Thanksgiving football: Franklin Tech, Smith Vocational both vie for eighth win in 5th annual meeting

The fifth installment of the Franklin Tech-Smith Vocational Turkey Day football game will feature a pair of teams who reached the semifinals of the MVADA Small School Vocational Tournament.  

It’s been a strong season for both the Eagles and the Vikings, which enter Thursday’s game with identical 7-4 records. It’s the best record either team has had heading into their Turkey Day showdown. The seven wins are already the most in program history for Smith Vocational while an eighth win would tie for the most in a season in program history for Franklin Tech. 

It’s been the Eagles that have had the better of the Vikings in recent years, winning the last three Thanksgiving games after Smith Vocational won the opening installment of the rivalry in 2018. Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said his team is raring to go and end its season on a high note. 

“This year we’ve had a group that’s bought into what it takes to be successful,” Gamache said. “We’ve had limited distractions and have been focused on playing football. We’re hoping we can pull it off on Thanksgiving to get to eight wins and tie the school record. Our seniors are obviously hoping to make that happen. The supporting cast and the younger guys want it as well.

 “A lot of our guys have gotten varsity time from a young age,” Gamache added. “This year has been their chance to shine and show what it takes to be successful and be leaders. Our hope for the younger guys is that this is a stepping stone and a building block for the next few years.”

After falling to Blue Hills in the semifinals of the state vocational tournament last Friday, Smith Vocational quickly shifted its focus to the Eagles. 

While they already have the school record for wins, the Vikings are determined to snap their Thanksgiving losing skid and complete a historic season.

“Not even 10 minutes after the Blue Hills game [quarterback] Alex [Martinez], a team leader, was talking about the importance of the Thanksgiving game,” Vikings coach Alex Subocz said. “Our kids shifting their focus is a clear sign that they’re ready to beat Tech. It’s turning into a rivalry and I hope the kids over in Turners feel the same way. Our kids can definitely feel it. 

“It’s a game where there’s a trophy at stake,” Subocz continued. “We have a tangible thing to play for. Looking back at this season, seeing 8-4 versus 7-5 will feel different. If we can get that eighth win it will feel really nice to look back and reflect on.” 

Those in Turners Falls echoed Subocz’s statements. Gamache agreed that the rivalry — still in its infancy stages — has grown through the years. It helps when there’s familiarity between the programs, which has been the case in recent years. 

“I do believe the rivalry is building,” Gamache said. “It helps that Alex has been there for a few years. Consistency on the coaching staff helps breed and foster rivalries. The more familiar, the more of a rivalry it seems to be. Last year was a physical game. It had the feel of a Thanksgiving football game. The kids on both sides were competing. You don’t want personal foul penalties but when it gets a little chippy, it means it means something for the kids. It’s on us coaches to reign it in and make sure it doesn’t get out of hand. Rivalries have that feel to them and this game has gotten there.” 

Both coaches noted when watching the film how impressed they were with what they saw on the other side. 

Franklin Tech went 2-1 in its independent slate and finished 4-1 in the Intercounty League North to secure the No. 15 seed in the MIAA Div. 8 state tournament. It was the first time the Eagles qualified for it since the new tournament format went in place, and they ultimately fell to No. 2 Carver in the opening round.

Tech followed it up with a win over Cape Cod Tech in the quarterfinals of the vocational tournament before falling to Tri County in the semis on Saturday. 

Gabe Tomasi has been starting under center for the Eagles since his sophomore year and will play his final game for Tech on Thursday. Tomasi enters with 693 yards and six touchdowns through the air while adding 467 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. 

Ethan Smarr (20 catches, 302 yards, three touchdowns) and Cam Candelaria (12 catches, 184 yards, one touchdown) are Tomasi’s top weapons, and he has several other options at his disposal to move the ball down field. 

In the backfield junior Josiah Little enters the game 12 yards short of the 1,000-yard mark, sitting at 988 yards and seven touchdowns. Little has run for 1,000 yards the last two seasons and will be looking to make it three in a row on Thursday. 

“He’s the ultimate team player,” Gamache said of Little. “He wants the team to succeed. If he fell one yards shy and we won the game, I’m sure he’d be slightly disappointed but he’d be more happy we won the game. That’s all he cares about. He’s not the least bit selfish. It’s obviously a goal for him to reach that mark but his main focus is on winning the game.” 

Defense has been where Franklin Tech has shined all season. The Eagles allowed just 10.25 points per game during their eight regular season contests, shutting out McCann, Palmer and Mahar. 

