Here are the scores and recaps from all of the Thanksgiving Day football games
RI High School Football Thanksgiving Day Scores
Middletown 20, Portsmouth 6
The Division III Super Bowl champs closed their stellar season with another impressive performance, beating the Patriots 20-6 and earning their first win on Thanksgiving Day since 2018.
Juleun Gilman got the Islanders on the board first with a 16-yard touchdown and after Patrick Cranson made the extra point, they never trailed again.
Portsmouth responded with a 1-yard score by Thomas Hurd, but the Islanders’ defense stepped up and got a stop on the conversion play.
Middletown immediately went to work on offense with quarterback Julien Delacruz capping an 80-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Cranson, giving it a 14-6 lead at halftime. The Islanders added to it on their first possession of the second half on a 3-yard score by Trent Ames and the defense took care of the rest.
Middletown snapped their losing streak, but still have a ways to go in the all-time series as Portsmouth holds a 36-20-2 edge.
Burrillville 28, Ponaganset 7
Logan Gelinas threw two first-half touchdown passes and three in the game as the Broncos took down the Chieftains, 28-7.
Gelinas got Burrillville on the board in the first quarter, connecting with Ronald Vargas on a 16-yard touchdown. Leland Kelleher added to the lead with an 11 yard run before Gelinas hit Norm Soullier to give the Broncos a 21-0 lead at halftime.
Ponaganset got on the board in the third on a Robbie Grenga 26-yard touchdown run, but Gelinas put away any thoughts of a Chieftain comeback when he hit Riley Hebert on a 3-yard score.
The win extends Burrillville’s lead in the all time series to 23-14.
Barrington 36, Mt. Hope 7
The Division II champs had some Turkey Day fun and emptied the playbook as quarterback Alex McClelland ran, threw and caught a touchdown in the Eagles’ 36-7 win over the Huskies.
Barrington was in control from start to finish and played Super Bowl-caliber football in all facets of the game. McClelland, MVP of last weekend’s Super Bowl win over Cumberland, helped the Eagles get in the end zone in three different ways – scoring on a 3-yard run, throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Evan Anderson and catching a 16-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Ivatts.
Ivatts added a touchdown run of his own and Spencer Proulx also scored with a 6-yard touchdown run.
While Mt. Hope struggled to stick with the Eagles, it didn’t stop competing. Senior Riley Howland closed his career with a good Thanksgiving memory, throwing a touchdown pass to Lucas Andreozzi for the Huskies’ lone score.
The win was the sixth straight for Barrington in the series and extends its lead to 21-9.
Woonsocket 22, Cumberland 15
The Villa Novans’ defense put forth its best effort of the season and its ground game grinded out drives to pick up a 22-15 win over the Clippers.
Michael Cinquantini and Jonathan Peguero got the job done out of the Woonsocket backfield and helped the Novans established a physical presence early. Cinquantini got the first score of the game on a 15-yard first-quarter touchdown run. In the second quarter, quarterback Daunte Melton threw a 5-yard score to Braylon Guilbeault that had Woonsocket up 16-0 at halftime.
Cumberland, the Division II runner-ups, didn’t back down. The offense got on the board in the third quarter on a Andrew Nocera run and in the fourth, Andrew Ray hit Nocera on a touchdown pass that made it 16-12.
Peguero gave Woonsocket some room to breath with a 7-yard touchdown run and Cumberland’s Dylan Pichel account for his team’s final points with a field goal.
The win was the first Thanksgiving Day victory for Woonsocket since 2019 – which snapped an 8-year losing streak. Cumberland leads the all-time series with a record of 36-19-4.
La Salle 17, East Providence 14
Freshman Sam Perry connected with Antonio Bearden on a 20-yard touchdown pass to close the second quarter, completing a 59-yard drive in 38 seconds that proved to be what the Rams needed to beat the Townies, 17-14.
East Providence took a 14-10 lead on its previous drive after Jacob Duarte threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cam Evora, but a good return gave La Salle the ball at its own 41 with 38 seconds left in the first half.
A short completion moved the ball near midfield, but Perry then dropped a ball in Grover Moran’s bucket for a 31-yard gain. La Salle passed on a field goal attempt from Max Wallace – who made a 29-yarder earlier in the game – and Perry made the decision pay off, finding Bearden in the end zone for the score as the clock struck zero.
La Salle scored on its opening drive, with Charles Sayegh plunging in from the 2-yard line. Duarte answered with a 6-yard run of his own, setting up all the second-quarter drama.
The win was the fifth straight for La Salle over EP on Thanksgiving and extended its all-time series record to 55-37-2.
Pilgrim 32, Toll Gate 0
After a slow start, the Patriots left little doubt about which teams runs Warwick city schools football with a 32-0 win over the Titans.
Pilgrim couldn’t have played better than it did in the second quarter, as its defense locked down and its offense was unstoppable. Tristan Miller got the scoring started with a 36-yard touchdown run that was soon followed by a Chase Roberts to Jack Coffey 45-yard score.
Up 13-0, Roberts closed the half with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Justyn Murphy and Josh Escamilla’s kick made it 20-0 at the half.
The third quarter was more of the same as Jacob Soulliere scored on a 50-yard touchdown run and Donovan Watts capped the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Pilgrim picked up its fourth straight win after dropping the first two when the teams began playing in 2016.
Chariho 21, East Greenwich 7
Backed by its run game and its best execution of the season, the Chargers picked up their first win of the year in a 21-7 victory over the Avengers.
