Page 18 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Wednesday, November 27, 2024 GAME | FROM PAGE 17 High, carried the ball 32 times, gained 164 yards and scored two touchdowns in Medford’s 19-0 romp. It was Medford’s seventh straight win and made Mustang coach “Bud” Kelley’s Thanksgiving debut a memorable one, despite the fact the game was played on Malden turf. 1983: Ernie Breen fired two TD passes to Steve Walsh, and Medford bolted to a 25-0 halftime lead and never looked back. Sophomore Steve Monaco’s brilliant passing (18-for-21, 177 yards) led Malden’s second-half comeback that produced a pair of scores for the 25-14 final. This game was later ruled a forfeit by Medford, the only ever in series history, due to an ineligible player. It shows as a Malden win in the all-time series slate, but it’s a known fact that Coach Finn and the players never accepted it as a win, living with the score that was decided on the field. 1984: Paul DeMayo put on one of the best one-player scoring shows in history. He had second-half touchdown runs of 56 yards, one yard and eight yards and kicked the conversion point after each score in Malden’s 21-6 victory. The running of DeMayo (95 yards), Reggie Hayes (82) and quarterback Steve Monaco (80) was the key to the Malden win. Richard Lavoie averted the shutout for the Mustangs with a six-yard run in the fourth quarter as Malden stopped the Medford win streak at eight games. Malden captains Guy Prescott and Danny Valeri along with Bob McVicar keyed the defense for the Tornadoes. 1985: The Medford ball-control game helped the Mustangs post a mild, 28-20 upset and grab a share of the GBL title with Peabody. Had Malden won, the Tornadoes would have been coGBL champs. Played two days after Thanksgiving because of a snowstorm, the game was a showcase for John Hunt. Medford’s tailback carried the ball 27 times, gained 116 yards and scored two touchdowns, including the game winner. Marc Bartalini and Scott Pynn scored the other touchdowns for Medford. Tornadoes quarterback Steve Monaco completed 12 of 23 passes for 154 yards but was unable to throw a TD pass. Reggie Hayes ran for two touchdowns for Malden; Monaco, who remains Malden High’s all-time career passer with over 2,600 yards, ran in the other score. 1986: Malden scored 20 points in the first half and 13 in the fourth quarter of a 33-12 victory. Junior Carmine Cappuccio caught three touchdown passes from Chuck Borstel for a series record that still stands. Junior Lawrence Hicks ran for 136 yards and a TD, and junior Brian Hatch scored a TD for the Tornadoes. Bob Ferrante ran for a Medford TD, and Drew Murphy caught a 79-yard pass from Mustang quarterback David Martorana for the other Mustang score. 1987: Malden drove to an undefeated (8-0) Greater Boston League Championship, its first in 12 years, and its best record (9-1) in over 25 years with a 28-0 victory in the historic 100th game with Medford, which was played at Hormel Stadium before a huge crowd and included national television coverage by sports commentator Bob Costas. A pregame pep talk to Malden by former Tornadoes legend Dave Moulton appeared on national TV that day. Lawrence Hicks ran for 118 yards and scored two touchdowns. Bill Roderick passed for 152 yards, including a 46-yard toss to Carmine Cappuccio. Roderick also scored a TD, and J.P. Kelley had an interception for Malden. Chris Forbes and Joe Mucci recovered fumbles that set up Malden TDs. Leading the defense were All-Scholastic and NFL-bound Dan Jones, Brian Hatch, Nick Freni and Mike O’Brien. 1988: Malden clinched its second consecutive GBL title with a 14-13 win. Ed Dicks scored on a three-yard run in the first quarter and Bob Carroll (blocked punt and fumble recovery) caught a four-yard TD pass from Sean Davis, followed by Tim Ford’s two-point conversion run in the fourth period, which turned out to be the game winning points. Co-captain Mike Freker was a key defender with Carroll on the day. Dave Morey scored Medford’s first touchdown on a three-yard run, and Kevin Gillis kicked the PAT point with sophomore Jimmy Martorana returning a kickoff 75 yards for Medford’s second touchdown. 