Photo: Belmont’s Senior RB Kilian O’Connell finishing off the scoring in Belmont’s 33-20 victory over Watertown.

After surrendering three touchdowns in the first two minutes of the 98th edition of the Turkey Day tussle with Watertown, the Belmont High football team was asked to complete a 13th Herculean task; to climb back from the nightmare start with its holiday archrival and accomplish one of its main goals this season and win on Thanksgiving.

“It was a rough start, no doubt about it,” said Belmont Head Coach Yann Kumin. “But we have a football team that hasn’t quit this year and they weren’t today.”

After falling behind 20-0, Belmont (5-6) rode its impressive running attack to five consecutive touchdowns while a dominating defense shut out Watertown (4-7) for the game’s remaining 41 minutes as the Marauders overpowered the Raiders, 33-20, ending a six-game Thanksgiving Day losing streak on the coldest holiday observance in more than a century.

A touchdown by senior running back Rhaki Joseph and two from his backfield partner senior Kilian O’Connell coupled with a pair by junior QB Avery Arno including the go-ahead score on the first play of the fourth quarter nullified Watertown’s first quarter onslaught. 

After being blitzed by Watertown, Belmont’s defensive front seven – led by seniors Sam Sagherian, Kamyar Nouri and Connor Shea, junior Ryan Hoffman and junior standout Derek Brown along with linebackers senior Mike Delhome and junior Ryan Santoro – kept the Watertown offense which came into the match on a three-game winning streak under wraps. 

“They did a great job up front the entire game,” said Kumin. 

While ultimately winning the game, Belmont could not have placed themselves further behind the 8-ball than it did to start the game. A pair of squib kicks bounced off two Marauder up men resulting in an “oops” touchdown when Watertown senior Mange Camara picked up a fumble to ran untouched for six followed by a three-yard rush by sophomore David Manoukian. A hard tackle off a pop-up kickoff saw Watertown gain the ball again. On the next play Camara sneaking behind the Belmont defensive backs to score off a pass from QB Nick McDermott. Five offensive plays, three touchdowns.

But rather than see the start as a disaster in the making, Kumin said Watertown’s unconventional kickoffs were “a good thing because it showed that they were nervous to give us the ball.”

“We knew once we had the ball in our hands, our game plan was going to be hard to stop,” he said.

On Belmont’s second play from scrimmage, Joseph found a hole in the line than rounded the corner and with an outstanding block by senior wide receiver Jared Edwards danced down the right sideline 61 yards to put Belmont on the board as the bundled-up crowd saw four touchdowns in the game’s first three minutes and nine seconds.

After the monster start, the Raiders found themselves bottled up for the rest of the first half, with Belmont defensive backs created a coverage sack on McDermott finished by Nouri and Sagherian and a big sack on the quarterback by senior co-captain Delhome to finish off the Watertown drive.  

On the subsequent possession that began on Belmont’s three-yard line, O’Connell romped for 23 and 27 yards on consecutive plays to bring the ball deep into Watertown territory. On fourth down and three from the 26 and with Belmont showing a four-receiver set, Arno faked the pass and with a critical block by Santoro ran through a Watertown tackle for Belmont’s second touchdown with 6:31 showing in the second quarter.

In the true meaning of the saying “what comes around, goes around,” on the subsequent kickoff, junior Hampton Trout’s kick hit the back of a Watertown player and was recovered by the Marauders. A play after O’Connell broke tackles for 23 yards to the Watertown 12, the senior running back recovered from running into Arno during the handoff and sprinted 12 yards to the end zone to tie the game at 20 at 4:17 before halftime.

Watertown began the third quarter on the march as McDermott broke the Raiders’ longest run, 31 yards to the Belmont 39 as Belmont’s 20 put on a touchdown-preventing tackle. But with a first down on the Belmont 27, Belmont’s defense rose to the occasion as Brown took down McDermott for a five-yard loss and Delhome disrupted a screen pass for limited yards. A Watertown miscue on the center/QB exchange on fourth down ended the threat.

Belmont took over and methodically ran the ball – Arno would not attempt a pass during the game – down the field, eating up nearly eight minutes and scored on the first play of the fourth quarter on an Arno one-yard sneak. 

Watertown began its next drive with consecutive first downs only to see another exchange mistake go over McDermott’s head leaving the Raiders in a deep hole before punting. 

