ATHOL — Not even the most challenging of seasons could put a damper on the motivation Athol and Mahar brought with them into Thursday’s traditional Thanksgiving Day meeting.
The teams were tied 8-8 at halftime before Athol sprang ahead for good early in the third quarter, and the Bears put the game on ice with a pair of late fourth-quarter scores to take down the Senators, 28-14, at Thomas J. O’Brien Field.
Evan Ke ran for 101 yards and a touchdown for Athol (2-9), while Ethan Goodwin, named the Bears’ most valuable player, caught a touchdown pass and ran a punt back for another score.
“It meant something for them today, particularly for the seniors,” said Athol coach Josh Talbot. “The rah-rah stuff wasn’t really necessary. We try to get them to live in the moment, and Thanksgiving Day football is really the one chance they get to soak it all in.”
Freeland Ringer and Danny Quigley combined for a pair of long touchdown connections for the Senators (2-9).
“I wanted to see the fight in them, and they gave me that fight today,” said Mahar coach Percy Eady. “We spent the last two weeks driving home the point that we have everything we need to be a really good football team. They needed to believe in it.”
Athol had been shut out in each of its last four regular-season games, before showing some offensive flashes in its Week 9 and 10 assigned games, scoring 18 points in each.
Mahar forced and recovered a fumble on the game’s second play from scrimmage, starting at the Athol 45, but couldn’t move the ball and was forced to punt. That got the Bears going on a 71-yard drive, with Ke picking up 33 yards on the first play, and help from a pair of personal-foul calls and a pass-interference penalty. On fourth-and-goal from the Mahar 6, quarterback Oliver Johnson hit Goodwin in the back right corner of the end zone for the opening score.
From a ‘Swinging Gate’-style formation, lineman Nick LeBlanc took the long sideways snap from center and ran in the two-pointer for an 8-0 Bears lead with 5:01 to go in the first.
The teams then exchanged a pair of possessions before Mahar took over at its own 23. Facing third-and-13, Ringer aired out a long ball down the left sideline that Quigley settled under and took the distance for an 80-yard touchdown. Ronnie Stone’s two-point conversion run lifted the Senators into an 8-8 tie with 7:22 left in the half.
Mahar’s next foray into Athol territory featured gains of 19 and 20 yards by Stone and back-to-back personal-foul calls that put the ball at the Bears’ 13. The Senators bogged down, though, hurt by an illegal forward pass on which Ringer crossed the line of scrimmage before throwing, and the half ended when Jason Coleman made a 15-yard catch at the Athol 14.
After the second-half kickoff, a fumbled snap from Mahar’s punt formation recovered by LeBlanc allowed Athol to take over at the Senators’ 19, and the hosts were back in the end zone two plays later. Ke picked up gains of eight and 11 yards, the second carry good for the score and a 14-8 advantage.
A wild exchange of turnovers ensued on the first play of the final quarter. Johnson was intercepted by Ringer at the Mahar 30, but Ringer lost the football at the end of a 13-yard return and Athol recovered at the 43. The Bears advanced as far as the Mahar 11 but gave up the ball on downs. Mahar then punted and Goodwin proceeded to give his team a two-score cushion with a 48-yard return for a score, followed by LeBlanc’s conversion pass to Johnson, to make it a 22-8 game.
The Bears then delved even deeper into their bag of tricks with a halfback option pass from Camden Cox to Tyler Kaczmarczyk, good for 16 yards and the last Athol touchdown coming with just 2:34 left in the game.
A repeat score of Athol’s earlier 28-8 victory at Mahar on Oct. 3 seemed imminent, but the Senators blew up that possibility when Ringer and Quigley connected on a 70-yard TD pass at the 1:25 mark for the final points.
With his two receptions for 150 yards and both scores, Quigley earned Mahar’s game MVP honors. Ringer finished 5-of-12 through the air for 186 yards and Stone led the Senators’ ground game with 32 yards on 18 carries, but numerous sacks and tackles for loss dragged Mahar down to a minus-34 total in rushing yardage and 152 yards in total offense.
“The strength of this program is our youth, and I’m excited about what’s coming in,” said Eady. “I know the work that they have in them. We had an incredible offseason program, and I look forward to another one.”
Athol totaled 182 yards on the day, with Johnson going 5-of-15 passing for 60 yards and a score and Cox completing his option pass for 16 yards.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to get better. Physical strength is a big thing and that will be our focus,” said Talbot. “Our group of seniors did a lot of things for us, and without us getting physically stronger, we’re not gonna get to where we need to go. I do think we’ll be okay with our numbers.”
For the second straight year, Athol’s LeBlanc was named the game’s outstanding lineman, joined by Mahar’s Harol Ponce.
In the all-time Turkey Day series, Athol’s lead now stands at 55-33 with one tie.