After losing the last three Thanksgiving games to rival Cranston East, Cranston West’s large contingent of seniors will leave the program with a Turkey Day win, as the Falcons rolled past the ’Bolts last Thursday, 43-21.

West’s seniors were determined to notch their first Thanksgiving win, and it showed, with seniors accounting for all six touchdowns in the win. Quarterback Ryan Marsella rushed in for three, while running back Matt Lonardo rushed in for two of his own and Drew Watts recorded a pick-six, as well.

While it was all smiles on West’s sideline after the game, that wasn’t the case on the opposite side. There’s no question that mental mistakes, taking penalties and turning the ball over, certainly cost East.

“One thing that’s affected a lot of our games is our penalties and our turnovers, and in the first half those certainly affected us tremendously,” said Cranston East head coach Tom Centore.

From the very first series, East gifted the opposition chances with undisciplined play. The Thunderbolt defensive line accrued four offsides penalties over the course of six plays on Cranston West’s first drive, gifting the Falcons two first downs on what would end up being a scoring drive on the back of a Lonardo 35-yard rushing touchdown to give West a 7-0 lead.

A questionable onside kick attempt by West after Lonardo’s touchdown gave Cranston East a gift of its own, a drive starting at its own 48-yard line. However, East opened its gift and decided to return it to sender, as on the third play of its first offensive possession, it fumbled the ball away and gave West advantageous field position at its own 48.

West’s ensuing drive was as quick as Cranston East’s, but much more productive; between consistent 5-and 7-yard gains, Lonardo again busted off a big run of 23 yards before taking a 4-yard rush to the house to give West a 14-0 lead in the opening frame.

Down two scores mostly due to its own faults, East needed a sustained drive to build some momentum and keep its defense off the field, and it delivered just that to open the second quarter. The drive nearly bogged down several times, but some nice throws from junior Steven Alvarez, including an 8-yard throw into tight coverage inside the 10 to nab a first down, helped set up Cranston East’s first score of the day – John Anderson’s first of two rushing touchdowns in the game.

East looked to be back in the game, with a rested defense looking to get its first stop to help even the game at a critical juncture. The East defense was unable to step up to the challenge, however, as a 50-yard run by Watts set up a rushing score from Marsella to balloon the lead to 21-7.

East and West went back and forth trading unfruitful drives early in the second half, but a pick-six by Watts opened up a three-score lead that, despite two second-half scores by East’s Anderson and Malik Gavek, would never really be threatened the rest of the way.

After the win, Marsella, the Falcons’ quarterback who ran for two scores in the second half, including the game-sealing touchdown, received the MVP for the winning Falcons. Falcons’ head coach Steve Stoehr said he’ll miss Marsella and the rest of his backfield.

“Our backfield is a senior backfield, and I’m gonna miss them,” said Stoehr. “Matt Lonardo played like a champion, and Ryan played very well, but we have a young team and we hope this is building towards a great year next year.”

These Thanksgiving contests often have that playoff feel to them, and even in the absence of postseason play, both East and West must have felt that they got a taste of where they want to go on that cold Turkey Day morning.