middlesex league rivalry that dates all the way back to nineteen twenty one and a happy thanksgiving to you one and all my name is todd liniers very pleased to be joined on this broadcast by jim reynolds and jim it is a it's a wonderful rivalry when these two teams get together you can really throw the records out the window although we will give it to you belmont coming in for it six watertown eight into the all time series separated by a mere three games watertown is one forty six times belmont forty three times has there been five ties the last one being in one thousand nine hundred seventy two so hopefully we won't see one of those today and most importantly i think it's far as recent history goes watertown is one of the last four beating so for everybody involved on the belmont sidelines they are looking to defeat watertown for the first time yes that sets a great intro and happy thanksgiving to you and all and what a great atmosphere here is here today you know we've got two teams here that have had good seasons some better than others but i think you know what is your thoughts on the traditional goes back to ninety's twenty one of the moment it's it's a great event for both communities it's a piece of history in both communities and it's just something that we'll see them i think in a few moments but they've done this before in past thanksgiving day games where they will basically arrive to harris field at the very last minute i mean i guess you have the luxury of the short ride over from my neighbor in water that you can yeah that's right it's a little bit of a tactic and maybe they're throwing in some late spice over it fic tree before they get over here and you know it's that's ok it's not the game's going to start on time i think you can see a shot here of the crowd it's a harris field i think somewhere in the back of that group i believe and there is the marching band getting ready to come out onto the field for the broader mascot is even here glad to see  florrie quarterback number fourteen jones running back spot safety and number thirty four based on lawless oftens of guard number fifty two defensive line number fifty three wide receiver number twelve years well it's been a it's been a great experience it's been a great learning experience for me and i think it's been a great learning experience for our team it's been a real blessing and a little honor to see these guys grow  to come a family in the truest sense of the word and to improve as much as they have as football players over the last three years is really something that's humbling for me as a head coach to go a long way still to go but we're very proud of what these guys have been able to all right and well ok i i was kind of half right there that was bob properly and that was watertown cable but it was the introduction of the belmont seniors and some of the captains in there in a quick interview with the course if you want to coach was back to nineteen twenty one it is the night that meeting here today and you know as i said nothing nothing would really be better for these marauders that we've seen the slow improvement of the team under coach human and now it's third season two years ago in its first year that won three games  coach hugh deciding to put his defense on the field first against this this high powered watertown off it so yeah well i think that's a good omen for belmont winning the toss and the fact that they deferred i think  says they they have a lot of confidence in their defense and you know the the wind isn't a real factor at this point so you know that was an a plus for watertown i think that's a that's a good start for phil mudd yeah the flag is barely moving here at harris field so when really not a factor temperatures you know may get to about forty degrees by the time this game is over so it is cold it is a little bit raw out here but you know hey it's thanksgiving this is what thanksgiving day is all about when we were here two years ago parts of the snow all over the field and they the other players actually had to come out a couple hours before the game but shovel out the yard markers so we could actually right yes see where the where the ball was during the game a far cry from that today much much another perfect read dition of the national anthem from the belmont high school marching band of the new direction of great job us all those band members and we're going to be bringing you the halftime show today as part of our thanksgiving day broadcast c channel so you definitely want to stay tuned for that especially of course if you're watching and your your son or daughter is in the band well i'll tell you we are very fortunate to have this band and the leadership of the band i've been around tackle there that's what they have to do so watertown is going to start this drive from their own sins thirty yard line or just inside their own thirty yard line they're there see their quarterback senior third down in five yeah that's a big play by adam their little linebacker and you've got that defensive front there that showing early progress is going to call it the third and fourth quarter townies to get triton regional in the division three north playoffs watertown just came up to win short of making the division three super bowl gillette stadium an impressive year for the raiders smith is going to keep it  territory taken down by adam t said about forty seven yards down yeah you know a couple the keys i had in this game here for belmont was that they had to on third down get off the field and not give up that they were down badgett in the open field and he is off to the races that he's going to go into the end zone for a watertown touchdown a forty seven yard run with a gentle receiving the direct snap one of the senior captains again with a twenty eight to go watertown number nine basket begun who actually won one game i scouted a couple weeks ago for watertown about their playoff game against austin prep he actually didn't play in that game was trying to come back from a mid season injury but he's obviously read option that watertown's been running with success with here yeah well this is the sort of the ball's in line with the with the idea that there's going to be a lot of point scoring here that's not the start belmont wanted but hey they're going to get the ball back here they're going to show they're often so a lot of the belmont kids know vascular from back in the pop warner days when both watertown and belmont were combined so some of these players are being reunited here having played in the past and belmont pop warner so i'm  skills and he's got a gun of an arm you'll have to wait to play at least for that job as they pitch it out to bed jones no surprise there on first down he goes around the left side and picks up about four yards the marauders often supplied from left to right all juniors