On November 24th, the Malden High Golden Tornadoes hosted the Medford Mustangs at Macdonald Stadium. This was the 129th annual Thanksgiving football game, which is currently the second longest rivalry in the country.
Both teams were playing for bragging rights from their rivals, and the game was attended by fans from both cities. Before the game began, a moment of silence took place for veterans who have lost their lives fighting for their country.
The game kicked off after Medford won the opening coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. However, the Tornado defense forced the Mustang offense to go three and out and punt the ball away. The two defenses traded dominating opening drives, as the Mustang defense was able to force and recover a fumble by junior captain and quarterback, Jared Martino.
This forced turnover by the Mustang defense gave their offense great field position. The offense was able to capitalize on the field position as they were able to get the first touchdown of the game, thanks to a two yard td run. However unsatisfied, the Mustangs decided to be aggressive and go for a two point conversion attempt. The attempt failed as senior Pedro Lugo was able to tackle the Medford runner shy of the goal line, saving his team two points. Still however, Malden trailed 6-0 with 1:32 left in the first quarter.
Despite the failed two-point conversion, the Mustangs continued their aggressive approach as they would for the rest of the game. Right after the touchdown drive the Mustangs tried a surprise onside kick, but it too failed as sophomore Raushad Moore recovered the kick, giving the Tornado offense the ball at the 49 yard line of Medford. This would be a critical error in the part of the Mustangs, as on the first play of the drive Martino scored a 49 yard rushing touchdown on a designed run play. Malden converted the extra point attempt, giving them a 7-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
That first touchdown paved the way for a barrage of points by the Tornadoes for the rest of the game. It all started with a nine yard touchdown reception from junior Isaiah Likely, giving the Tornadoes the 14-6 lead less than a minute into the second quarter. Despite this, Medford continued to be aggressive and go for it on fourth downs, resulting on multiple turnover on downs, and giving their opposition great field position.
After a failed fake punt attempt by the Mustangs, the Tornadoes took over at the Mustang 24 yard line. On the first play of the drive Likely caught another touchdown reception from Martino, this time in spectacular fashion over two defenders. The first half came to a close with Malden leading Medford 21-6.
During the halftime break, the Malden High senior cheerleaders and football players were honored along with their families for their dedication to the respective programs.
The second half of play continued to be dominated by the Tornadoes. The Tornado offence picked up right where it left off, adding another touchdown on the first drive of the quarter. Facing a 3rd and 3, Martino scored another long rushing touchdown on a designed QB run, but this time from 39 yards. This extended the Tornado lead to 22 points.
However, Medford quickly answered back mid-way through the third quarter. Medford running back and senior Chris Perella was able to run into the end zone from four yards out. They again decided to go for 2, but once again failed to do so, keeping the deficient at 16. However, another rushing touchdown by Martino late in the third quarter essentially iced the game.
The Mustangs did respond early in the fourth quarter with a touchdown reception from senior wideout Tyler Belcastro, but they once again failed to convert the 2-point attempt. Right after this touchdown, Medford tried their second onside kick of the game, but the kick was recovered by freshman Wesley Pierre of MHS. The offence added another touchdown with 3:11 left in the game after senior and captain Joshua Simon took the the handoff into the end zone from the Mustang 18. This capped of a dominating 41-18 win for the Tornadoes against their oldest rivals.
After the game, junior Anthony Burnett commented on the importance of this victory. He mentioned that a “after a season in which [they] had a non winning record and didn’t make the playoffs, beating Medford really ended the season on positive note” He also continued to say that the win was “a great send off to [their] seniors.”
As Malden moves conferences from the Greater Boston League (GBL) to the Northeastern Conference (NEC), Burnett described what he hopes the team will accomplish next year. He mentioned that next year “they need to make a mark in [their] new conference” and that they hope to “bounce back” next year and have a “winning record, as well as making the playoffs.”
Check out the rest of the photos from the game here.
