BOXFORD – The Masconomet Chieftains took down the Bishop Fenwick Crusaders 34-18 in their first Thanksgiving Day matchup at Masconomet Regional High School on Thursday morning.
Captain Will Shannon had a Thanksgiving feast on the ground for Masconomet. The running back rushed for 224 yards and three touchdowns as the Crusaders couldn’t stop the power run-game.
Masconomet got the scoring started with 8:58 to go in the first quarter. Senior quarterback Matt Richardson found fellow senior Owen Barrett for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Chieftains an early 7-0 lead after the PAT.
Masconomet got the ball back quickly after forcing a three and out on Fenwick’s first possession. Richardson and Barrett struck again for a 4-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0.
Fenwick responded in the second quarter. Junior quarterback Bryce Leaman led his team on a 65-yard drive that was capped off with a 20-yard passing touchdown to 6-1 sophomore tight end Mike Zaimi. A failed trick play on the two-point conversion made the score 14-6 in favor of Masconomet.
Neither team scored for the rest of the half and Masconomet went into halftime with an eight point lead. The Chieftains dominated in the first half with 255 total yards compared to just 101 for Fenwick.
The start of the third quarter was a different story for Fenwick. On blown coverage from Masconomet, Leaman found senior receiver Costa Beechin for a 68-yard score on the half’s first play from scrimmage.
Things appeared to be falling apart for Masconomet as a muffed return on the kickoff gave Fenwick the ball back in the red zone. Masconomet’s defense held strong and forced a missed field goal that would have given the Crusaders a one-point lead.
The Chieftains overcame three lost fumbles in the contest and never looked back thanks to the play of their defense and Shannon’s run game. The running back put his team up 21-12 after a 10-yard rushing touchdown.
Forcing three turnovers, Fenwick’s defense did everything they could to stay in the game, to which senior captain Michael DeFelice commented on after the game.
“It’s definitely on the captains, I think we do a great job, but also the rest of the upperclassmen of just keeping everyones’ heads in the game, and that trickles down from the coaches too,” DeFelice said. “We just tell everyone no matter what happens, ‘hey, okay, next play lets get it,’ and a lot of times we do.”
On the next possession, the Crusaders attempted a fake punt on 4th and 15 to try and catch Masconomet off guard, but they turned the ball over on downs. On 4th and 1 to begin the fourth, Shannon struck again for a 36-yard touchdown run to put Masconomet in complete control, 27-12.
Leaman led Fenwick on a lengthy, 73-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 5-yard keeper by the quarterback. Another failed two-point attempt made it 27-18. All hope for a miracle comeback was lost when Shannon ripped through the Crusaders’ defense for his third and final rushing score of the day – this one for 53 yards. Through his efforts on Turkey Day, Shannon reached 1,000 rushing yards on the season.
Though it wasn’t how Fenwick wanted to end the season, Head Coach Dave Woods commented after the game on the first matchup between the teams on Thanksgiving, and how hard his team competed despite coming into the contest banged up.
“Thanksgiving football is awesome. Hopefully going forward, with some of the things the coaches association are working on, we can make Thanksgiving even more meaningful and more special,” Woods said. “I don’t think we had very much left in the tank at this point, but the kids fought and played – a bunch of them are hurt, they played as hard as they could.”
After the game, Fenwick’s senior captains stood in front of their kneeling Crusader teammates, giving their final speeches as members of the football program. Beechin was one of those seniors, and he commented on how much this team meant to him after the game.
“The whole season was great, I’m proud of every one of my boys. I know there’s a lot of shoes to fill with 13 seniors gone next year, but I’m pretty sure the upcoming juniors-to-be-seniors will be great.”
The Sal Tripoli MVP award was given to Leaman after the game. The award is named after Sal Tripoli, a former Fenwick player who passed tragically in an automobile accident in 1974. It is given to the most outstanding player of the Thanksgiving game for Fenwick each year.
