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Page 22 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Wednesday, November 27, 2024 GAME | FROM PAGE 21 Coach Steve Freker, the first former Tornadoes player to coach the game in over a decade, got a win in his Thanksgiving debut. 2019: The seniors took center stage in a game that Malden controlled on both sides of the ball, from beginning to end, in a 29-0 Tornadoes victory at gusty Hormel Stadium in Medford. It was Malden’s first shutout victory in the ancient series since 2011 and finished off the Tornadoes’ season with a pair of wins (2-9), its fifth straight over Medford. The Mustangs finished winless. Malden scored first on an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior co-captain Jamari Youman (5 rec., 78 yards, 1 TD) from sophomore QB Shawn Bartholomew, who was making his first Thanksgiving Day start. Medford stuffed the two-point conversion try, and Malden led, 6-0. The lead held up until late in the second quarter, despite two deep drives into Medford territory by Malden, which ended on fourth down inside the Mustang 10-yard. With under three minutes left in the half, sophomore placekicker Ronald Juarez kicked the first Malden field goal in a Thanksgiving Day win since the 1950s when he booted a 37-yarder through a rain shower for a 9-0 Malden halftime lead. The Tornadoes defense, as it was all game, had been solid in the first half, led by sophomore D-linemen Sammy Solorzano, Davenche Sydney and senior co-captains tackle Ray Duggan and cornerback Ismael Sylus, who made the loudest hit of the Malden season to stop a Mustang drive. Malden held Medford to zero first downs and less than 50 yards total offense in the first half. Senior Jerry Mervil (102 yards rushing, 48 yards receiving) scored on the second play of the second half, a 55-yard TD run, for a 15-0 lead. Youman picked off a Medford pass and ran it for 55 yards for a 21-0 lead; Juarez’s PAT was good for 22-0. After some strong running by sophomore Mackenley Anasthal to get the ball to the Medford 25, senior captain Peterson Maxis closed out the scoring with a 15yard TD run – and Juarez’s second PAT kick. It was the debut on Thanksgiving for Medford High first-year Head Coach John Curley. Malden Head Coach Steve Freker was the first former Tornadoes player-turned-head-coach to go 2-0 in on Thanksgiving in his first two games at the helm. 2020: no game, no season; cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 (May 6, 2021, Fall 2): For the first time since 1897, almost 125 years, The Game was not planned to be played on Thanksgiving Day, because the once-in-100-years COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 Fall Sports Season in Massachusetts. This 132nd game was not considered a “Thanksgiving Game” due to it being played on May 6, 2022, in the so-called “Fall 2 season,” but by playing the game at all, Malden-Medford catapulted past Boston English-Boston Latin, which did not play in 2020 or Fall 2, to become THE longest continuous high school football rivalry in the United States. In a game played at balmy Macdonald Stadium (temperature in the low 60s), Medford snapped a 14game losing streak overall, dating back to the 2018 season, with a 24-21 win over Malden. The game was close throughout and even went down to the last play, a 37-yard field goal attempt by senior Tornadoes placekicker Ronald Juarez, which went just wide left as time ran out, sending the Medford team rushing the field in a raucous celebration. The top star of the game was Medford senior quarterback Aidan Barry, who totaled over 300 yards of offense individually, including 108 yards rushing and 2 TDs, to go along with nearly 200 yards passing and 2 TDs. Barry had one of the best games ever for a Mustang passer on Thanksgiving, connecting on 19 of 25 passes for 203 yards. Alvin Legros (7 catches, 85 yards, 1 TD) was his favorite target. Malden’s top offensive performer was senior Giovani Memeus (14 carries, 63 yards, 2 TDs). Malden trailed, 24-21, after a 32-yard TD pass from junior QB Shawn Bartholomew to Nelson Monosiet and then got a last chance when the Tornadoes got a turnover on downs at its own 34 with 2:36 to play. But Malden’s drive stalled at the Medford 27 after a costly holding penalty, and the game ended on the missed kick. It was Malden Head Coach Steve Freker’s final game on the sidelines, as the reins were handed to assistant coach Witche Exilhomme in the offseason. 2021: The game returned to Thanksgiving Day in November of 2021 and stayed in Malden as the Tornadoes kept their dominance intact with a 12-10 victory over visiting Medford. It was Malden’s sixth straight Thanksgiving victory, dating back to 2016. Malden got off to the best start possible when sophomore Davian McGuffie took the opening kickoff “to the house,” – 73 yards – for a Malden touchdown. Ronald Juarez’s PAT kick made it 7-0, Malden, before most fans had even settled in their seats. Medford’s offense had success moving the ball in the first half, but Malden’s defense stiffened with two goal-line stands to keep the 7-0 lead intact. Medford did get on the scoreboard in the second quarter – when penalties backed Malden up near its goal line and then freshman Malden QB Aidan Brett was penalized for intentional grounding in the end zone – for a Medford safety and a 7-2 lead. Medford was able