The 2015 season for the Holyoke Purple Knights was surrounded by optimism and renewed energy. The Purple Knights finished the 2014 season winning six straight games and they hoped to bring last year’s energy to this season. The Knights returned plenty of talent and not to mention 24 seniors. Some of these seniors are All-Western Mass players like Devante Wardell, Tim Girard, and Andrew Peltier. Holyoke High entered the season ranked 5^th in Western Mass and was considered one of the front-runners in the AA conference. With tons of expectations, Holyoke High’s Purple Knights look to deliver this season and win their first Western Mass title since 1998.

The Knights opened their season against their rival South Hadley Tigers. The game was full of offense as each team put up their fair share of points. In the end though, it seems the Knights were too much for the Tigers as they pulled out the victory by the score of 50-33. By doing this, the Knights extended their winning streak to 7 games dating back to last year. Andrew Peltier put himself on the map by throwing 7 touchdowns and leading his team to victory.

The following week, the Knights would be tested by perennial powerhouse Longmeadow. It has been 17 years since the Knights last beat Longmeadow in the regular season. Once again the offense showed off their firepower and scored 34 points, but this was not enough as the Knights fell to Longmeadow 34-35. The game came down to the last minute, but a crucial turnover on downs buried the Knights comeback attempt.

After a loss to Longmeadow, the task ahead got no easier. In week 3 the Knights took on the Central Golden Eagles who were the #1 team in Western Mass. The game was a hard fought defensive battle for both teams. Central’s rushing attack, however sealed the Knight’s fate as they let up 3 touchdowns on the ground. The final score of the game was 23-20, but could have gone either way given a play or two had gone different. At this point in the season turnovers and little mistakes cost the Knights two big games.

In week 4, the Knights took on East Longmeadow Spartans and All- State running back Mike Maggipinto. The Knights game planned all around Maggipinto in order to stop him and did just that, Maggipinto ran for just over a 100 yards and a touchdown. The Purple Knights special teams put on a show as they scored two touchdowns and blocked a kick. The offense did what they always do and scored points, running back Brian Sweirzewski had a breakout game recording 4 touchdowns. The final score of the game was 47-12 in favor of Holyoke.

At the midseason point of the regular season the Purple Knights have set themselves up to make a shot at the playoffs. Standing at 2-2 and with the hard part of their schedule done with the Purple Knights are in good shape to make the playoffs. With four games remaining the Purple Knights look to win the rest of their schedule, as they face off against Westfield, West Springfield, Minnechaug, and Putnam respectively. With the defense starting the come around and the offense being business as always the Purple Knights will be tough to stop in the near future.

(Editor’s Note: Want to keep up with the Purple Knights but can’t make the games? Follow us @hhsherald on Twitter for live updates as the game is happening!)