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THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Wednesday, November 23, 2022 Page 15 SPORTS | FROM PAGE 14 gest of the 1990s, heavy underdog Medford, coming into the game at 1-8 overall under first-year Head Coach Bill Buldini, a former Mustang standout, shut down Malden’s high-powered offense for a 6-0 victory. Malden came into the game with the most potent passing attack in the GBL and one of the best in Eastern Mass., averaging just under 25 points a game behind the rifle arm of senior quarterback Ronnie Repoza. Medford’s defense had allowed just over four touchdowns a game coming into Thanksgiving. On a bitterly cold morning in the low teens in Malden, Medford froze out Malden’s passing attack to just 57 yards on the day, on 5-of13 numbers for Repoza, who still finished with a then school single-season passing mark of 1,447 yards in the air; Malden’s defense was solid as well, led by Durkins Anthony, as the only scoring of the game came at the end of a 61-yard scoring drive on Medford’s very first possession of the day, a nineyard TD pass from senior Mustang QB Chris Jones to Mike Nestor. The rest of the game was scoreless for both sides. Paul Camuso led Medford with 89 yards on nine carries. Keith Bevans had two sacks to spark the Medford defense. 1995: Playing his first varsity game ever and his first game of the season, surprise starter sophomore tailback Jose Harris sparked Medford to a 25-14 victory at Hormel Stadium with two TDs and 141 yards. Medford went up 7-0 when Harris sprinted to a 75-yard TD midway through the second quarter followed by Steve Bosselman’s PAT kick. Malden had a golden opportunity when Mike Ciaburri pounced on a Medford fumble at its own five-yard line, but the Mustangs wouldn’t let Malden score on four cracks at the goal line. Medford went up 13-0 when Harris busted free for his second TD, an 18-yard run halfway through the third quarter. Malden did rally back on junior QB Ryan Hale’s 11-of-22, 132 yards passing. A 47-yard pass to senior J.J. O’Brien set up a one-yard Hale TD in the third. Jimmy Meagher (11 carries, 71 yards) then scored on a 12-yard run for a 19-6 lead, and Paul Camuso’s 30-yard TD made it 25-6 with under four minutes left. Malden’s Joe DeMartino caught an 18-yard TD pass from Hale, and O’Brien caught the conversion for the final scoring with less than minute left, 25-14. 1996: This was a “Tale of Two Halves” and a near season-saver for Malden, which came into the game at 1-9 for the year, a low point in over 25 years for Malden football. But Medford staved off the comeback and held on for a 27-12 win, in another frigid morning at Macdonald Stadium – just 10 degrees at kickoff. Medford owned the first half of the game with a 20-0 lead at the half. Soph Dwayne D’Oyley caught an 18yard TD pass from Rob Baldassari, and Art Camuso’s kick made it 7-0. Junior Jose Harris, who scored twice the year before, got back in the spotlight with a 62-yard TD run, Camuso’s PAT making it 14-0. Malden’s offense sputtered, and Mustang junior linebacker John Murphy made it worse when he blocked a Ryan Hale punt and teammate Nick DeMaria fell on it in the end zone for another Medford TD and a 20-0 lead at the half. Junior Frank Femino scored on a 37-yard run to start the second half, and Camuso’s third kick made it 27-0. After that? Malden owned the rest of the game. Hale hit senior TE Randy DiCarlo with a 13-yard TD pass with 4:38 left in the third. Junior John DeMartino recovered a Mustang fumble on Medford’s four-yard line, and Tornadoes senior Adrian Pleasant ran it in one play later to make it 2712. Malden drove to the Medford 19 on its next possession, but the drive stalled. Medford killed the clock and Game #109 was history. 1997: Senior Medford tailback Frank Femino had a holiday to remember in leading the Mustangs to a 34-8 victory at blustery Hormel. Femino ran for 163 yards on just 10 carries and challenged the single-game series Thanksgiving scoring mark with 22 points, three TDs and two conversion runs. On just the second play of the game, Femino motored 62 yards for a score. After Mike Vecchia blocked a Malden punt, Medford was back in the end zone four plays later when Eric Giordano scored on a three-yard run. Femino’s conversion run made it 14-0. Malden’s best weapon, junior QB Timmy Philbrook’s passing, was hampered already by the strong winds that day, and it got worse when he was injured in the second quarter and did not return – held to 2-of-10, 20 yards passing. Medford scored two more TDs on runs by senior Bryce Hopkins and Femino for a 27-0 halftime lead. Femino’s 55-yard run to the Malden 4 early in the fourth set up his own TD run a play later and a 33-0 lead. Malden senior fullback Gregg DeVincentis scored to avert the shutout on a four-yard run. Matt Donoghue ran in the conversion points at QB. Steve Ciampoli led the Medford defense with 10 tackles and three assists. DeVincentis led Malden with 12 tackles, four assists and a fumble recovery. 