Turkey Day Wrap USA: Lincoln goes for all the gravy in win over Mission

SAN FRANCISCO — They've been playing these Turkey Day Games for 89 years, but it's hard to imagine one better than Lincoln (San Francisco) High School's 22-21 win over Mission (San Francisco) on Thursday.

Before approximately 2,500 fans at Kezar Stadium, Tyree Marzetta powered home a two-point conversion over the left side after quarterback Derek Morrell sneaked over from the 1 on fourth down with 23.5 seconds to play to give the top-seeded Mustangs (11-1) the victory.

Marzetta, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound junior filling in for exhausted starter Demetrius Williams (27 carries, 139 yards, touchdown), powered over left tackle Justin Lee to give Lincoln their ninth San Francisco Section title but first since 2008.

As Marzetta jogged back to the sideline he screamed out loud and broke into tears. After the game, Lincoln coach Phil Ferrigno, whose team went 0-11 just two seasons ago, choked up. The Mission sideline was also an emotional mess.

Both squads laid it all on the line.

"I'm really speechless," said Marzetta, who spotted Williams roughly every third series and finished with 10 carries for 52 yards. "They gave me a nice hole on the left side and I put it in the end zone.

"When they called the play I just told myself to stay low, stay low, stay low and that's what I did. It's emotionally overwhelming."

Perhaps more so for the defending champion Bears (7-4).

They looked like it had turned the tables on a 42-14 loss to Lincoln three weeks ago with three unanswered second-half touchdowns led by quarterback Antione Porter (316 total yards) and capped with a 3-yard touchdown run from Armani McFarland with 3:21 remaining, to go up 21-14.

But the Mustangs put together a 55-yard drive keyed by a 40-yard pass from Morrell to Joshua Burnoski and a 10-yard run by Williams to finish off their only scoring drive of the second half.

Morrell, who completed a 68-yard touchdown pass to Davion Telfor just before the half, capped the drive with the clock running down and no timeouts with the 1-yard sneak on fourth down.

The referees waited a good five seconds before raising their hands.

"I knew I was in but they (the referees) were making me nervous," Morrell said. "What a great way to end a wonderful year." Ferrigno said he didn't hesitate going for the 2-point conversion. Lincoln had missed an earlier PAT attempt plus he didn't want to give the ball back to Porter, who ran for 151 yards and passed for 165 more, in overtime.

"The kids really made the call," Ferrigno said. "It's really their team. This is a special, special group.

"(Mission) had some momentum for sure, but all I can say is we won the game. It was a great football game. I can't say anything more than that. They played hard and we played hard. The game went back and forth. What else can you ask for?"

Lincoln looked like it was on its way to another lopsided victory when, with a 14-0 edge, took the second-half kickoff off and marched right down field on 10 consecutive runs by Williams to the Mission 12.

But on third down, McFarland intercepted Morrell and on the very next play, Porter went back to pass, looked down field momentarily, then zigzagged his way up field for a spectacular 86-yard touchdown run with 7:44 left in the third.

All at once, the tide turned.

"It's what he's been doing all year," Mission coach Joe Albano said.

Mission went 84 yards on 17 plays its next possession, capped by a fumble recovery in the end zone by Dreon McElroy.

On 4th-and-goal from the 4, Porter was tackled just short of the end zone, the ball squirted loose and McElroy recovered. A 2-point conversion pass from Porter to McFarland tied it with 6:48 left.

"We showed this team has heart," Porter said. "I'm proud of how we came back."

A fumble recovery by Mission at the Lincoln 41, set-up the go-ahead touchdown that was keyed by another 25-yard scramble by Porter. When McFarland scored four plays later, the Bears thought a repeat title was imminent.

But Lincoln found a way.

Of being on the sideline for the final 2-point conversion, Williams said: "Tyree told me, ‘I got you. I got some fresh legs and I’m going to get it. Don’t worry about it baby, just sit down. I prayed on the sideline, looked up and he was in there.”