With six minutes to go, Belmont gave the ball right back to the Raiders on a fumble. But a sack by Brown – who has become one of the best defensive linemen in the Middlesex League this year – on first down led on a fourth down and nine and tight coverage by junior Justin Rocha stuffed out a Watertown drive once again. The coup de grâce came one play after Joseph rumbled 32 yards to Watertown’s one as O’Connell kicked to the outside to run unchallenged for his second touchdown. 

After taking a well deserved but ill-advised victory bucket of water on a day the temperature didn’t rise above 17 degrees, Yumin was emotional – or just freezing – talking about the squad’s total effort in the game and for the season.

“Never gave up. I’m so proud of this group of players,” he said.

Photos by Lisa Sotir.

Photo: Belmont senior Will Ellet defended by Watertown’s John Korte. (photo by Ian Findlay)

The formula Watertown High Raiders used Thanksgiving morning to get by crosstown rival Belmont in the annual Turkey Day contest was relatively simple: find wide receiver John Korte and throw it to him.

And that tactic worked as the tall senior – the 6’5″ Korte is expected to be the Raiders’ starting center this upcoming hoops season – scored three times via junior quarterback Nick McDermott while making a handful of clutch catches to lead the Raiders over the Marauders, 35-16, in the 97th edition of the rivalry held at Victory Field.

“The defense was pretty stout through most of this game especially against the run from our linebackers and ends,” said Belmont’s Head Coach Yann Kumin after the game. “But I also thought we missed some opportunities on offense. Plays were there, but we didn’t execute. All credit to [Watertown Head Coach] John [Cacace]. They … played a great game,” said Kumin.

Watertown ends the season at 7-5 including some major silverware, the Division 5 North Sectional title and one win from a Superbowl appearance. Belmont finished the campaign at 2-9, coming close in some games but falling short. 

While Belmont’s defense was able to keep Watertown’s ground game in check for three-quarters of the game, it was just a step behind when the Raiders took to the air with Korte its most lethal weapon. Watertown scored on the opening (at 8:23), and closing (2:31) drives of the first quarter with Korte scoring from 48 and 46 yards.

There were a number of stellar plays in the first half by Belmont’s defense including a drive stopping run blitz tackle by senior linebacker Adam Deese on a third down and short deep in Marauder territory late in the first quarter and a timely sack of McDermott by sophomore lineman Derrick Bow followed by sophomore Justin Rocha’s breaking up a McDermott pass. Both drives ended in missed field goals by senior Conor Kennelly.

Offensively, Belmont’s usually accurate senior quarterback George Fitzgerald was a little off target especially in the first half when Belmont could not sustain its drives. The Marauders did get a boost from the punting of senior Aidan Cadogan who booted 53 and 45-yard punts on the day. Despite a muffed punt deep in Belmont’s end with less than a minute to play in half, the Marauders’ forced a field goal attempt that Kennelly hooked wide in the final seconds. 

After halftime – which saw the Belmont High Marching Band perform its “Gold” routine for a final time – it appeared Watertown was heading for another score after forcing yet another Belmont punt after a three and out. But a fumble recovery near midfield put a spark in Belmont’s offense, and it smartly drove downfield finishing with senior running back Tyler Reynolds turning the right corner and scampering for the TD from six yards out with five minutes left in the third to cut the lead in half, 14-7.

But Watertown quickly upped the lead back to two touchdowns as senior running back Matthew Muldrew scored the first of his brace from two yards out with 2:53 remaining on a series that began with a 40-yard completion between McDermott and Korte to increase the lead to 21-7. The Raiders would mix it up on its next drive with short strikes by McDermott and running plays that saw Muldrew score again with about eight minutes remaining in the game. 

Despite the score, Belmont kept plugging away on its next series, keyed by a great 45-yard catch by senior Jake Pollack to the Watertown 5 yard line and culminating in Fitzgerald finding junior wide receiver Dijuan Moore for the touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt failed by less than a length of the football to make the score 28-13. 

Korte who put the explanation mark on his game with his third TD, a 40-yard pitch and catch with McDermott.

In a nice gesture, Belmont sent out three-year starter Cadigan to finish his career with a 35-yard field goal with 49 seconds remaining in the game to end the scoring at 35-16. 

“One of our problems all season was being susceptible to the big play and it happened here,” said Kumin.