1998: This was a shocker. Two teams not known for their offensive fireworks combined to set a new combined single-game scoring record for the series in Game #111 at Macdonald Stadium. It was also the final Thanksgiving Day game for legendary Malden Head Coach Paul Finn, after a 26year career. Medford used a huge game from quarterback Mike Fahey, who ran for 164 yards on just seven carries, and three TDs and 133 yards from senior tailback Pat McCarthy, for a 47-32 win over Malden, which eclipsed a series record set in 1979 (a 48-24 Medford win). Medford scored the first three times it had the ball on a sixyard keeper by Fahey, a nine-yard TD reception by Steve Chausse and a 45-yard run by Fahey. Malden broke the shutout on a oneyard keeper by senior QB Timmy Philbrook in the second quarter, but Fahey hit Brandon Hopkins with a 28-yard TD pass with under a minute to play in the half for a 27-8 lead at the break. Malden came right back with a 38-yard TD catch by Craig Barton early in the third, but it was the closest they would get. The fourth quarter was a wild one, with 36 points scored combined, another series record. McCarthy scored on a nine-yard run, and Fahey’s 89-yard TD run, a record for Medford on Thanksgiving Day, made it 41-16, Mustangs. Malden answered with a four-yard TD run and conversion by Tommy Kelley to make it 41-24, but Medford added another TD on a sixyard run by Terence Burrell. Malden closed it out with a 35-yard scoring pass from Philbrook to Matt Donoghue. Philbrook finished with a Malden Thanksgiving Day record of 210 yards passing (15-for-33, 2 TDs), surpassing Mike Byrne’s numbers from the 1970 game (207 yards). Peter Kobzik kicked five PATs for Medford, another record. Junior Nick Cox, Malden’s unofficial MVP on the day, ran for 114 yards on just six carries, a TD and a PAT, catching five passes for 54 yards. Malden senior Craig Barton had six catches for 100 yards. 1999: In the last game of the century, Medford made it six wins in a row at soggy and cold Hormel Stadium, with the weather making for a smaller than usual crowd in a 37-20 victory. Senior Wlad Louis was the star for Medford, along with senior captain Steve Chausse. Louis ran for 127 yards and a touchdown and Chausse had 70 tough yards on just 10 carries and two TDs. Chausse also sparked a Mustang “D” that held Malden to just 63 yards on the ground and five first downs. Malden senior captain and QB Nick Cox was his team’s best player on Thanksgiving for the second straight season, keeping his team in on both sides of the ball. He led Malden in rushing and in passing (3-for12, 101 yards). His favorite target was senior Scott Haskell (2 rec., 97 yards), who had a 71-yard touchdown catch which helped Malden tie the game at 8-8 in the first quarter. Brad Roche returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a Medford touchdown. The two teams traded TDs in the second period – Chausse’s four-yard run for Medford and Cox’s one-yard run – as Medford led, 21-14, at the half. Medford started the third quarter with a 32-yard TD run by Brandon Hopkins, but Cox returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a TD to make it 28-20, Mustangs, as Malden was right back in the ballgame. A 32-yard field goal by Mike Piontkowski, the first FG by either team since 1991 (Mike Moreno game winner), and a 25-yard TD run by Chausse sealed the win. This win tied the series for all-time at 51-51-10 with the first winner of the new millennium taking the lead. This was the final game in the series with Bill Buldini at the helm for Medford, as he went a perfect 6-0 on the holiday. It was the first Turkey Day leading the Malden troops for first-year Head Coach Rich Cullen. Cullen made the crosstown switch as Head Coach of Malden Catholic (his alma mater), where he had been for the previous 12 seasons. 