as i know coach q mentioned will probably also george just sign and maybe some of the senior substituting in the times as we've got a second down and seven after jones only got three this time it's jones running up to god and we expect to see a heavy water wind today and as i said earlier maybe that is the the key to this game is they've got to pick a positive yards on first down which they did here and now they've got to convert on third they do it third and fourth it looks like cristobal already has the first down yet to get to the first down that's a big first down for belmont if you think that was a designed run by krista for you know i don't receivers were covered down i i think he went through his reads and he didn't have anything and he saw a little gap there and you know kalak i said earlier is very quick on his reads and that's that's a players love them to death and here's a second down kerry i believe that's jones again he was running behind his big off fence of line which is performing so well this year and so far jones not getting awful lot here  three early carries him up watertown's offense tightening up yeah well this is another key here you want to stay out of third and long situations if you can but here they are so let's see what they do and so far it's been a fairly with the help of his office of lines going to push that pile forward and pick up a good six yards as he edges into belmont territory yeah that's a lot of yards to give up on first down because that leaves many options for watertown games in his time here as the coach of the raiders second down and they will hand it off to compassion fumbles the ball is out it is los angeles if the writers every covered will wait for an indication from the official but if there is one know this of an eight and she watertown team is that they have been thrown didn't turn overs but unfortunately in this case up for the brodeur's they are not able to recover the fumble but that's kind of a good sign because i said one thing we didn't really talk about in the open gym was that if there is a weakness want to touch in the way you want to attack them and i saw it in their play off when it gets off the frets they tools they are prone to turning the ball over even though they're often to move up and down the field so to try to take advantage was opportunity yeah that what that was a missed opportunity maybe we'll get more on first and ten it's going to be smith who keeps it again and again just running right up but god behind his is center james walter and picks up a book about that interference call i don't know how you can call that stevenson interference the defender had his head turned to the ball and was making going to make a play on the ball as the offensive wide receiver p defender down near a smith that was a big hole up the middle line on smith is going to run into the end zone for a watertown a touchdown that is a twenty four yard t v run with his fifteenth rushing touchdown of the season for senior quarterback dion smith and he's passed for nine others so that's now twenty five combined or twenty four combined touchdowns on the season for deion smith and with a minute to go here in the first quarter watertown scores yeah that was sort of he got out there and that was all alone and showed off some very good running skills great game that have gone against film on the fumble that was recovered by watertown that says that kept that drive going and then there was the third and long situation pass interference which was a very questionable call that went watertown way i promise you things will change and belmont will have a chance to answer well we yeah you're absolutely right joe we have a lot of football the urge to go today in this ninety fifth meeting between belmont and watertown and yeah i mean almost pass interference calls there are so subjective and you know especially when you've got players kind of tangling up with each other sometimes it's just easier for the officials to call it that the fence has can at least kick high end over and that will be taken by more  got some plucks but he belmont in a decent field position that he's thirty three so we'll see krista forty break out jared edwards at the bottom of your screen is a lined up here on the near side in single coverage again they're going to go to a decent second down and decided that running up the bill is going to cut to the outside and he can not elude the  out he'll give you twenty five thirty thirty five runs and he's he's just a really gutsy player smart player and he's going to be a key to belmont scoring some points and odd those those up by touchdowns four of them were for fifty nine fifty four fifty six and seventy eight yards tying his brother max jones up for a team record five touchdowns in the single game that want to get a mere forty four we should really well also is he takes the handoff and he hits that hole very very quickly and if he does it before the defenders can make a play and that's so critical for a running back because those holes are small and you've got to hit them fast and you've got to be there quick oh yes we are going to have a new press box here some details to come out later this year the first part of next year but it's it's it's come i'm happy to say we're we're going to have a press box here pick personal about belmont yeah must have been a face mask over week it was hard to see smith was over on the far side of the field that his head was turned away from us so if there was a play yeah i have i been watching the the officials and it looked to me like to make the stop we talk about ben jones and everything it brings to the belmont office but we sometimes forget about what a solid defensive player he is there and he just literally  i think he's going to be a little bit short of the first down by a couple of yards he got out of bounds of the fifty yard line and that was well defended because you kept to be careful you got to stay at home and play your position was so you know belmont needs to just take a deep breath and realize that they salvaged four points there they did in again you know really you know on that court they catch  so yeah that was very exciting it was and it may come down to that today but i don't think that watertown is going to be belmont kicking field goals today i think it's going to be touchdowns i would tend to agree with you jim i think center and captain as a junior and again it's going to be back down as rodgers looking to kind of maybe get some significant yards on first outing to drive the good throw because it was right where the receiver get only get to it there were two guys collapsing on will and you need to catch that bo that's a big turn of events there look you got belmont potentially getting a first down at midfield extending a drive but they on fourth down go to fake with and can't convert  