NORTHAMPTON — The past decade has felt like an entire lifetime for the Easthampton football team, each crushing Thanksgiving Day loss to rival Northampton making the food slowly lose its appeal.

But after nine straight losses to the Blue Devils in the season’s finale, the Eagles finally broke through in the pouring rain on Thursday morning.

Jake Kostek took the opening play 65 yards to the house as part of his 212-yard, two-TD day to carry Easthampton to an 18-8 victory.

After Eagles quarterback Colin Hogan took a knee to run out the clock, the once-white jerseys donned by Easthampton players stormed the field and headed straight for the midfield mud puddle that accumulated over the course of four quarters. A handful of Eagles dove in head first, celebrating its first-ever triumph over Northampton on Thanksgiving Day.

“The boys even asked me, ‘How does this feel for you coach, we made history today,’” Easthampton head coach Kyle Dragon said post game. “I said, ‘You know what? It’s about you guys.’ I am excited for it though, absolutely, but these kids have earned this after so many tough games against [Northampton].”

Easthampton received the opening kick, and on its first play from scrimmage, Hogan handed it off to Kostek. The junior tailback bounced the run outside, cut up field and darted down the right sideline. Thirteen seconds and 65 yards later, the Eagles were up 6-0.

On Northampton’s ensuing drive, quarterback Dion Cadez picked up a crucial third-and-9 by hooking up with Jacoby Allard for a 12-yard gain to move the sticks, but shortly after Eagles safety Vynce Carr scooped up a fumble to bring the Easthampton offense right back out to the field. Carr and Kostek shouldered the load for most of the Eagles’ 11-play drive, which set up a Hogan quarterback keeper for a 6-yard touchdown.

With 2 minutes, 25 seconds to go in the opening frame, the visitors jumped ahead 12-0.

“The way we started was great,” Dragon said. “We knew we were going to run the ball that way, and the first half was great as far as how we ran it. Northampton figured it out in the second half, plus the field conditions got sloppier for both teams in the second half, and both of us struggled. Jake was great, he must have had over 200 yards, for sure.”

Out of Northampton’s four first-half possessions, it picked up six first downs. The Blue Devils fumbled, punted and turned it over on downs a pair of times in quarters one and two.

Any time they developed a rhythm and flow offensively, a penalty, turnover or mental lapse would bring their drives to a crashing halt. Northampton simply wasn’t ready to go from the jump, according to head coach Joe Kocot.

“It was the same old story today,” Kocot said. “Poor tackling, walking on and off the field with their heads down. We weren’t ready, and they were. Once we made some adjustments, we started to play better. But in these conditions, it’s real tough to overcome three touchdowns. You don’t have enough time unless you have some long hitters, and Dion couldn’t even grip the ball because of the rain.”

And indeed Easthampton did build its lead to three touchdowns late in the first half, as Kostek ran wild once more – this time from 64 yards out. Kostek bounced off two would-be tacklers and tight-roped the left sideline for the last 15 yards of his run as he scampered in for his second score of 60 yards or more.

The Eagles knew they would have to pound the pigskin given the downpour, and that put the burden on their inexperienced offensive line. Although Kostek certainly helped in a few instances, the guys up front more than did their part to help Easthampton control the line of scrimmage all game long.

“They’re young, but they’ve done a great job putting it together these last few weeks for us,” Dragon said. “They opened up holes for Jake and for Vynce, and they did an awesome job.”

Eighteen points was plenty of cushion for Easthampton. Northampton did put together its best drive of the day right out of the locker room, marching 51 yards on 13 plays – chewing over eight minutes of game clock in the process. Cadez ran in from 6 yards out to put the hosts on the board. Ethan Rivera ran the ball effectively and was the catalyst of the drive, capping it off with a 2-point conversion to make it 18-8.

Neither team scored the rest of the way, with each side trading punts and turnover on downs. Carr came up with his second turnover of the game with less than 30 seconds to go, picking off Cadez to put the nail in the coffin.

“It was better than what we saw in the first half, so that was an improvement,” Kocot said of Northampton out-scoring Easthampton 8-0 in the second half. “But overall, it’s just the mediocrity. I know we’re home, but it’s like we didn’t get off the bus today. And if you can’t get up for a Thanksgiving Day game, you should probably pick a new sport.”

Watching the Eagles celebrate their biggest win of the season – one that made it six wins in their last seven games – Dragon had a wide smile plastered on his face.

The second-year head coach couldn’t have been happier for his players, especially the seniors who finish their careers on top.

“The smiles on their faces, seeing how excited they are, it just means a lot,” Dragon said. “It’s been nine years, and we haven’t had the chance to experience this. I’m so happy for them.”