"We knew it wasn't going to be easy. They fought, they came back. I give them all the credit, especially Antoine. He fought like a man. He didn't put his head down. He fought. ... It was a great game. I'm just thankful we came out on top."

Lincoln 22, Mission 21

Mission  0  0  6  15  — 21
Lincoln  0 14  0   8  — 22

Second quarter
L — Demetrius Williams 26 run (kick failed), 7:28
L — Da’vion Telfor 68 pass from Derek Morrell (Tyree Marzetta run), 1:05

Third quarter
M — Antione Porter (kick failed), 7:44

Fourth quarter
M — Dreon McElroy recovers fumble in end zone (Armani McFarland pass from Porter), 6:48
M — McFarland 3 run (Peter Lee kick), 3:21
L — Morrell 1 run (Marzetta run), 23.5

RUSHING
Mission: Porter 19-151, McFarland 8-43, Roy Sauceda 2-5, McElroy 2-(-1), team 1-(-7). Totals 32-190. Lincoln: Williams 27-139, Marzetta 10-52, Giovanni Catalan 4-16, Morrell 4-3, Justus Smith 1-0. Totals 46-210.

PASSING
Mission: Porter 14-19-1-165. Lincoln: Morrell 2-4-1-108.

RECEIVING
Mission: McFarland 5-55, Alex Tico 4-56, Demitrius Thibeaux 2-25, McElroy 2-21, Sauceda 1-8. Lincoln: Telfor 1-68, Burnoski 1-40.

Team statistics: Total yards: Mission 355, Lincoln 318. Turnovers: Mission: 2, Lincoln 3.

Records: Lincoln 11-1, Mission 7-4.

More traditional rivalry games from throughout the country:

Easton (Pa.) 35, Phillipsburg (N.J.) 18

They’ve played 106 times, but no quarterback had thrown for at least five touchdowns in a game before.

That was before Thursday.

Brad Wilkins passed for five touchdowns leading the Pennsylvania squad past its rivals over the river, Phillipsburg of N.J.

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Three of his touchdown passes were to tight end Matt Moward. The game was played before 14,500 fans at Lafayette College’s Fisher Stadium.

"I'm a little shocked," Wilkins told the Express-Times. “But the record is not what's important. My real goal was just to help the team win the biggest game of the year against our rival."

Easton (10-2) has won six of the last seven against Phillipsburg (4-6) and extends its lead in the series to 60-41-5.

Needham (Mass.) 39, Wellesley 21 According to the Boston Globe, Mike Panepinto rushed 29 times for 291 yards and all five of his team’s touchdowns in the 125th meeting between the two schools.

Played before a capacity crowd at Memorial Field in Needham, which has won three straight in the series and cut the Wellesley series lead to 59-57-9.

Wellesley was led by quarterback Chris Sarni (11 of 22 for 100 yards and a touchdown).

Panepinto’s fifth touchdown was his longest, a 78-yarder, in the third quarter.

"I was able to do well because of the great play by our offensive line that opened up huge holes for me and gave our quarterback great pass protection," Panepinto told the Globe.

Needham shares the Bay State Carey Division crown but will not advance to the playoffs.

Panepinto started early with touchdown runs of 38 and 11 yards in the first quarterback, but Wellesley fought back behind three touchdowns from Will Adams, who rushed for just 42 yards and added two catches for 50 yards and another score.

He cut Needham's lead to 14-7 with a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Panepinto capped a 74-yard drive with another score, making it 21-7, but Sarni hit Adams with an 18-yard touchdown and after a two-point conversion closed to 21-15.

That's as close as Wellesley would get. Norwich Free Academy (Norwich, Conn.) 28, New London 7
According to the Norwich Bulletin, Joey Paparelli threw touchdown passes to Ryer Caruso and Marcus Outlow and then ran for two more as Norwich Free Academy completed a perfect regular season.