Landen Hardy has been the stalwart on the Tech defense, leading the team with 118 tackles, 25 for loss, while also adding 1.5 sacks. Freshman Izaya Romer leads the Eagles with 4.5 sacks to go along with 10 tackles for loss while Camryn Laster and Hunter Donahue have each picked off a pair of passes. 

Gamache said creating turnovers and forcing mistakes will be a key on Thanksgiving. 

“Defensively we’ve played pretty well throughout the majority of the season,” Gamache said. “The defense has stepped up and gotten us some turnovers. In a game like Thanksgiving, you can throw the records out. The hope is that you make the least amount of mistakes. If you limit your mistakes and capitalize on theirs, that’s a winning formula.” 

When watching the Eagles on film, Subocz said he saw a talented, balanced team that will create multiple problems to deal with on both sides of the ball. 

“Their receivers run crisp routes and their spacing is good,” Subocz said. “They aired it out a ton against us a few years ago and we’ll have to defend that air attack again. Since Little’s been there they’ve been more of a run-first team. I feel like they’ve really been more more balanced this year than in years’ past. I wouldn’t be highlighting Tech’s biggest strength if I didn’t mention that their defense flies around. All 11 guys are actively flowing to the ball. Trying to get our offense going will be a challenge.” 

Subocz credited the Vikings’ turnaround — going from 1-9 a season ago to breaking the school’s win record this year — to his players getting more experienced.. 

Smith Vocational has been forced to play younger players the last few years and took their licks doing so. Now those younger players are veterans with loads of game reps, and the Vikings have reaped those benefits this fall. 

“One of the biggest pieces to the turnaround is we became an old team,” Subocz said. “We were playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores but now those guys are juniors and seniors. It’s been nice to have those older kids. Watching our junior class especially, many of them were starting and doing well for us as freshmen way before they were really ready to be playing. I can pretend that this was a long term plan but we really did it out of necessity. Now we’re seeing the benefits of it.”

The Vikings opened their season by winning their first four games and added a win over SICS in a Tri-County League contest. Smith Vocational played Northampton in a non-playoff game and earned its first ever win over the Blue Devils, a 34-26 triumph. 

The aforementioned Martinez has been starting under center since he was a freshman, and now a senior, brings experience and leadership to the Viking offense. 

At running back junior Jared Baer is 175 yards short of becoming the first Smith Vocational player to hit the 1,000-yard milestone. With a season-high of 163 yards, Subocz is hoping for a monster game from his star back to reach the mark. 

“It’s a lofty goal,” Subocz said. “Tech’s defense is stout. It’s not too far out of reach. The plan early is to see what he can get going. If it’s not working we’ll look somewhere else.” 

Brayden Larose is a freshman at running back who Subocz said has impressed him all season, running hard and looking like a seasoned vet in his first year in the program. Junior John Majewski can break any route into a touchdown with his speed and is someone Subocz said he hopes to get the ball to on Thursday. 

When the Smith Vocational offense is rollings, the wins seem to come. In their victories, the Vikings have averaged 30.8 points per game, while in its four losses, Smith Vocational has been held to 13.3 PPG. 

Defensively the Vikings surrendered 16.1 points per game during their eight regular season games, led by John Loico at middle linebacker who has held down the middle of the Smith Vocational defense all season. The Vikings have made game-changing plays on defense by forcing turnovers, averaging over two per game. 

Playing complementary football is something Subocz said he hopes to see on Thanksgiving. 

“Tech is a really talented team but I feel like we’re a talented team as well,” Subocz said. “Our winning formula this year has been simple: our defense has been great at forcing turnovers. Hope we can continue our ways of catching the ball when the other team puts it in the air and stripping it when they’re running with it. Offensively we’ve been a run-first team this year. That’s part of the reason we have someone approaching 1,000 yards. We’ve been efficient in what we want to do offensively. I’m cautiously optimistic that we can do what we do well, even with Tech’s defense which impressed me a lot.” 

Gamache said he’s noticed the improvement Smith Vocational has made, noting they have multiple things to prepare for heading in. 

“Alex has done a great job with that program,” Gamache said. “I know that his seniors have put a lot of time and work in. He’s put the work in with them and they’ve bought in. Their quarterback is a tremendous athlete. He throws a good ball, he’s shifty and he can run. He does it all for them. He has some really nice complementary pieces. They have a running back with good speed who runs hard, they have some big bodies up front on the offensive line and a lot of those guys are playing the other side of the ball as well. Similar to us, they rotate a lot of guys on defense to have fresh legs. We’ll have our hands full. They have some athletes and have a lot of experience.” 

Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. at Franklin Tech.