cummings found Gavin Arsenault for a 37-yard gain to the Mahar 25 and four plays later, Politis plowed in from the one that gave the Green Wave a 34-14 lead with 3:50 to go in the third. 

The Senators turned it over on downs and Greenfield drove to the red zone thanks to a pair of personal foul penalties and a facemask penalty. Cummings snuck it in from the two and Goulston added the two-point try, putting the Green Wave ahead, 42-14, with 7:04 to play. 

Gavin Arsenault ran a quarterback sneak up the middle with 2:30 to go, broke through the line untouched and ran into the end zone for a 43-yard score to give the Wave its 48-14 lead in the waning minutes. 

Kuchieski credits the execution for Greenfield scoring touchdowns on its final six offensive possessions of the game. 

“We’re running the same stuff,” Kuchieski said. “I’ve been doing the same stuff for 30 years. It’s boring but we have little wrinkles we put every now and then. The kids competed and I’ll take it.” 

Greenfield will look to keep the momentum going when it goes on the road to face Franklin Tech next Friday while Mahar looks to get back in the win column when it hosts Ware on Friday at the Woodward Complex. 

“The score ballooning, they’re high school football players,” Eady said. “They look up at the score and it feels insurmountable. We have a lot of football left. The immediate need is to get the ship righted sooner than later. We have a good senior class and they deserve a strong finish here.” 

At halftime, the Greenfield Moose Lodge presented a $3,000 check to Greenfield Superintendent Karin Patenaude. The money will cover the full cost to repair the Greenfield High School emblem in the walkway outside the main entrance of Greenfield High School.