Breaking down SouthCoast's 2023 Thanksgiving football games

All nine SouthCoast football teams — Apponequet, Bishop Stang, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, GNB Voc-Tech, New Bedford, Old Colony, Old Rochester and Wareham — will play this week.

There are two games scheduled for Wednesday night, and five are slated for Thanksgiving morning.

Headlining this week’s action is a pair of all local matchups with Dartmouth hosting Fairhaven and Old Rochester traveling to Apponequet.

Standard-Times Sports Editor Laurie Los Lee went 7-2 with her Week 10 picks and is 64-15 overall for the season.

Here’s a breakdown of all seven games featuring SouthCoast teams this week along with Laurie’s predictions:

Tri-County at Old Colony

When: Wednesday, 6 p.m.

Records: Tri-County (6-3); Old Colony (8-2)

Last meeting: Old Colony 30, Tri-County 0

Outlook: Old Colony is looking to bounce back from its playoff loss to Hoosac Valley in its annual Thanksgiving Eve matchup. The key to success this year has been a stingy defense that is allowing just 11.1 points per game and a balanced ground attack on offense with five different players having scored at least five touchdowns. Stu Burnham leads the way with 11 touchdowns, while Colin Monahan and Nathan Marden have eight apiece and Shawn Markham has found the end zone seven times. Tri-County knocked off South Shore 26-12 to advance to the State Vocational semifinals thanks to a pair of rushing touchdowns by Matt Pinto.

Laurie’s Line: Old Colony 28, Tri-County 22

SEASON STATS: SouthCoast's leading scorers in high school football entering Week 11

Bishop Feehan at Bishop Stang

When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

Records: Bishop Feehan (7-2); Bishop Stang (4-6)

Last meeting: Bishop Feehan 48, Bishop Stang 8

Outlook: After opening the season 1-5, the Spartans made a nice run, winning three straight games to reach the Div. 5 state quarterfinals, where they lost to top-seeded Hanover. Stang has enjoyed most of its success offensively thanks to the running of Brock Winslow, Eli Ikkela, Keagan Plante and Dominic Cavallo. Winslow leads the Spartans with five touchdowns, while Ikkela and Plante have four apiece and Cavallo has scored three. Bishop Feehan, which was among the top teams in the Catholic Central League this fall, saw its playoff run end with a loss to Marshfield in the Div. 2 state quarterfinals.

Laurie’s Line: Bishop Feehan 28, Bishop Stang 14

Old Rochester at Apponequet

When: Thursday, 10 a.m.

Records: Old Rochester (5-5); Apponequet (4-6)

Last meeting: Apponequet 22, Old Rochester 3

Outlook: Old Rochester can wrap up the South Coast Conference Blue Division championship with a win over the Lakers and get some payback for last year’s loss. If ORR loses, the Bulldogs would share the crown with Somerset Berkley. It’s been an up-and-down season for Old Rochester, which hasn’t been able to string together more than two wins in a row. Offensively, the Bulldogs have been led by quarterback Gavin Martin, who has scored 11 touchdowns and thrown for another three scores. Mateo Pina has also found the end zone five times for the Bulldogs, who lost to Shawsheen in the Div. 5 state quarterfinals. ORR’s defense must find a way to stop Apponequet running back Brody Joly, who is having a record-breaking season. Joly just set the school’s single-season touchdown mark with his 26th TD of the season, surpassing the previous mark of 22. After opening the season 1-4, the Lakers won two out of three, including an upset win over Fairhaven to qualify for the Div. 5 playoffs, where they lost to Dedham in the opening round.

Laurie’s Line: Old Rochester 21, Apponequet 20

Fairhaven at Dartmouth

When: Thursday, 10 a.m.

Records: Fairhaven (10-1); Dartmouth (9-1)

Last meeting: Fairhaven 14, Dartmouth 7

Outlook: A year ago, Dartmouth lost all three games against its rivals — Bishop Stang, New Bedford and Fairhaven — and have already checked two off its list. Beating Fairhaven won’t be easy as the Blue Devils are in the midst of their best season in more than a decade, qualifying for the Div. 6 Super Bowl for the first time under the current playoff format. Fairhaven features one of the area’s top running backs in Justin Marques, who has scored a SouthCoast-leading 32 touchdowns in 11 games. Dartmouth has also enjoyed quite the year, going undefeated during the regular season and reaching the Div. 3 state quarterfinals before falling to Milton. Dartmouth has gotten it done offensively behind the playmaking abilities of running backs Ray Gramlich (14 touchdowns) and Markus Andrews (11 touchdowns) and quarterback Jackson Hart (10 touchdowns and a SouthCoast-leading 14 scoring strikes).

Laurie’s Line: Fairhaven 28, Dartmouth 21

GNB Voc-Tech at Diman

When: Thursday, 10 a.m.

Records: GNB Voc-Tech (5-5); Diman (4-6)

Last meeting: GNB Voc-Tech 24, Diman 7

Outlook: Voc-Tech has played some of its best football of the season down the stretch, making a run to the State Vocational Large School semifinals with three straight wins before losing to Bay Path last week. Quarterback Jhaden Reis has been solid, throwing 10 touchdowns passes and rushing for another three scores. Harrison Cabral and Alex Pellegrino have a team-high five touchdowns apiece, while Aliaz Colon has scored four. Voc-Tech’s defense will have to try to slow down Diman quarterback Sam Perry, who had thrown 16 touchdown passes and run for another six scores this year in 10 games. Kaidyn Dias leads the Bengals with eight TDs.

Laurie’s Line: GNB Voc-Tech 24, Diman 17

Bourne at Wareham

When: Thursday, 10 a.m.

Records: Bourne (6-4); Wareham (7-3)

Last meeting: Bourne 50, Wareham 20

Outlook: A win over the Canalmen would ensure the best record for Wareham since 2017, when the Vikings went 9-2. Since a head coaching change, Wareham has won three straight games over Cape Cod Tech, Hull and Seekonk. Ajay Lopes has a team-high 20 touchdowns, which ranks third on the SouthCoast. Jayce Travers has scored 11 times, while quarterback Will Halloran has found the end zone six times while also connecting on seven scoring strikes. Bourne went 6-2 in the regular season before losing back-to-back games against Cathedral and Diman.

Laurie’s Line: Wareham 35, Bourne 31

New Bedford at Durfee

When: Thursday, 10:15 a.m.

Records: New Bedford (3-7); Durfee (2-8)

Last meeting: New Bedford 16, Durfee 13

Outlook: The Whalers will look to capture their second-straight win over rival Durfee to finish strong a season that was plagued by injuries. At one point, New Bedford had its fourth-string quarterback Shawn Waters in a starting role, and he delivered a pair of wins with four touchdown passes. Offensively, the Whalers have been led by Jarren Goodine with eight touchdowns, while Dezmond Brunkskill has five and Zakari Nunes has four. Durfee has struggled this year, scoring more than 25 points just twice. The Hilltoppers have been led by Eric Lewis with five touchdowns, while KJ Strong and Derek Baliko have three apiece. Strong has also thrown three TD passes.

Laurie’s Line: New Bedford 21, Durfee 14

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: SouthCoast football previews and predictions for Thanksgiving