Pats get it done

Kelly's four scores lead Pilgrim to first Thanksgiving win since 2010

Kevin Pomeroy, Sports Editor
Posted 12/2/14

The score might indicate otherwise, but Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game between Warwick Vets and Pilgrim was one-sided right from the start.

The Pats got their revenge.

After being shutout …

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Pats get it done

Kelly's four scores lead Pilgrim to first Thanksgiving win since 2010

Posted

The score might indicate otherwise, but Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game between Warwick Vets and Pilgrim was one-sided right from the start.

The Pats got their revenge.

After being shutout each of the past two seasons in the most lopsided games of the entire 51-year history of the rivalry, and losing three straight games in the series overall, Pilgrim ran wild this year in an eventual 42-27 victory.

Junior Owen Kelly ran for 230 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, as part of a monster game that saw him rush for 254 yards total and find the end zone four times. Sophomore Sean Cooney had a big game on the ground for the Pats as well with 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Pilgrim’s senior class got its first Thanksgiving Day victory in its last opportunity.

“It’s the best feeling in the world, getting that ‘W’ on Thanksgiving,” said senior quarterback Rob Quaine.

Pilgrim out-gained Vets 480 to 145 on the day and led 20-0 in the first quarter. The ’Canes narrowed the gap late in the second half during a wild sequence that saw the teams combine for four touchdowns in a span of 1:28, but they never truly got within striking distance.

“This is what all four years were for,” said senior Griffin Potter. “This is all I wanted since I started playing. I haven’t felt a win on Thanksgiving, let alone a home game win on Thanksgiving since I started playing. This is everything.”

Vets lost its 12th game in as many tries in what has been a difficult season, but the team was proud of its effort on Thanksgiving. It certainly never quit, and it put forth its best offensive output of the season.

“Our guys never quit and that’s something that we’ve been proud of all year long,” said Vets coach Bryan Nappa. “They’re able to fight through. Offensively we played our best game since the beginning of the year, since we played Chariho. And against the first unit the whole time.”

Mickenzey Pacheco was the workhorse for Vets, carrying the ball 33 times for 129 yards, while also catching the only completed pass of the day for the ’Canes. He added a 93-yard kick return touchdown as well.

“He played out of his mind today,” Nappa said of Pacheco, one of the team’s lone seniors. “It was his last game.

Yet, despite Pacheco’s efforts, the game belonged to Pilgrim. The Pats scored touchdowns on each of their first three drives and five out of their six possessions in the first half.

Cooney scored the first two, bursting through the middle on fullback trap plays on both sides to score from 39 and 34 yards out. Kelly added the third touchdown on a 45-yard scamper out of the wildcat formation.

“The offensive line played outstanding,” said Pilgrim head coach Tom O’Connor. “There were holes, and when they did breakdown Kelly and Sean Cooney did a great job picking their way through it.”

Vets managed to get on the board with the help of a late hit penalty on a third-and-long play, as quarterback Nick Beaufort forced his way into the end zone from 2 yards out, making it 20-7.

That set off a wild sequence. On the very next play, once Pilgrim took over, Kelly burst through the left side and sprinted away from the defense for a 58-yard touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Pacheco couldn’t get a clean handle on it initially, then scooped it up at his team’s 7-yard line and went untouched up the left side for a 93-yard score to make it 28-14.

The Pats then took over at their own 40-yard line and three plays into the drive, Kelly scored from 47 yards out on another wildcat run to make it 36-14 at the half.

From the 3:28 mark to the 2:00 mark in the second quarter, the two teams combined for 30 points.

“We just kept trying to put points on the board,” Kelly said.

Any hope Vets had of a comeback quickly vanished to start the second half when Quaine sent a kickoff spiraling towards the left sideline that hit the wet turf and died, allowing the Pats to recover at Vets’ 34-yard line.

Three plays later, Kelly was in the end zone for the fourth time, this one from 2 yards out.

“There’s not much you can say about the kid,” O’Connor said. “He’s over 1,000 yards for the season, the offense is over 2,000 yards for the season. We had a great offensive year and Kelly is a special player.”

At that point, with the score 42-14, Vets played some if its best football of the game. It kept Pilgrim off the scoreboard for the remainder of the day, and intercepted Quaine in the red zone late in the third quarter.

Pacheco scored his second touchdown of the game from 10 yards out early in the fourth quarter, and Beaufort added his second touchdown from 4 yards out with 1:50 to play in the contest, rounding out the scoring.

“What we’ve done well is focus on knowing what our limitations are,” Nappa said. “We try to focus on what we do well and carrying that forward. We try to stress that it’s not always about football – it’s about teaching them how to succeed in life.”

Quaine completed 7-of-12 passes for Pilgrim for 105 yards in his final game under center, while Darren Grant had three catches for 63 yards and David McMullen had three catches for 49 yards.

And it all worked out to a streak-stopping, Thanksgiving Day win. Vets leads the all-time series 29-22-1.

Pilgrim, meanwhile, finished above .500 for the first time in recent memory, ending the season with a 6-4 mark.

“We’re real happy with 6-4,” O’Connor said. “We sat down before the season and we said we could be 0-for, or we could win it all. We ended up somewhere in between. It worked out really well for us.”

For the first time since 2010, Pilgrim has a Thanksgiving victory.

“Greatest feeling I’ve had,” Kelly said.

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