WEST BRIDGEWATER — The second yr of the Thanksgiving rivalry between East Bridgewater and West Bridgewater came about on Thursday morning, and in contrast to final season, West Bridgewater dominated their rivals, 35-0.
Final season, the Vikings defeated the Wildcats, 36-14, of their first season as Thanksgiving rivals having performed each other within the season opener from 2021-23. General, the groups have been cut up of their 4 matchups in that span till West Bridgewater received on Thursday.
“I’m simply glad these seniors get to exit with a win, as a result of they’ve been a terrific group.” Wildcats head coach Justin Kogler mentioned, “And we’ve avenged our losses from final yr, and we’re pleased with them for that.”
East Bridgewater began on offense, however went for a three-and-out after a cease by senior Sean Hancock on John King, and a punt to the 41-yard line gave possession to the Wildcats.
Wildcat working again Tyler Holmes was an enormous contributor on the opening drive, breaking out on a 24-yard run, which introduced them contained in the pink zone. Holmes chipped away with a nine-yard rush that introduced him to the one-yard line, and punctuated it together with his first dashing landing of the sport.
The Vikings went at it once more two extra instances within the first quarter and punted each instances, after the Wildcat protection made stops on King.
Within the Wildcats’ second drive of the sport, senior quarterback Ryan Nunes made his first move of the sport and linked with Kevin Kearton for 20 yards, which introduced them to the Vikings’ 21. A few performs later, Holmes ran seven yards for his second landing of the opening quarter.
Within the second quarter, the Wildcats bought their first three-and-out drive of the sport when Tom Polidori bought stuffed by a number of Viking defenders. After a stalled East Bridgewater drive, West Bridgewater bought again to sturdy offense and capped the drive off when Holmes ran 18 yards for his third landing of the half.
“He’s not likely replaceable simply because he might get away on any run,” Kogler mentioned of Holmes. “We’re actually going to overlook him together with all of the seniors, however Ty’s huge play capacity is one thing we’ll actually miss.”
The second half wasn’t a lot better for the Vikings as penalties introduced again huge performs on offense, they usually in any other case couldn’t generate many optimistic performs. Nick Navin added an interception within the third quarter, including to the sturdy day from the Wildcats’ protection.
Two totally different Wildcats ran it in for touchdowns within the second half, with Tom Polidori gunning it for 38 yards within the third, and Nunes sneaked it in after the interception by Navin, because the Wildcats cruised to their shutout victory.
Holmes and Polidori, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles by teammates, ran for over 100 yards of their closing video games as Wildcats. West Bridgewater additionally sacked King 5 instances, which helped hold the shutout for your complete recreation.
The Wildcats had 17 seniors this season and Kogler mentioned changing them will likely be tough however that the long run stays vivid for his program.
“We’ve got a variety of seniors to exchange, so the younger guys should step up and hit the weights and get stronger, and also you’re going to see a variety of new faces subsequent yr, and there’s a variety of nice returners, and I feel we might be proper again within the combine subsequent yr.”
