SOUTH KINGSTOWN – Both teams already won their most important football games of the season, but South Kingstown and North Kingstown each wanted to go out with one more victory.
The 31st installment of the NK vs SK Turkey Bowl, played this year at URI’s Meade Stadium, went in favor of the Skippers by 19-15 score. It’s the eighth straight Turkey Bowl victory for NK. Since the Thanksgiving rivalry renewed in 2000, it’s the third-closest margin of victory by either side.
“We had a good shot to win going into it and we knew it,” said SK quarterback Brayden Rosen, who completed 7-of-16 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. “But we can’t let that make us forget about how good of a season we had. We won the D-II Super Bowl. But it does still hurt.”
SK still leads the all-time Turkey Bowl series 16-15, but NK leads 14-10 since the 2000 renewal.
The rivalry game is traditionally played on Thanksgiving Day, but it was moved to the day prior because the URI football team needed their field Thursday to practice for the FCS playoffs.
After winning their first Division II title since 2008, the Rebels had just two full days to prepare for the Turkey Bowl. And still, they almost pulled off the upset.
SK went undefeated in D-II play this season and finished with a 10-2 overall record, only losing to Cranston West and NK which both play in D-I. It’s the most successful year for the SK program since that 2008 championship.
NK had a successful year as well. They missed the state playoffs due to a rough start to the season but flipped a switch in the second half and won the “consolation bowl” D-I tournament. By beating SK, the Skippers ended the season on a six-game winning streak to finish 7-3 overall.
“Cooper Berthelot was the one who said we’re going to go 7-3,” said A.J. Parry, referencing a goal echoed by the Skippers after their 1-3 start. “And we did, we’re 7-3 and we worked together as a team. We got to a point in the season where we realized we need to execute on everything.”
Parry made the first explosive play last Wednesday, taking a short pass thrown by Jack Diano all the way for a 72-yard touchdown on the third snap of the game. The extra point was missed, but NK led 6-0.
The Rebels responded in the most fitting way, considering their grit-and-grind strategy that lasted all season. They took possession at their own 27-yard line and used 14 straight run plays to reach the red zone, converting two fourth downs and two third downs along the way. On the 15th play of the drive, they used play action and Rosen threw to Tyler Denecour for a 12-yard touchdown. Kai Sorlien made the extra point to give SK a 7-6 lead. The drive lasted 8 minutes, 45 seconds.
NK took the lead back before halftime. Diano completed a 33-yard pass to Gian Iacuele to reach near the goal line and Nick Stafford took in a 2-yard rush for the touchdown.
Nearly every yard for the Skippers in the game came through the air, picking up 196 passing yards and just 26 rushing. They only ran for short gains, and it made perfect sense as to why. The Rebels allowed almost no ground yardage the entire season, even against bigger D-I teams.
“We barely ran the ball,” said Iacuele, who caught four passes for 92 yards and a touchdown and made a few pass breakups on defense as well. “Our whole gameplan was to pass, pass, pass. That’s how we wanted to win, by passing the ball. We did a pretty good job at it I would say.”
SK received the ball to start the second half, and an unnecessary roughness flag against Iacuele on the second play pushed the Rebels to midfield. Jordan Chaloux made a 10-yard run before Rosen found Denecour deep over the middle for a 40-yard touchdown. Dante Peno ran in a 2-point conversion to take a 15-13 lead.
The Skippers received the ball and faced a fourth-and-1 in their own territory. They went for it and Diano scrambled toward the right sideline before completing a tough pass through traffic to a leaping Berthelot for a 20-yard gain. Three plays later, Diano found Iacuele deep over the middle for a 39-yard touchdown pass. They failed a 2-point conversion, but the Skippers held 19-15 lead midway through the third quarter.
That score stood throughout the fourth. SK got the ball back at their own 21 with 1:10 remaining, and they picked up 33 yards on two pass completions, but an interception by freshman Ethan Machado sealed it with 28 seconds left.
“We definitely had a shot to get it done,” Rosen said. “We just had to execute a little more on offense. That’s a great offense on the other sideline, and I think our defense did a good job containing them. At the end of the day, I think we needed to put up more points on offense.”
For at least 11 Rebels and nine Skippers, the game marked the end of the seniors’ high school football careers.
“It definitely hurts. Last game with the guys,” Iacuele said. “But it means a lot to me that we got the win. I couldn’t feel any other way. If we were to lose I don’t know how I’d feel.”
“It’s surreal for it to end,” NK’s senior kicker/punter Liam Kennett said. “But I feel like it’s more surreal for the guys that are done with football completely.”
Kennett punted three times on the field that he’ll play at next season. The senior is committed to URI as a punter. One of his punts in the Turkey Bowl went from his own 47 and was downed at the 1-yard line.
“It means a lot to me,” Kennett said about being on the Meade Stadium turf for the first time. “I feel like this started everything for next year.”
Offensive and defensive game MVP awards were handed out to both teams during a post-game ceremony.
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