2000: This was a memorable “season saver” game for first-year Medford Head Coach Al Pare, as the Mustangs pulled the “Dominick Hasek” to take a 14-13 win at sunny, but brisk Macdonald Stadium. Medford came in winless at 0-8 and Malden was 1-9, with the victor having at least a Turkey Day win to savor. Medford also took the lead in the series for the first time since 1946, going ahead, 52-51-10. Junior two-way end Luis Zamora and junior split end Angel Ortiz were Medford’s stars. For Malden, senior Ricky Bethelmie went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the year. Malden struck first when freshman quarterback Breno Giacomini (believed to be the first freshman to start at quarterback ever, for either side) hit Nevy Marc with a 30-yard pass, followed by a 20-yards TD run by Bethelmie and a PAT kick by Carmelo Bari. Medford QB Dave Foley then hit Ryan Driscoll with a seven-yard TD pass, and Zamora’s PAT tied it at 7-7 at the half. A big catch by Zamora and a 20-yard run by freshman tailback Julien Mundele fueled the drive. A trick, inside kick by Medford opened the second half as Ortiz leaped high to snare Zamora’s “pooch” kick. A 40-yard run by Zamora and sixyard TD burst by Terence “The Bus” Burrell gave Medford a 13-7 lead. Zamora’s PAT made it 14-7 and that turned out to be the game winning point. A lightning response by Malden came with a 72-yard TD run by Bethlemie, but the PAT kick to tie bounced off the goalpost, and Malden trailed, 1413. Dave Richard and Jack Dolabany made key sacks for Medford as the visiting Mustangs crowd, a large one despite the team record, roared with each one. On Malden’s last chance drive, Ortiz sealed the win with an acrobatic interception at his own 25-yard line, following his game saving play with a “Mustang Dive” into the Medford fans as the Mustangs won for the seventh straight time on Thanksgiving. 2001: In front of the largest crowd in years at drizzly Hormel Stadium, this one was thought to be an evenly matched battle before kickoff, but Medford exploded in the first half for a 27-0 lead en route to a 34-6 victory. Sophomore tailback Julien Mundele led the way with four TDs and 219 yards rushing, one TD short of Mike Colonna’s series record of five TDs set in the 1972 game. Medford senior Angel Ortiz scored the other first-half TD on a reception from senior QB Peter Krasco, who returned to action after missing three games with injury. Krasco went for 138 yards on 8-of-13 numbers. A PAT kick by Mike Piontkowski and two-point conversion by Dennis Giannino off a pass from the kicker were Medford’s other first-half points. Mundele scored his fourth TD on a 31yard third-quarter run. Malden senior quarterback Mike Hudd passed for 143 yards, including a 43-yard TD strike to Tim Konick to avert the shutout. Hudd set the single-season Malden passing mark (1,571 yards) in the loss, which still stands. Medford tied an all-time series record with its eighth straight Thanksgiving win. 2002: A heavy snowstorm blanketed Macdonald Stadium in Malden with nearly a foot of the white stuff, but the Malden players and coaches shoveled it off in time to hand Medford a 12-0 shutout loss and snap an eightgame Malden loss streak. Malden won for the first time since 1993 and also shut out Medford for the first time since the fabled 100th game in 1987 (28-0). On the “frozen tundra,” Tornadoes junior Elisee “Buddha” Pompilus rushed for 149 yards on 23 carries and an 11-yard touchdown. Running behind senior captain Jim Noble and the Malden line, Pompilus’ running set up a one-yard TD burst by senior quarterback A.C. Callahan with 8:53 left in the half. The PAT kick was no good, and Malden led, 6-0, which stood up at the half. Medford drove to the Malden 20 next, but Malden’s Dan Laskey pounced on a Mustang fumble. A scoreless third period left it at 6-0 heading into the final quarter. A 34-yard run by Pompilus set up his own three-yard TD with 6:53 to go in the game, and the conversion pass was no good; Malden led, 12-0. Malden’s J.D. Pappagallo was credited with slowing down Mustang star runner Julien Mundele, who was held to just one long fourth-quarter run. 2003: Malden won for the second straight year, 7-0, at sunny and brisk Hormel, the first time Malden shut out Medford in two consecutive games in 44 years since 1958-1959 (26-0, 20-0) and the first time Malden won two years in a row since 1992-1993. The win also retied the all-time series at 53-53-10. The game’s lone TD came on a jet sweep by Malden junior Jamal Woods (7 carries, 56 yards). Senior co-captain SPORTS| SEE PAGE 16

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