1989: Defense dominated this game from start to finish on both sides of the scrimmage line. Medford won the game, 128, snapping a three-game Malden win streak, and it was the Mustang defense that scored both of its TDs. Scott Tropeano stripped the ball from a Malden runner and reversed direction for a 20-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, Jimmy Martorana broke a 6-6 tie with a spectacular, juggling interception return that covered 70 yards. George Mason caught a four-yard pass from Kevin Geraghty for Malden’s lone TD. The other two Malden points came when Medford quarterback Mike Moreno took a deliberate safety. 1990: Eric Marsh and the Malden defense dominated this game for the Tornadoes, 162. A senior tailback, Marsh carried the ball 25 times, gained 130 yards and scored both the game’s touchdowns on runs of 31 and four yards. Malden defensive linemen Steve Froio, Christian Fitzpatrick, Dan “Bubba” Ford and Walter Fajardo, plus three turnovers (two fumble recoveries and an interception) by Mike Giblin, kept the Mustangs in check. 1991: Mike Moreno had pretty much done it all in a three-year standout career for Medford, but he saved his best for last. Moreno booted a 38-yard field goal with 3:38 left in the game to give the Mustangs their 9-8 victory. It was the first field goal for either team in 12 years, since Franz Eberth’s game winning 19-yarder in Medford’s 1978 win (9-7), and the longest field goal in series history. After a scoreless first half, Paul Morey scored for Medford on a three-yard run in the third quarter (but the conversion try was no good) for a 6-0 lead. Malden took the lead early in the fourth quarter when QB Rob Steber ran two yards for a TD and Deterrance Guyton ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-6 lead that didn’t hold up. 1992: Rob Steber and A.J. Joy scored the Malden touchdowns, and Anthony Lopresti kicked both conversion points that were the difference in the Golden Tornadoes’ 14-13 win at Macdonald Stadium on Pearl Street. Dave Dussault scored both Medford touchdowns, and Rich Fleming kicked the point-after. The game started in a drizzle, which quickly became a downpour. Despite the rain and mud, there were no fumbles. Steber scored on a threeyard run in the first quarter, and Lopresti’s PAT made it 7-0. Dussault caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from QB Chris Jones in the second period to cut the Malden lead to 7-6. Joy raced 54 yards for his TD later in the second, and Lopresti’s boot made it 14-6. Dussault returned a punt 40 yards for a TD in the fourth quarter, but the Malden defense stopped the conversion attempt to seal the win. After Malden’s win, the ceremonial “mud dive” was held and enjoyed by all the Tornadoes. 1993: Malden came all the way back and then some in one of the best comebacks in the series-long history, in a 46-18 win. Down 18-0, Malden roared back with 46 unanswered points. It was Malden’s biggest margin of victory since 1974’s win (42-15). Senior Kurt Gaudet was the star of the day for Malden, dominating the game with three TDs and 160 yards rushing. Teammate Billy Barrat scored two TDs and rushed for 115 yards. Junior split end Rich Griffin caught a fouryard TD pass and two-point conversion pass from junior QB Ronnie Repoza. Medford scored the first three TDs of the game, all by Terrell Halls, who was unstoppable in the first half, rushing for an amazing 255 yards by halftime, finishing with just under 300 for the game, still a series record. Gaudet also had an interception to spark the defense, and Richmond-bound senior D.J. Cunningham, shifted to nose tackle for the game, led defensively for Malden. It was the final Thanksgiving game for Mustang head man “Bud” Kelley after 12 years at the helm. 1994: In one of the biggest upsets in the series overall, and biggest of the 1990s, heavy underdog Medford, coming into the game at 1-8 overall under firstyear 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 nine-yard 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 oneyard 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 GAME | SEE PAGE 19
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