TURNERS FALLS — Heading into the Thanksgiving showdown between Franklin Tech and Smith Vocational, it seemed unlikely that Eagles running back Josiah Little would be able to reach the 1,000-yard milestone on the season.
Little — just a freshman — needed 249 yards on the ground in the game to hit the mark, meaning he would need to have a career day.
Little tallied 118 yards on the ground in the first half before exploding for 134 yards in the second half, giving him 252 yards in the game to put him at 1,002 yards on the season to help lift Franklin Tech to a 32-16 victory.
“I thought I could do it,” Little said. “One of our main goals this game was to get me 1,000 yards and we did it. I haven’t had much football experience, I only played one year in middle school. Coming into this year, I was going to just work hard and I was able to do it. I was crying tears of joy after.”
Little was named game MVP for the Eagles (5-6) while Cole Boisvert was the team MVP for the Vikings (1-9) after hauling in a 50-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
“Congrats to Franklin Tech on the win,” Smith Vocational coach Alex Subocz said. “Playing on Thanksgiving has to be the best tradition in high school football. You show up, the ground’s frozen and you get to play a game on Thanksgiving. It’s as good as it gets.”
Thursday’s contest was the third in the new Turkey Day rivalry between the two schools, with Franklin Tech now holding a 2-1 advantage in the series.
“It felt great to be back,” Eagles coach Joe Gamache said. “I was a little lost last year. This has been a tradition in my life for as long as I can remember. Football has changed but if we can keep this tradition going, it’s going to make me happy.”
It didn’t take long for Franklin Tech to get on the scoreboard. A 25-yard run by Chad Adams with a 15-yard facemask call at the end set the Eagles up at the Vikings 17. One play later Little dashed in from 17-yards out to give Franklin Tech a 6-0 lead with 8:03 to play in the first quarter.
Smith Voke then went on a 10-play drive, but an incomplete pass by Boisvert on a fourth-and-five gave the ball back to the Eagles at their own 20.
Franklin Tech answered with an 18-play drive that cooked nearly eight minutes off the clock. The drive was capped when Gabe Tomasi found Dylan Mathieu open in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal from the Vikings 1 to put the Eagles ahead, 12-0, with 6:21 to play in the half.
Ryan Demers picked off a pass on the ensuing possession, with Little then breaking off 22 and 23 yard runs to set Franklin Tech up in Smith Voc territory.
Tomasi later found Max Bastarache who scampered in from 15 yards out to give the Eagles an 18-0 lead with 1:06 left in the half.
Both teams traded punts to open the second half, and following a second punt by the Vikings, Franklin Tech went on another long drive, this on the back of Little.
The freshman broke off runs of 10, 11 and 22 yards on the drive before finding the end zone himself from four yards out, with Jack Reynolds’ extra point going through to put the Eagles up 25-0 with 11:17 to play in the game.
“He’s a special player,” Gamache said of Little. “He’s not real big in stature but he plays a lot bigger than he’s listed on the roster. He had a great year, especially down the stretch. We started giving him more carries as the year went on and he literally took it and ran with it.”
Aaron Pierce took the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the house, making a player miss before getting speed up the sideline to put Smith Voc on the scoreboard. Quarterback Alex Martinez took the two-point try in himself to cut the lead to 25-8.
Franklin Tech recovered an onside kick and Little then broke off a 52-yard run. Adams carried the next play six yards in for the score, with Reynolds’ kick making it 32-8 with 10:13 to play.
Little hit his 1,000 yard mark with a 3-yard carry in the final minutes of the game.
The Vikings’ final touchdown came with one minute left on the clock, with Martinez connecting with Boisvert up the right sideline for a 50-yard score.
“The two touchdowns were from seniors so I’m happy about that,” Subocz said. “I’m happy Aaron finally broke one and Cole’s been an explosive weapon at receiver all year. I’m happy they were able to get those.”
With a small senior class, the Eagles are hoping a Thanksgiving win can help build momentum heading into next season.
“We finished the season with 48 kids. We only have five seniors so in theory, we have 43 kids returning,” Gamache said. “They have to realize that there is no offseason. Next season starts tomorrow morning and if they put the work in, we’ll be ready to go Day 1 next year.”
For Smith Voc, the goal of improving each week came to fruition.
“The conversation with the guys after was we can’t brag about the record but we can brag about the strides we took each week,” Subocz said. “There was a point today where we had three freshmen playing linebacker. Fast forward three years from now, if we have three seniors playing linebacker it’s going to be a different story. We just have to keep building and keep getting better.”