to stick in a touchdown with 11 seconds left in the half and added a two-point conversion to go into halftime leading, 10-7. Malden came out strong in the second half, converting an onside kick off Juarez’s foot and eventually driving down the field and tying the game when Juarez booted a 21-yard field goal. With the kick Juarez became the only placekicker in Malden High history to kick field goals in two Thanksgiving Day games (both Malden wins). Senior Lyden Lewis was the unofficial game MVP when he simply dominated the rest of the way. He sacked the Medford QB on the next series in the end zone for a Malden safety and a 12-10 lead. Lewis also caused a fumble on another sack and recovered it himself in another huge play. Malden QB Jordan Rodriguez handing the ball off to junior running back Mak Blaise, which proved to be the winning formula the rest of the way as Malden ground down the clock and sealed the victory. It was a Thanksgiving win in his debut for first-year Malden Head Coach Witche Exilhomme, a 2013 Malden High graduate. 2022: This Thanksgiving game was played at historic Fenway Park, the first time ever it has not been played in either Malden or Medford. Malden and second-year Head Coach Witche Exilhomme hit it out of the park with a 34-15 win over Medford in Game #135 of the fabled series. With the win, Malden extended its win streak on Thanksgiving to seven games, taking a 69-56 lead in the series. Malden erased the slightest of doubt the Tornados had come to play –and play well – on the very first play of the entire game, when sophomore running back Kevin Exilhomme, younger brother of the coach, took the opening kickoff all the way back up the right sideline, 95 yards, for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead. Another record: second straight game Malden started Thanksgiving like this! On the Mustangs’ first offensive play of the game, about seven seconds after the kickoff return TD, Malden safety Felix Junior Da Costa made it a “scoop-and-score” when Medford fumbled at about midfield after a short run. Da Costa, a junior and one of Malden's top impact players on defense all year, scooped the fumble in the middle of a crowd and raced 46 yards, weaving twice to avoid potential tacklers and made it to the end zone for a 12-0 lead for Malden. Senior back Kyle took a pop pass from soph QB Aidan Brett for a 7-yard TD pass for a 22-0 Malden lead. Medford’s Stevens Exateur brought the large Medford contingent back to life with a 62-yard kickoff return for Medford to start the second half. The comeback continued as Medford’s Luiz Barbosa ran in a 22-yard TD, and Dom Rizzo’s 2-point conversion run made it 22-15 Malden. Da Costa made the biggest defensive play of the night with a pass interception to stuff Medford’s next drive. Exilhomme scored his third TD of the game for a 28-15 lead. Junior 6-5 Gabriel Vargas Cardoso had a 28-yard reception from Brett to fuel the drive. Brett had his best game of the year, 12-of-21, 122 yards, 1 TD, no INT. Malden junior linemen Karl Lange and Joey Fils both recovered fumbles; two plays later, Malden’s Brett ushered some good, old-fashioned “Razzle Dazzle” into the game when he handed off to Exilhomme, who in turn handed off a reverse to Avalos, who then completed a “Flea Flicker” toss back to the QB. Brett escaped one tackle attempt and scrambled to nearly the right sideline before catching sight of a wide open McGuffie in the end zone. From a near-impossible angle, Brett fired a sidearm missile that nearly went more than six feet off the ground, right to McGuffie’s cradling arms for a 15-yard touchdown and a 34-15 lead with under five minutes to play. Malden’s Brett took a Victory Formation knee on Medford’s 5-yard line in a classy Tornado ending to the Fenway Classic. Witche Exilhomme became just the second former Tornado player turned head coach to go 2-0 in his first two Thanksgiving games in decades. 2023: The Medford Mustangs forced six turnovers, four of them in the second half, and beat Malden 30-14 in the historic 136th meeting of the rival schools on a blustery Thursday morning in Medford. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak in the rivalry on Thanksgiving Day for the Mustangs (6-4), who ended their season in style and posted their first winning record since the 1990s. Malden finished 3-8 overall. Stevens Exateur was the workhorse for the Mustangs, rushing 29 times for 138 yards and a score. Malden junior wideout Nate Sullivan made a leaping 30-yard touchdown catch from QB Aidan Brett to give the Golden Tornadoes a 7-6 lead with 2:21 left in the third quarter, after an offense-challenged, 6-0 lead at halftime in Medford’s favor. It was the first time that Malden had been shut out in the first half since 2007, a game it eventually won, 7-6. Exateur ran the ensuing catch back 87 yards to give Medford a 14-7 lead they would not give back. Freshman QB Ryan Bowdridge came on to play in the third quarter and became the first ninth grader in series history to throw a TD pass for either team when he found junior Earl Fevrier for a 65-yard score to make it 22-14. But Justin Marino scored on a Pick-6 with 1:25 left to play to seal the deal and give Medford Head Coach John Curley his first Thanksgiving win and Malden coach Witche Exilhomme a first Turkey Day loss.

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