By: Austin Mendes
Old Colony and Tri County line up against each other during the Cougar Cup
ROCHESTER, MA -
”You will always remember you’re Thanksgiving game. You will remember everything about this game, the score, the weather, and how you felt.” said Old Colony Head Coach Brandon Mendez to his team prior to their matchup Thanksgiving eve against Tri County RVTHS. Old Colony played their first Thanksgiving game on Oliveira Field on Wednesday.
Coming into the game, Old Colony lost the prior 3 Thanksgiving matches to Tri County. They were hoping to change the narrative this year. The previous matchup between these two teams came in the Fall II season, when Old Colony fell 30-16 to Tri County.
Old Colony received the ball first, but a three-and-out would give the ball right to Tri County. Tri County's running attack seemed to be the key early, until Tri County QB Cole King fumbled the ball. The fumble was forced and recovered by Old Colony senior Pat Quin.
Getting the ball back, Old Colony would not waste this drive. A 7-play drive would occur for Old Colony. A 30-yard touchdown run by Ryan Silva would put Old Colony on the board first, along with a successful 2 point conversion by Jake O'Neil.
Ryan Silva out runs a Tri County defender on his 30-yard touchdown run
Tri County would receive the ball, 3 small chunk plays set up a deep connection between Tri County QB Cole King and WR Peter McEnaney for 45 yards. McEnaney would top off the drive for Tri County from 1-yard out. The pass on the 2-point conversion would be intercepted by Old Colony Senior Pat Quin.
Old Colony's kickoff return would go for 3 yards by freshman Quin Thompson. Starting deep in their own territory, Old Colony would get across the 50, 10 plays later. The 11th play, and final play of the drive was a batted ball at the line of scrimmage, intercepted by Peter McEnaney of Tri County, and returned 65 yards to the house for a touchdown. The pick six by McEnaney would put Tri County up 12-8 after the failed 2-point conversion.
Old Colony's next drive would stall out after Tri County DE John Greener sacked Old Colony QB Matt McGuiggan. The Old Colony defense would hold Tri County to finish the first half. Halftime would be 12-8 in favor of Tri County.
Shawn Markham makes McEnaney miss in open space
Tri County would receive the kickoff following the halftime intermission. A strong, commanding drive by Tri County led by Cole King would stall out yet again as King would look deep to WR Logan Dahl in double coverage. The ball would be intercepted by Patrick Quin, his 3rd defensive turnover of the game. Old Colony's and Tri County's ensuing drives would stall out, bringing us to the fourth quarter of this tight contest.
McGuiggan boots it deep versus Tri County
Old Colony would receive the ball in terrible starting field position, as a beautiful punt by Tri County pinned them on the 3-yard line. A 37-yard drive by McGuiggan and the Cougars would end when the ball slipped out of Pat Quin's hands and hit the grass, recovered by Tri County. Tri County would not waste this drive, chewing time off the clock in the game, they would capitalize when senior RB Angel Velez scored from two yards out. McEnaney would add the 2-point conversion to give Tri County a 20-8 lead with a little over 2 minutes to go.
Old Colony would be given great starting field position when sophomore Stuart Burnham returned the ball for 20 yards. Following this play, McGuiggan would connect with Shawn Markham for 28 yards, sparking a drive for Old Colony. The drive would conclude with a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matt McGuiggan. A failed 2-point conversion put the Cougars down by 6 to the Tri County Cougars.
McGuiggan lines up, preparing for the onside kick
For the second straight week, Old Colony's game would lie in the hands of their hands team. With 56 seconds to go for the season, and 56 seconds to go for the 5 seniors of Old Colony who took the field. The hands team lined up, a deep breath by McGuiggan and a short jog to kick the top of the football. A bounce gave the Cougars hope. The hard-hitting senior duo of Pat Quin and Ray Thibault locked onto the awaiting Tri County special teamer. The ball bounces right into his stomach and he falls quickly to the ground as Thibault and Quin attempt to go for the ball... Tri County recovers.
A victory formation and quick kneels for King would seal the end of the Old Colony season. Falling for the fourth year in a row on Thanksgiving to the Tri County Cougars.
Old Colony AD Matt Trahan hands the Cougar Cup to the Tri County seniors
The annual post-Thanksgiving game ceremonies began. Tri County announces their players of the game. Head coach Brandon Mendez announced the players of the game for Old Colony. On offensive, the player of the game was junior quarterback Matt McGuiggan. On defense, senior captain Raymond Thibault.
Coach Brandon Mendez addresses the team for one final time following the loss
A heartfelt moment was shared between the coaching staff and this young group of resilient players. The coaches thanked the class of 2022 seniors for their hard work and dedication to continuing to grow a successful program. Mendez also added that for the 16 juniors returning... there is unfinished business.
Pictured: (Left to Right) Anthony Chestnut (52); Raymond Thibault (58); Coach Mendez; Xavier Pratt (2); Joe Rubini (55); Patrick Quin (21); Not Pictured: Jacob Legault (6)
Four years come and go, and this Thanksgiving sends off another group of seniors at Old Colony. The class of 2022 brought another conference title to the school. They will also go down in school history as the first class to play a Thanksgiving game at Oliveira Field under the lights. Once a cougar, always a cougar.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Patrick Quin
Pat Quin (21) leads the Cougars out onto the field
Going under the radar for most of the season, senior Pat Quin made his biggest impact in his final game as a Cougar. Although he only ran the ball 3 times for 8 yards. Quin's impact came heavily on the defensive side of the ball. During the 2-point conversion from Peter McEnaney 1-yard touchdown, Quin intercepted the pass which was tipped from quarterback Matt McGuiggan. Along with on the drive prior, Quin recovered a fumble he forced. Later in the second quarter, Tri County QB Cole King was looking deep to McEnaney to put Tri County up, and Quin made an impressive over the shoulder interception to halt the Tri County drive. Quin finished the day with 2 interceptions, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
Cougar Statistics:
Passing:
Matt McGuiggan: 6-12; 50% Competion; 60 yards; 1 INT; 29.9 QB Rating
Rushing:
Matt McGuiggan: 12 rushes; 63 yards; 1 TD; 5.3 yards/carry
Ryan Silva: 8 rushes; 60 yards; 1 TD; 7.5 yards/carry
Shawn Markham: 4 rushes; 22 yards; 5.5 yards/carry
Patrick Quin: 3 rushes; 19 yards; 1 fumble 6.3 yards/carry
Jake O'Neill: 6 rushes; 16 yards; 1 2-point conversion; 2.7 yards/carry
Mike Willwerth: 2 rushes; 7 yards; 3.5 yards/carry
Receiving:
Shawn Markham: 4 receptions; 50 yards; 12.5 yards/catch
Trevor Taveira: 1 reception; 6 yards; 6 yards/catch
Stuart Burnham: 1 reception; 4 yards; 4 yards/catch
Defense:
Patrick Quin: 2 interceptions; 1 forced fumble; 1 fumble recovery
Author's Note:
- I will be closing out the 2021 season with a number of articles in the upcoming weeks prior to Christmas.
- I would like to thank everybody for their support of me throughout the season. With your help, we were able to market the Old Colony team throughout Twitter, Facebook, and others. Along with Stasia Finney for her help all season!
- I will have an article in the near future about potentially covering other sports at Old Colony, along with an update on the website as a whole.
Links for Photos by me:
Link for Photos by Finney:
Thank you for taking your time to read this article!
If you have comments, questions, suggestions or anything please feel free to reach out to me! My contact information can be found in the "About" section of this website. I'd love to hear from you! I will be posting again soon.
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