Winnacunnet football gets special Thanksgiving win in Lowell: 'No one deserves it more'

LOWELL, Massachusetts — It was a storybook ending for Jack Hogan’s high school football career Thanksgiving morning against Lowell High School at Edward D. Cawley Stadium.

The Winnacunnet High School senior defensive tackle, playing on the field that is named after his great-great-grand uncle who captained the Lowell team in 1911, and with many relatives watching, cheering and ringing cowbells from the visitor sidelines, deflected Evan Finn’s desperation, last-minute pass on fourth-and-24 from midfield as the Warriors hung on for an 8-7 win over Lowell High School in the inaugural Friendship Bowl.

“That (play) was great,” Winnacunnet head coach Ryan Francoeur said. “I thought (Hogan) played a great game from start to finish; that was a really good way to end it. No kid deserves it more than Jack for what he has put into the program the past four years.”

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The Warriors called a linebacker blitz on their final defensive play.

“I just shot the ‘A’ gap and tried to make a play,” Hogan said. “I took on the double team and just tried to do my job.”

Cawley was a three-sport standout at Lowell High School from 1909 to 1912, starring in football, track and baseball. He passed away in 1965 at the age of 71.

Two of Cawley’s great nephews, Stephen and Eddie Begley, played at Cawley Stadium during their football days at Peabody (Massachusetts) High School; both Stephen (Class of 1967) and Eddie (1970) served as team captains during their senior years. Both Stephen and Eddie were part of 20 family members who were in attendance in Thursday's game.

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Here are five more highlights from the game.

Quick road to Thursday's game

The Warriors were approached about the possibility of filling the void left by Haverhill High School to play Lowell on Thanksgiving last Friday morning. The Warriors confirmed they had enough available athletes to play that afternoon, re-issued equipment on Sunday, and had three days of practice in preparation for Thanksgiving morning's game against Lowell.

“I'm extremely proud of everything,” Francoeur said. “From all the coaches that were here, to all the people who made the game happen, and the 27 kids who found the time on Thanksgiving to play. Everybody I spoke to after the game — on either side — from fans, players, and coaches, everybody thought it was a great football game. Kids on both sides played well. We didn’t practice for two weeks, but these kids responded in a short amount of time and put on one of the better performances of the year.”

WHS' Brown is 'best player on the field’

Winnacunnet senior captain running back Frankie Brown ripped off a 48-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Lowell took a 7-0 lead as it returned a Winnacunnet fumble from a sack of quarterback Riley McDaniel more than 50 yards for the score.

Brown and the Warriors answered later in the quarter when Winnacunnet recovered a fumble at the Lowell 40.

On the first play from scrimmage, Brown threw a halfback pass to a wide open Tate Goucher for the 40-yard score. Brown then ran in the two-point conversion, giving the Warriors an 8-7 lead with 3 minutes left in the opening quarter.

Brown also made several key defensive plays from his linebacker position for the Warriors.

“I thought (Brown) was the best football player on the field, by a lot,” Francoeur said. “I was glad we were definitely the team that had him. He set the tone on that first run. He was solid across the board. He elevated his game, and did a lot of things that he's done for us all year long. I thought he had a really great performance.”

The Warriors had run that halfback pass a few times during the course of the season, finally converting on Thanksgiving.

“It finally worked in a result of a touchdown,” Brown said. “It was a hard-fought win. Our defense really came to play, shutting them out.”

Sophomore is next man up for Warriors

With Winnacunnet missing its starting outside linebacker for Thursday's game, sophomore Mason McDonald drew the start. Little did McDonald, Winnacunnet's third-string quarterback know, he quickly was going to be pulled into double duty. McDaniel was injured on Winnacunnet’s second offensive series and never returned.

Francoeur had complete faith in McDonald’s ability to lead the Warriors.

“There were times throughout the year at practice where you could argue that his grasp of our offense was as strong as any quarterback that's played on our team this year,” Francoeur said. “It's an understatement to say how big he stepped up. You think about him not just coming in, but not putting us in any bad spots and leading a couple drives for us on offense.”

Defensively, MacDonald had a key interception early in the third quarter.

“He never left the field all game,” Francoeur said. “You go to your third-string quarterback and that's one thing, but he's also starting at outside linebacker. There was a lot of responsibility on him yesterday, and he definitely stepped up for his teammates.”

Gamble pays off for Warriors

The Warriors attempted an onside kick following Goucher’s touchdown, and sophomore Damian Halter recovered, giving Winnacunnet possession at midfield.

“It was a great kick by James (Thompson) putting the ball in the right spot,” Francoeur said. “Kevin (Tilley) making contact on the kid who touched the ball, and (Halter) making a big play. I know that made (Halter's) day, that was good to see.”

The Warriors’ drive stalled at the Lowell 8.

“Although we didn't score, getting the ball back and taking a good chunk of time off the clock was important in the game for sure,” Francoeur said.

Thanksgiving Day moving forward

Francoeur sees just one reason why the Warriors wouldn’t want to continue to a potential Thanksgiving rivalry with Lowell, or any opponent.

“The only reason I would think of is if we were playing the Saturday after (Thanksgiving) in the state championship game, besides that I would have no qualms of doing this again,” Francoeur said. “I don't think anyone who was involved in this experience would say no. It was a special time for everybody. We would be happy to host, go back to Lowell or whatever happens in the future.”

Francoeur, while a student at Somersworth, played Dover on Thanksgiving. He enjoyed coaching on Thanksgiving as much as he did playing.

“I don’t think it was going to get much better than it did yesterday,” he said. “I just think the theatrics of it, and the fact that it was such a good game made it a great day. It took a lot of things for this game to happen today, it was great. I couldn't have asked for the day to go any better than it did.”

Editor's note: Seacoast Media Group sports editor Jay Pinsonnault has a son on the Winnacunnet football team.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Winnacunnet football gets Thanksgiving win in Lowell