Playing in the nation's oldest rivalry, Norwich (10-0) increased its 151-year rivalry by a count of 74-66-11. Norwich opens the Class LL playoffs Tuesday at No. 4 Newtown.

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New London (7-3) was eliminated from the playoffs despite a touchdown run by Joquin Riley.

Northeast (Philadelphia, Pa.) 14, Central 12

Northwest increased its series lead to 61-51-10 after David Pulliam scored the team’s first touchdown and DaQuan Bohannan connected with an 18-yard touchdown pass with Devon Dillard for the game-winner.

The winning touchdown came on a 3rd-and-17 call.

“As I was going out there, I was thinking, ‘This is my chance to help my team,” Dillard told Philly.com. “Came right to me. People underrate Daquan. Underrate our team, really. We proved today what kind of heart we have.”

The game took an even more serious turn when David Pulliam left the field on a stretcher with a head injury. He was later released from the hospital with soreness in his neck and shoulder.

Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) 12, Anacostia 6

According to the Washington Post, Lamel Matthews accounted for 224 yards leading the crimson Tide (9-2) to victory.

Hazle Crawford interception a pass and returned it 44 yards for another score for the winners.

Anacostia (6-6) scored on a 15-yard pass from DeQuan Turner to Tyray Johnnson, but it wasn’t enough. Turner threw for 202 yards passing and 60 rushing.

Staples (Westport, Conn.) 48, Greenwich 30

According to the Westport-news.com, Joey Zelkowitz rushed 20 times for 317 yards and three touchdowns as the Wreckers defended their FCIAC title in Greenwich.

Zelkowitz had 261 yards by halftime, bettering the previous game record of 229 set by Steve Long of Greenwich in 2001.

Staples (9-0) raced to a 20-7 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Jack Massie completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to James Frusciante, Patrick Lesch scored on a 12-yard run and Zelkowitz broke loose for a 61 yard run.

After Greenwich closed to 20-14 on a 6-yard TD run by Alex McMurray, Zelkowitz added a 58-yard TD run and Lance Lonergan made it 34-14 with a 7-yard interception return for touchdown.

Greenwich (8-1) didn't go away quietly, scoring on TD runs of 1 and 4 yards by McMurray and a safety when a punt snap went out of the end zone. That made it 34-30. But Massie broke loose for a 46-yard TD run and Zelkowtitz finished things off with a 22-yard run.

Harry S. Truman (Levittown, Pa.) 34, Conwell-Egan Catholic (Fairless Hills) 31

Jake Zolna completed a 4-yard pass to Ty Walker on fourth down in overtime to win in overtime. Truman could have kicked a field goal to send the game into a second overtime, but went for the win.

Truman also had touchdown runs from Gianni Adamo (37 yards), Bobby Hill (52 yards) and Trysten Hunt (two 1-yard runs).

Conwell-Egan opened its scoring on two 65-yard runs by Chaz Cason and also got two scoring runs from Mike Alley (15 and 3 yards).

Even in defeat, it wasn’t a bad week at all for Conwell-Egan, which along with three other Catholic high schools will remain open for several more years.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia had announced the school would close by the end of the school year. More than $3 million was raised to stay open.

The other school to remain open are Saint Hubert Catholic for Girls, Monsignor Bonner, Archbishop Prendergast Catholic and West Philadelphia Catholic.
St. Augustine Prep (Richland, N.J.) 41, Cedar Creek 40 (OT)

Calvin Cass carried 53 times for 261 yards and three touchdowns leading the Hermits to the Cape-Atlantic League National Conference win.

Cass scored on a 7-yard run and Kyle Snow followed with the game-winning extra point. The Hermits improved to 8-2 and won their first conference crowns since 2009.

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Quarterback Alex Hughes completed 10-of-19 for 146 yards and a touchdown and Andrew Nelson had five catches for 108 yards.

Despite the big score, it was a busy day of defense for St. Augustine which got 13 tackles apiece from Carl File and Tim Kennelly and 11 from Cory Pietrzyk and 10 by Justin Welsh.