EASTHAMPTON — It was true late November football in New England at Mountain View School on Thursday. 

Smith Vocational hosted Franklin Tech for the sixth Turkey Day showdown between the two rivals, and with driving rain coming down throughout the contest, neither offense had much luck moving the football. 

The Vikings opened the scoring in the second quarter to take an 8-0 lead at the half but the Eagles answered with a touchdown and the 2-point try late in the third quarter to knot the score. That held through regulation as neither team put points on the board in the fourth. 

Smith Vocational got the ball to open overtime and following an offside penalty that took the ball to the 5, the Vikings threw a wrinkle in. 

Despite neither team being able to establish a passing attack, Smith Vocational rolled out quarterback Ty Chapdelaine to his right. The senior found John Loiko open in the flat and Loiko bulldozed in for the score to give the Vikings the lead. Jared Baer ran in the 2-point try. 

Franklin Tech was unable to answer, as the Vikings defense stopped Josiah Little on a fourth-and-goal from the 8 that propelled Smith Vocational to a 16-8 victory. 

It was the first Thanksgiving win for the Vikings since 2018 – the first year the two schools played on Turkey Day. 

“We haven’t won on Thanksgiving since pre-COVID,” Smith Vocational coach Alex Subocz said. “This feels amazing. What a way to cap off a season. With a 7-3 record, this is the best team we’ve ever had. It’s a great group of seniors to send them off like this. It was storybook like.” 

Franklin Tech (8-3) finished its campaign one win short of breaking its program record for wins in a season. 

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow,” Eagles coach Joe Gamache said. “All in all, it was a great season. Super proud of this group of kids. They’ve cemented their place in Franklin Tech football history. The offseason starts as soon as they finish their meal today. The young guys who want to replace those older guys have to start putting in the work now.” 

The last three Thanksgiving contests between the two schools have been dominated by Eagles running back Josiah Little, who ran for 252, 252 and 205 yards in his last three contests against the Vikings. 

Smith Vocational came in prepared on Thursday, limiting the senior to 75 yards on the ground as he was unable to surpass Mahar’s Isaiah Jones for the most rushing yards in Franklin County history. 

“They came in with a great scheme,” Gamache said. “They came in a little better equipped than we did in terms of handling the elements today. They outplayed us and they earned it.” 

It was energy and effort that lifted the Vikings defense. 

“We just left everything we had on the field,” Loiko said. “It felt like a blur. I’m just happy we got the win. It’s been so long. All season we’ve been building up to that moment. I’m just glad it happened.” 

Smith Vocational had multiple chances to take the lead early in the first half, but the Eagles defense tightened up in the red zone. 

On their first possession, the Vikings marched it inside the 5 following runs from Chapdelaine, Baer and Brayden LaRose, but the Tech defense didn’t allow a yard on three plays and on fourth down, LaRose was stopped inches from the goal line to give the Eagles back the ball. 

Franklin Tech was stopped short on a fourth down try to give the Vikings the ball back at the Eagles 19, but two plays later Smith Vocational put the ball on the ground and Tech’s Zaydrien Alamed was there to pounce on it to help keep it a scoreless game. 

A Tyler Yetter pass on fourth down fell incomplete on Franklin Tech’s next drive, giving the Vikings the ball at the Eagles 33. Bryan Leyton picked up a fourth-and-8 with his legs and two plays later Loiko took a fullback dive in from 7 yards out for the opening score of the game. 

Leyton added the 2-point try to make it an 8-0 game with 1:39 to go in the half. 

“I didn’t expect anything going into this,” Loiko said. “I just expected to leave it all out there on the field. I made sure everyone else in the senior class did the same thing.” 

After stopping the Vikings on their opening possession of the second half, Franklin Tech took over at its own 40. After Little started getting going on the ground, the Eagles ran a fullback dive to Wyatt Whitman, who weaved his way through the line and used his speed to score from 39 yards out with 1:19 to go in the third. 

Little scored on a toss on the 2-point try to tie the game, 8-8. 

Franklin Tech had a chance late, driving it to the Smith Vocational 22 with 1:30 to play following a 20-yard run by Whitman. But the Vikings stopped Little on a fourth down run with 17 seconds to go just inside the 20 to send the game to overtime. 

Selling out to stop the run in OT, the pass play score by Smith Vocational was well executed. 

“They executed at the right time,” Gamache said. “We were selling out for the run and we did that the whole game. They did as well. They beat us on a pass play. We tried some passes early on but we weren’t able to execute those. They executed when they needed to.”

The weather can be a great equalizer, and the Vikings used it to have a Thanksgiving to remember. 

“It makes it so it’s an even game for everyone,” Subocz said. “It was just a sloppy mess. It was an old school, old fashioned, hard nosed football game. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this one. I’m just so proud of our senior class.”