perfect once again so the teams will come back up field with thirty one to go here in the first half of the marauder suddenly by themselves out of this once if you were to seven i suppose you know i guess if you want to try to look at upright side of things  but they also got to come out of this with some oh yeah that would be nice you want to feel good about yourself before the half and maybe get something here on this kick return set up something to maybe get the ball in and get midfield positions and then from near you know work the clock as much as they can to get down to maybe scoring a touchdown or at least getting eight cadigan out there to kick a field goal something good just so that they can feel good about going into the half the  watching out there on the house temp but let's see what the officials are going to say about this it was second down yet it'll be a ten yard penalty i think from the line of scrimmage an automatic first down that's the it's it's ten yards from the line of scrimmage automatic first down my house at their own forty six clock stopping momentarily at one forty six here in the first hou that really was because i believe will it tip that ball and the defender monday camaro was able to stay with the play and pick that off that was a great pla here what's the point right and very important you know because you've got players out there that are going to learn from this game and take that experience forward to next year and after some even the year after so we talk about the seniors and how important it is to them there are developing players out there on both you know he wasn't getting tangled up with that call is difficult sometimes they i think they see it as both players were running down field and they tripped each other and so you know and in a first half or unfortunately you know they came up empty more often than not watertown taking advantage of their options of opportunities and looking very good in the first half of twenty four seven twenty two minutes make no mistake you know watertown has a pretty good i think i can it's sort of like a it's all about their season this year it's a couple of plays go their way differently and maybe a couple nine calls here by the officials we've got a different game so we could be a twenty four fourteen right now very easily i do want to say that catch and you know play down at the end there by will l it was was was great because we were all thinking oh he's going to go out of bounds because we want to stop the clock we got a first down in the twenty or so but he cut the ball back in and the defender did the defender didn't catch that and he almost scored and but of course it was negated by the by the holding call you know you take that back it's twenty four forty right right while a lot can happen in the second half and i believe belmont's going to come out strong and they're going to get the ball they're going to get a chance to score on that first drive that's really important if they can do that and get this thing to twenty four fourteen early in the dollars to the press box so that that has to be noted they've also belmont boosters has provided the to the back netting in the end zone and as you pointed out the field was recently be done a couple years for new turf that was paid for by the town but the new press box is going to be utilized by not only football but by many other sports teams here in belmont wells we've been showing you the shots chuckie i played high school college and pro football helping my team win the two thousand and six championship that was an amazing day but it can't compare to the joy i feel every day with my loving wife and three beautiful daughters my football career ended after i suffered my fifty coach did you know that over a million athletes suffered concussions each year that includes poison girls every age every type of level sport it isn't always clear that a player has had a concussion so parents athletes and coaches need to learn about concussion science and the american academy of neurology recommends athletes start to have a concussion mediately removed from play and not return until assessed by a health care professional trained in c n this isn't just about sports it's about  i think he might have been off balance and caused the locate which was locked so the marauders did not come up with seven but they do get six it was at one place scoring drive of seventy one yards then jones performer on the belmont track team and he's got good speed like his older brother max we saw two years ago yeah i have some long touchdown runs on this field on thanksgiving day and i know you know wherever max is now max probably came home i'm sure he's not you know he's plugged in somewhere watching the broadcast for sure yes i'm sure he is tell you what that was a modified forty yard dash down the left sideline well that's that's probably the worst starting position watertown's good job there my special teams a little surprising there to see deion smith back on the return of the first time we see him back there to back teeth anyway to receive the kick nine i think is where they're going to get a trot that downed just inside the thirty nine so marauders off it's quickly back out on the field here in the third quarter and twenty six to go here in the third rodgers down longest running sat in this game picking up over thirty yards to the watertown forty one yeah you really picked up some speed there you got some blocks up front there i want to mention a couple of guys up on that previous place a big yardage well every time we mention one of those weinmann teach in the best part about him and i know our our broadcast partner throughout the season will finley loves to say it all juniors on that up until one that entire unit will be back next year and that is going to be a huge kind of incorporate a new often yeah into the system tell you what it's like trying to build a brand new house you've got to build a foundation in your office of line is part of that foundation and all those guys coming back next year that's a huge plus for belmont most certainly like that they're going to be less less aggressive against the run and that opens up things for belmont three seems to be picking up here and i look out at the flag overhead blowing from left to right across your screen at the the words with the official and i'm not sure e e argued the spot well right now as you can see on camera coach coach q talking with his senior quarterback one of the four captain figuring out what they're going to call here on third and sure you have to give us for down territory anyway jim and again i would expect to hear probably something like either a keeper for krista for you or another handoff to adam could bert it several times on the third and shorted man jones the deep back out of the i formation on third and a yard pitch it