THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 2, 2022 Page 19 THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS: Remembering the late Malden football Head Coach Paul Finn; coached more Turkey Day games than anyone and would have loved to have been at Fenway ‘Exilhomme Domination’: Brother duo, Coach Witche and game MVP Kevin, shared spotlight; Fenway crowd for Malden-Medford game #135 believed to be largest ever in series: over 3,000 By Steve Freker T he holidays – Thanksgiving time, particularly – are special times for a lot of reasons. One of them is that they are a time for reminiscing. Last Thanksgiving, we mentioned in this very same “leftovers” column the fact there were at least four former Malden High Head Football Coaches in attendance at the 2021 holiday rivalry game – maybe four. We think a fifth, Rich Cullen (1999-2003), might have been there, too, but we are not exactly sure. They included Steve Freker (2018-2021), Joe Pappagallo (2007-2015), John Lopresti (2004-2006) and of course, the longest-serving football head coach in school history, Paul Finn (1972-1998). Coach Finn was a head coach in more Thanksgiving Day contests against archrival Medford than anyone. He was appointed as head coach at a young age, barely out of college at age 25, for the 1972 season, and he “retired” at a young age as well – at 51 – an age when many head coaches of his era were just beginning their tenures at the helm. Coach Finn was not in attendance at the 135th meeting between the two teams at Fenway Park last Tuesday, but he absolutely would have loved it. An old-school student-athlete in his years at Malden High (Class of 1965), he was a standout for three sports: football, basketball and baseball. When the “Impossible Dream” Red Sox were playing in 1967, he was a sophomore at Amherst College, soaking it all in. Many times, following his retirement from the Malden Public Schools as an administrator, he would stop and catch an inning or two of our Malden High baseball team, his alma mater team, on his daily walk through Pine Banks Park from his nearby home, right next to the field. We sadly lost Coach Finn this past winter when tragedy struck and he passed away suddenly on February 7, way too young at age 74. The entire city of Malden Witche Exilhomme – the second-youngest ever appointed to that position last year at age 27 (second to the late Coach Paul Finn, see above) – and sophomore running back/linebacker Kervenson “Kevin” Exilhomme, 15, were the stars of the show. While Coach Exilhomme, a 2012 Malden High graduate (and star of the 2011 Turkey Day game), was steering his team to his second consecutive Thanksgiving Day win – Malden's seventh Thanksgiving win in a row over Medford – his brother was lighting it up on the field. Kevin Exilhomme scored three touchdowns, including opening REMEMBERING COACH FINN: The 135th Thanksgiving Game versus Medford at Fenway Park was the first one without the late former longtime Malden High Football Head Coach Paul Finn in attendance as a spectator, player or coach in over 60 years! Coach Finn passed away suddenly this past February, but he will be remembered always. and the hundreds of players he coached who had moved away physically, but never in spirit, from Tornado-Land, mourned him deeply. We believe some members of Coach Finn’s family were in the stands rooting on the Tornados in the iconic Fenway ballpark on Tuesday, and they remembered him with a great page in the Golden Tornado Club–sponsored program/ ad book. There is no doubt whatsoevGOLDEN TORNADOS CELEBRATE, MOST RETURN FOR 2023: Nearly all of the Malden High starters from the Thanksgiving win over Medford will return for the 2023 season. Shown above, with Fenway Park’s famous “Green Monster” in the background, from left: front row: junior Davian McGuffie, assistant coach Wiston Jeune, junior captain Gabriel Vargas Cardoso and junior Alex Avalos; back row: senior captain Andrew Louis, assistant coach James Brito-White, sophomore captain James Hyppolite, senior John Lloyd, junior Felix Da Costa and sophomore Matheus Brito. (Advocate Photo/ Steve Freker) er that the beloved Coach Finn, who literally touched thousands of lives in his 27 years as Head Football Coach and nearly 40 years as an educator and administrator in the Malden Public Schools, was at Fenway in spirit, looking down at the game and reveling in the 34-15 Malden victory! Rest in peace, Coach. You will not be forgotten. **** Exilhomme Family puts its stamp on another memorable Thanksgiving Football victory It is always a rarity when not one, but two members of the same family are the targets of the postgame media, following a big victory. Usually, if it does take place, it is perhaps a father-and-son, Coach and player scenario. On Tuesday, November 22, it was even more unusual: two brothers from the same family and both of whom had played key roles in the 34-15 Malden High School (4-6) win over Medford (2-9) in the 135th Meeting of the two teams, the longest continuous high school rivalry in America. Malden Head Coach EXILHOMME BROS. PUT STAMP ON GAME: The two Exilhomme Brothers – sophomore running back Kevin Exilhomme, who scored three touchdowns in the win over Medford at Fenway Park, and second-year head coach Witche Exilhomme, now 2-0 as a head coach, stopped for a photo with the Championship Trophy outside Fenway Park on November 22. (Advocate Photo/Steve Freker) the game with a 95-yard kickoff return for a TD just seconds into the game. He ended up being the “go-to” man the rest of the night, carrying the ball a seasonand career-high 29 times for 81 years. The younger Exilhomme also caught three passes for 21 REMEMBERING | SEE PAGE 20
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