TURNERS FALLS — Franklin Tech used its air game to build up a commanding lead in its season opener Friday night and the legs of Josiah Little to keep the ball and the clock moving, as the Eagles thundered past McCann Tech of North Adams, 42-6.

Tyler Yetter threw three first-half touchdown passes and Little ran for 181 yards on 15 carries with a score, part of the Eagles' 358 yards of total offense,

"It's definitely a good start," said Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache. "We executed much better tonight than we had been, but we're a work in progress. Our line opened up some big, big holes. [Little] had a lot of success, Tyler had a lot of time to throw, and we've got a lot of weapons and options."

After McCann lost the ball on downs on its opening series, the Eagles went 65 yards in seven plays with a 21-yard hookup between Yetter (5-of-8 passing, 117 yards) and Nolyn Stafford to make it 6-0 for the hosts at the 6:13 mark of the first.

On their next possession, the Eagles drove to the McCann 9 before Yetter threw an interception to the Hornets' Parker Hart at the 2-yard line. McCann ended up punting away and Franklin Tech was right back in business, getting a 17-yard pickup by Little on a backward pass from Yetter and then a 35-yard strike down the right seam from Yetter to Hunter Donahue. That put the Eagles up 12-0 with only 34 seconds gone in the second quarter.

The next two Eagle scores came as a result of a big special-teams play and then a forced turnover. Madix Whitman ran a punt back 40 yards to the McCann 45, and Yetter struck on the very next play, hitting Ethan Smarr on a post pattern for the third score of the night. Yetter then threw complete to Tucker Hicks for the two-point conversion.

Donahue then picked off McCann's Alex McDermott and returned it 25 yards to the Hornets' 20. The Eagles were gifted five yards on a too-many-men call, and Little took a handoff on a draw play straight up the gut for 15 yards and a touchdown. Yetter's pass to Smarr made it 28-0 with 56 seconds to go in the half.

McCann's real highlight of the night put a charge into the numerous Hornets' faithful just before the half. The visitors lined up to punt on fourth-and-11 from their own 34, but Musa Thompson took the snap, kept the ball on a fake and swept down the right sideline for a 66-yard score with only 17.5 seconds on the clock. That brought McCann to within 28-6 at the break.

Franklin Tech started the second half at midfield and got immediate 11- and 12-yard gains by Little, then a 17-yard completion from Yetter to Hicks to put the ball at the Hornets' 20. Nathan Sabolevski did the rest, bolting straight up the middle for the score that made it 34-6 with 9:57 to play.

Stafford then recovered a McCann fumble at the Eagles 43 and Little applied the clincher with consecutive runs of 8, 15 and 34 yards, the last good for his second score of the night. Sabolevski tacked up the two-pointer for a 42-6 game.

"It's tough and these guys are just not used to it yet," said first-year Hornet coach Jon Rochelo. "I'm glad to come down here and play a great program, a playoff team. It's gonna put us in the right direction, and it gives us a little taste of reality, where we stand and what we need to do."

McCann finished with 197 total yards, 112 coming from Thompson on 15 rushes, lifted by his 66-yard score. Hart added 13 carries for 28 yards and the passing combination of McDermott and Matthew Morris threw for 19 yards.

Max Brunette (32 yards) and Sabolevski (26) contributed in Franklin Tech's run game that amassed 241 yards in all. The Eagles play Frontier next Friday night.