On a beautifully sunny Thanksgiving morning, with a gusty wind making it feel a little cooler then it really was, the 3-7 Watertown Raiders welcomed the 0-9 Belmont Marauders to Victory Field for the 103rd meeting of these two schools that dates back to 1921. In a game that was close throughout, Watertown won its second straight Thanksgiving Day game, this time by the score of 21-12.
There’s so much great that comes from sport. The practice and the training and the education and the challenge and the joy, and even the heartbreak. Football provides all of that and more, and it’s why the sport is so popular. It’s also so because there’s a comradery that is formed from battling it out on the football field, and winless or undefeated or somewhere in-between, there’s so much to value in the experience of being part of a football team.
It was clear from the start that Belmont, despite a difficult season that had them scoring only 36 points in nine games and being shut out five times, was together as a team and ready to give it its all to win the rivalry game. The sideline was into it, the players on the field were into it, and it was a sign of good coaching that Belmont was showing no quit on this day.
Watertown Head Coach Joey Carroll said he emphasized the importance of the rivalry all week, and said the Marauders kept the Raiders honest.
“Credit to Belmont. I think they came out to play regardless of the record. It’s a rivalry,” Carroll said. “We had a brunch with them on Sunday, so we said to both teams, respect the rivalry, like play hard on both sides.”
Watertown needed no motivation. They were at home, they wanted to make it two Turkey-Day wins in a row, and they wanted to send off 11 seniors — Patrick McHugh, Joe Wilson (captain), Lucas Bray, Gabe Oliveira De Mattos (captain), Peyton Nsubuga, Rafael Pimentel Santos, Mike Ramirez, Jayden Ortiz, Caleb Hardy, Pedro Tancredo, Zac Wolfe — in style. They also wanted to make sure that this game was a springboard to next season, when they get back their star quarterback from injury and build upon this season’s successes.
“I think our seniors really, really gave us that spark we needed in the second half,” Carroll said. “Think we came out a little flat, but we ended on a good note.”
Watertown received the opening kickoff and moved the ball some, but eventually stalled. Belmont didn’t experience much better success, and as the second quarter began and Belmont had the ball, the game was still scoreless. But all that would change in a hurry. Midway through the second quarter Belmont found themselves in the midst off a long drive, nicely mixing misdirection and cutback runs, chewing up big chunks of yards. Watertown’s defense was over-pursuing and leaving gaping holes for Belmont’s running attack.
Casey Regan finished off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to give Belmont the early lead. The Maraunders failed on the two-point conversion. Down 6-0, Watertown responded in less than three minutes, with some smash-mouth running, with the final touch by Senior Gabe Oliveira De Mattos, who got to the outside and took it to the house for a 22-yard touchdown run. Joe Wilson converted the extra point to make it 7-6 Watertown at the half.
Watertown’s defense figured out Belmont’s running attack early in the third and forced Belmont to punt after three downs on their first possession. But Watertown’s Mason Lamacchia mishandled the punt and Belmont retained the ball. Watertown’s defense, however, forced another three-and-out. Finally possessing the ball for the first time in the third quarter, Watertown drove and scored thanks to a four-yard TD run by senior Patrick McHugh.
Up 14 to 6, you wouldn’t blame most in attendance if they thought that Belmont was cooked given their season, but on this day, they stayed strong, and midway through the fourth quarter senior Casey Regan scored his second touchdown of the morning, this time an impressive 35-yard run to the end zone to make it 14-12. Belmont went for the two-point conversion once again, this time to tie the game between cross-town rivals with 7:30 left in the game. Once again, though, Watertown’s defense played big and stuffed Belmont’s running back just short of the goal line.
At this point in the game, with the scent of turkey and stuffing and gravy in the air, Watertown needed one of two things — possession and first downs that would run out the clock, or a touchdown and extra point to make it a two-score game. They got the latter, as senior Gabe Oliveira De Mattos capped off a great final game in a Watertown uniform by running for a second touchdown of his own, a 7-yard jaunt that had him spinning and juking his way into the end zone. Senior Joe Wilson’s third extra point of the game accounted for the final score, Watertown 21 Belmont 12.
“We said at halftime, just guys take a breath, play cool, calm, collected. I think we play better like that,” Carroll said. “I think maybe the external factors and external pressure got to them for a second, but then they they collected themselves and they came back the second half.”
Neither team was a world-beater this season. Neither team made it to the playoffs. But both teams played Thursday’s game as though it were a championship game, and all in attendance were fortunate to be treated to a good football game. We saw young man who cared about each other and wanted desperately to experience the joy of winning a game that mattered a lot to them on this day.
Carroll credited his offensive staff — Offensive Coordinator/ QB Coach Nick Caliri, Offensive Line Coach Rob Randall, and Running Back Coach Christian Cabral — for adjusting to the loss of first-string quarterback junior Coleman Keuchkarian-McKeen, midway through the season. The key, however, was consistency.
“So our offense, it really wasn’t we tweaked it, but it was all the same plays that we’ve done forever,” Carroll said. “So, maybe it looked completely different — obviously, we didn’t pass heavy — but it was everything that we’ve we’ve been doing since day one.”
While Belmont came up short, they deserve respect for competing to the very end. And for the Raiders and second-year Head Coach Carroll, they will take a 4-7 record and the good feelings of how the season ended and use it to fuel preparations for 2026.
See you in September!
(Watertown News Editor Charlie Breitrose contributed to this article.)
——————————————-
1 2 3 4 – F
Belmont 0 6 0 6 – 12
Watertown 0 7 7 7 – 21
——————————————–
1st Quarter
NO SCORING
2nd Quarter
Watertown 0 Belmont 6… Casey Regan, 2-YD TD RUN, 2-point conversion failed
Watertown 7 Belmont 6… Gabe Oliveira De Mattos, 22-YD RUN, Wilson PAT KICK
3rd Quarter
Watertown 14 Belmont 6… Patrick McHugh, 2-YD TD RUN, Wilson PAT KICK
4th Quarter
Watertown 14 Belmont 12… Casey Regan 35-YD TD RUN, 2-point conversion failed
Watertown 21 Belmont 12… Gabe Oliveira De Mattos, 7-YD RUN, Wilson PAT KICK