back to jones jones turns the corner he i believe will have the first down it looked like he was going to have it easily and then  failed fake punt in the first how to hit where four belmont and there goes a timeout well i like the idea there you're trying to see if you can get the watertown defense to jump but they didn't bite and a timeout will you know whether the marauders are going to need dad at the end of the game remains to be seen but right now you're trying to get back in the game and this is really the biggest play right now you want to keep this drive going you just scored you got the ball back you're in watertown territory only down eleven plenty of time left and so this is a critical fourth down play where you got to get proud to watertown on that last play though for being able stop jones who looked like he was going to get the first down with yes he turned the corner over on the far side big play here and short right in between us left guard in center and actually looks like we've got a player down for watertown that is jake madden number seventy two with junior and we will have an official time out here with six twenty one to go clock stopping here in the third quarter center right yes ryan noon is saturday and ryan made a nice play there be there on the nose guard or the middle linebacker because adam d s had more than enough for the first down well as coach q says in our most recent interview which of belmont cap and he says that noone really does he's kind of the quarterback of that line i mean it really helps coordinate that like good news here on the watertown side as jake madden is getting up and out walking off the field under a zone power well that's a big penalty against the marauders they have they had some timely ones here today so that's going to create a second and eight actually the holding was downfield so it so even with a ten yard penalty at second an yeah they're going to go to a hurry up appearance which snap and there's jones on the handoff well they got ready quickly text as zachary rim's one of the watertown captains and he takes jones down for a short game games later today none of those games will be as big as exciting as this was today well certainly not for all for all the players that are involved in this game many seniors of course playing the final game of their high school football careers and really you know down turns the corner and gets a couple of yards but it just kind of alluding to that point jim you know all these caps that that's what they're going to learn more than anything it's just you know the preparation and the time in the effort and the devotion that the coaching staff puts into the players i mean that's kind of a unique thing to hear you know but you know it's certainly it is great to hear you know because the coaches always talk about how much the players put in the effort in the time and how the players you know in this case the captains were given it right back to the  as we speak and he's in the open field and he is once again off to the races for a touchdown and just as you said it jim it is a fifty three yard touchdown run for a basket bajan who has matched  jones scoring his third rushing touchdown of the game and extending the water speed you're going to pay the price and watertown scored an answer but a lot more  in the series when you get beat on a play the next play you want to come back and exact the same revenge so let's see if they can make a big play here there is still one more with the return and he'll turn up field and gets adjustment so he checks out of the game and the marauders go to all four wideouts three split to the near side will be jones on a second down harry gets only a yard before he is met there by then landry and a couple other water defenders to bring up a third down and short as time ticks down and we have ended the third quarter of play here from harris field is the ninety fifth edition of belmont watertown football and if you're just tuned in where the heck if you then you've missed a lot great football so far and we got eleven more minutes of great football to come here in this historic rivalry as we get set to bring you the fourth quarter of let's see what the play call is in mind here for interception today it's going to be third and goal from the ten ok coach what do you got here big pla fourth quarter waterhouse thirty one so much twenty eight in the ninety fifth edition of this classic thanksgiving day matchup between middlesex league rivals belmont and watertown and what a ball game here continues running under six minutes to go first to ten watertown the belmont thirty one yard line up and pushes them back for no gain as the second goal clock it to news running or forty five or forty four need to keep watertown out of the end zone here down by three at all they'll will more than or more than willing to give up a field goal make the six point game but a touchdown would make it a two possession game and rogers are running out of time here six yards you need a forty one yard or earlier and he's going to have the wind at his back so i think the way he's picked today that should be a piece of cake for the runners of more than done their job here because you know those the last thing they wanted watertown to do was score a touchdown and tell you that left me with some heartburn even before i had turkey but we've got a different stage this year a different set of players well michael got lots of time here  with another hand off on second down to watertown territory very much so now inside the forty five yard line to george's tucson right right saying it was intercepted i believe by number five isaac one of the watertown senior captain i thought that was very close  the second interception of this game i don't know who was that to who was the intended receivers i'm not even sure the baltics might have it a little under from there actually was a little slow to get up there and he is limping pretty badly that that wasn't the injury that he was suffering from earlier in the arab league had a shoulder issue the cost of the missed some time and you have to check out of the game at least for this play on right well you know a lot of times these games come down to a big play here or there and that's when these happen here and i don't torture because i look like they were definitely driving down the field or what would be up they're going to take one more snap apparently might have been off on time but that is it and the marauders for the second straight year they finished four and seven for the second straight year a heartbreaking loss on thanksgiving day go go enjoy it with your family your friends your loved ones it's just a football game and there's always next year and i think belmont played a great game they just came up a little bit short goodness said it much better than that thank you very much