MANCHESTER — After the victory, Januel Pena Ramirez told anyone who would listen that he owned Gill Stadium and finished his Manchester Memorial football undefeated against Manchester West.
Memorial won the 43rd Manchester Turkey Bowl, defeating Division II West 46-8 on Thursday at Gill Stadium.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt was a rematch of last year’s Turkey Bowl, which the Crusaders won, 20-14.
Two weeks ago, Pena Ramirez, a senior defensive tackle, and many of his Memorial teammates didn’t want to play in the Turkey Bowl after their 24-17 NHIAA Division I quarterfinal loss to Salem.
Their mood changed.
“We were super excited for this game,” said Memorial junior fullback Gabe Felch, who later celebrated the win with baked macaroni and cheese at his Thanksgiving dinner. “Sad we got knocked out of the playoffs, but we were ready for this game. We were playing a good team and we just wanted to win our last game.”
The Crusaders (9-2) scored on each of their first three drives — on a 2-yard Felch run, a 28-yard Moses White field goal and a 5-yard Jacob Schuff run — to build their 17-0 halftime lead.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMemorial got two touchdown runs from Ledum Adumene, another from Jathyen Torres and a 25-yard pick-six from Jordan Gallego in the second half.
West (7-4), which fell to Pelham in the Division II quarterfinals, scored its lone touchdown with 5:55 left in the third quarter. Blue Knights junior quarterback Manny Mendoza (11-for-24, 68 yards) connected with Liam King in the back left corner of the end zone on a 23-yard pass. Teammate Kingston Green then ran in a two-point conversion.
The Crusaders responded with a 71-yard touchdown run by Adumene on their ensuing drive to help create a 31-8 advantage.
“I think by the time we started figuring out some stuff, we had dug the hole too deep,” West coach Andrew Provencher said.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs it was all fall, the Memorial defense proved formidable on Turkey Day.
Gallego and Schuff both nabbed interceptions, junior Darius Rodriguez recovered a fumble by West’s Gio Doria and the Crusaders blocked two punts.
The Blue Knights finished with fewer than 150 yards of total offense.
“We thought going into it, our defense would be a pretty big strength for us,” Memorial coach Rob Sturgis said. “I feel like the best way they (the Blue Knights) try to attack is getting to the edges and I think that’s where we’re really strong. And then it’s tough to run inside against Jan (Januel) and Darius. Those two are just man-eaters out there.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdumene’s other TD run was from 29 yards out, giving him a game-high 100 yards on two carries. Torres ran in the game’s final TD from 17 yards out with three minutes left.
Felch rushed for 61 yards on 11 carries.
Pena Ramirez ran in a two-point conversion for the Crusaders. His fellow captain, Memorial senior offensive lineman Jack Paradis, also had a carry.
Sturgis said he wanted to send his seniors like Pena Ramirez and Paradis, who have played big roles in the program’s resurgence, off with some memories.
This season marked Memorial’s winningest since its 11-0 state title campaign in 1972.
The Crusaders were 2-8 in Turkey Bowls when they won the first of these three consecutive holiday bowls in 2023.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Our kids take a lot of pride in making sure the city knows right now and hopefully for the foreseeable future it’s blue and red — it runs through Memorial,” Sturgis said. “Those are the colors that it should be and they’re going to keep it that way as long as they can.”
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