The game didn’t start great for Chariho as East Greenwich drove the field on the game’s opening drive, getting a 2-yard touchdown run from Cade Thomas on a fourth-down play.
In the second quarter, the Chargers got on the board with a 5-yard touchdown run by William Steiger that sent the game into halftime tied at 7. Chariho got a 5-yard touchdown run from Ben Donahue early in the third quarter and Steiger’s 1-yard plunge in the fourth sealed the win for Chariho.
The win was the first of the season for the Chargers and first in the five-year history of the Thanksgiving Game between the two programs.
North Kingstown 32, South Kingstown 14
The Skippers’ offense rolled all day and A.J. Parry came up with two interceptions to lead the defense in their 32-14 win over the Rebels.
Things were interesting early. North Kingstown got on the board with a 37-yard touchdown pass by Brayden Rogers to Trent Sterner and led 13-0 after Will Creed – a defensive lineman – scored on a 2-yard plunge in the second. A big run by All-Stater Amani Boamah set SK up at the 6, where Dante Peno scored from on a rush to cut NK’s lead to 13-7 at halftime. The lead was nearly extended by a 101-yard interception return by Parry, but a block in the back wiped the score off the board.
North grew its lead in the third quarter when Parry scored on a 5-yard touchdown. In the fourth, the Skippers’ continued to come up with stops and defense and put up points on offense. Rogers connected with Sterner again on a 43-yard touchdown and senior Victor Encarnacion scored the last TD of his career with a 6-yard run, capping a 222-yard rushing performance.
South got one final score of the season as Brayden Rosen threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Kai Sorlien with around five minutes left to play.
Since the rivalry game was re-established in 2000, the win extends North Kingstown’s series lead to 13-10. The teams had played from 1946-1954 and included those games, SK leads the all-time series 16-14.
North Providence 27, Smithfield 11
Jayden Allard got the Cougars’ offense cooking early and older brother Mikey closed the season in style as the Division IV champs came away with a 27-11 win over the Sentinels.
North Providence took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Jayden Allard’s 27-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. In the second, the Cougars busted out some trickery as a toss to Jayden Allard turned into an option pass and the sophomore hit Louis Baez in stride for a 54-yard touchdown.
Smithfield got on the board late in the second quarter on a Greg Swain field goal to make it 14-3 at the break. The Sentinels opened the second half with a touchdown drive capped by a Gavin Trust touchdown run and its special teams unit stepped up to block a punt in the end zone that made it 14-11 heading to the fourth quarter.
That’s when North Providence’s defense came alive. Emmanuel Lijofi scored on a 55-yard fumble recovery and with Smithfield driving deep trying to get back into the game, Mikey Allard came up with a 72-yard pick six to close out the win.
The victory was the fourth in five seasons against Smithfield, but the Sentinels still hold a 27-24-1 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1970.
Cranston West 28, Cranston East 26
West's Anthony Salas ran for a pair of touchdowns (13 yards, 22 yards) and caught a pass for a 55-yard score to help the Falcons outlast their cross-town rivals on Thanksgiving. West's quarterback Kelan Cornell also ran in a score and a 2-point conversion. Jack Majcher connected on two extra points. For the Thunderbolts, Jordan Knowles connected with Armand Reed on TD passes of 28, 55 and 45 yards, and Reed also ran in a score from 2 yards out. East made its first 2-point conversion, but was denied on three other attempts.
Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout 26, Narragansett 18
Down four heading to the fourth quarter, quarterback Max LaFond put the offense on his back and led the Scarlet Knights to a 26-18 win and made some history in the process.
EWG trailed 18-14 in the fourth when LaFond and the offense found its groove. With just under 10 minutes left in the game, LaFond hit Jacob Roberts on a post over the middle for a 27-yard touchdown to put the Knights ahead 20-18. After EWG’s defense halted Narragansett’s ensuing drive short of the end zone, Tyler Stanton busted a 51-yard run to flip the field. Six plays later, LaFond ran in from the 1-yard line for the game’s final score.
The game went back-and-forth from the start. Narragansett got on the board first when Aidan Freidt hit Jackson Hohl on an 18-yard touchdown pass, but EWG quickly answered with LaFond connecting with Roberts for a 20-yard score.
In the second quarter, EWG took a 14-6 lead on a Tyler Stanton 6-yard run. Narragansett cut the deficit to 14-12 at halftime after Friedt hit Christian Petrecca for a 28-yard touchdown and the Mariners took the lead in the third on a 3-yard run by Matt Timpson, setting up the fourth-quarter theatrics.
The win is the first for Exeter-West Greenwich in brief history of the Thanksgiving Day series, which started in 2018 and missed 2020 due COVID wiping out the fall season.
Rogers 38, Tiverton 0
Tuesday, Nov. 21
Juanita Sanchez 42, Hope 6
Mount Pleasant 46, Classical 24
Wednesday, Nov. 22
Somerset Berkley Regional 26, Central 22
Davies 22, North Smithfield 0
Johnston 33, Scituate 14
The Panthers' Steve Finegan scored on 75-yard kick return, as well as a 3-yard scamper. Quarterback Matt Clement threw TD passes to Dylan Guernon (30 yards) and Mike Carlino (40 yards) and Mike Messina finished the scoring with 5-yard run as Johnston topped the Spartans. Carlino also made three extra-point kicks in the win. Both of Scituate's scores came on TD runs by Paul Zolkos (5 yards and 3 yards), and kicker Travis Howman made both point-after attempts.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Thanksgiving Day high school football scores in Rhode Island
