Westerly shut out Stonington, 15-0 — the exact score of its first Thanksgiving Day victory 100 years ago — in front of a crowd of approximately 4,400 at Stonington High School.
In 1911, the Westerly defense shut out rival Stonington in the first Thanksgiving Day game between the high schools.
On Thursday, Stonington and Westerly matched up in the 100th anniversary of that game, and the Bulldogs proved not much has changed in the last century.
The loss eliminated Stonington — who entered the game in the final spot — out of Class M state playoff contention.
Westerly (9-2) held an early 7-0 lead on Adam Mitchell’s 68-yard run down the left sideline on the first play of the game.
Despite the long run by Mitchell, the game’s MVP, the Bulldogs combined for 36 total yards the rest of the half.
Stonington, which still leads the all-time series, 69-66-17, after this 152nd overall meeting, outgained Westerly in the first half of Thursday’s game and advanced past the Bulldogs’ 30-yard line three times. However, the Bears didn’t score on any of the drives.
“They were moving the ball, but we would always come up with a key play to stop them,” Read said.
It was pass knockdown, a sack for an 11-yard loss, and a goal-line stop to end the half that kept the Bears off the board. Stonington (6-4) had possessions stop at the 29, 24 and 5-yard lines of Westerly in the opening two frames.
After connecting with Harry Calmar on a 43-yard pass at the end of the first half to move to the 4-yard line, Eddie Rathbun threw to a receiver just inside the goal line with 4 seconds remaining in the half.
The receiver was hit hard on each side and the ball fell to the ground for an incompletion.
Rathbun tried to run for the score on the next play, but was pushed out at the 5-yard line as time expired.
Wriedt said middle linebacker Alex Santangelo was the key to keeping Stonington off the scoreboard in the second half, but he had some help.
With 6:57 left in the fourth, the Bulldogs made a big play to make it a two-score game. Patrick Nix, who had a pair of sacks in the first half, blocked Rathbun’s punt into the back of the end zone for a safety.
On Westerly’s next possession, Read (14 rushes, 28 yards) punched in the final score on a 3-yard run with 4:00 remaining.