SOUTH HADLEY – It’s a three-peat.

The South Hadley football team hung on to beat Holyoke, 16-14, in Thursday’s clash on Thanksgiving Day, to earn bragging rights and the ‘Battle of the Bridge’ trophy for a third straight season.

The Tigers led 16-0 at halftime, but the Purple Knights surged back with 14 unanswered points after the break. However, South Hadley (7-4) prevented Holyoke from getting the go-ahead score late in the contest, to move to 6-1 all-time against their rivals on Turkey Day.

“This is triumphant for us,” Tigers head coach Brian Couture said. “I said to them, I've been saying it all year, we're small but mighty. That's one heck of a Holyoke program. One of the best programs they've had in a long time. For us to hang in there to get the two point victory is huge.”

It appeared South Hadley would salt the game away with less than two minutes to go in regulation as it had multiple chances to punch in a touchdown from the Purple Knights’ goal line, to extend its lead from 16-14.

Holyoke’s defense held strong though and got the ball back with 58 seconds showing on the clock. Needing 97 yards, the Purple Knights (3-8) were looking to pass and managed to pick up one first down, but the Tigers thwarted their last effort with a takedown in their backfield to earn the victory.

"We knew from the start of the year that we wanted this, that was our goal,” South Hadley sophomore Noah Hambley said. “We knew we were down players from last year. We didn't want states, we wanted this... the Thanksgiving game.”

Hambley put South Hadley in the driver’s seat early, returning the game’s opening kickoff 75 yards to the house for a lightning fast 7-0 advantage for the Tigers after a successful extra point.

"I saw my guys blocking for me,” Hambley said. “I saw my guy [Julius Hebenth] standing around, I said go block him. I had to beat the kicker and I was just lights off from there."

Hambley dashed up the right side of the field after securing the ball and was barely touched en route to the momentum-building score.

"You can't [ask for a better start], that's huge right there,” Couture said. “To come out and put six points on the board right away then to have Cooper Wall go out there and put it right through the uprights, even better. To put seven on the board with less than 30 seconds off the clock, that hurts teams."

No more scoring was had in the opening 12 minutes as both teams were getting used to the cold and wet conditions.

With about five minutes remaining in the half, Couture sent his kicking team out to extend the Tigers’ lead and Wall made no mistake about it, pushing it to a 10-0 South Hadley score. Wall’s kick measured 24 yards.

Similar to the beginning of the game, the Tigers scored quickly out of the gates during the second half on a 25-yard rush from Hebenth.

Unfortunately for South Hadley, Holyoke figured out its running game shortly after, jump-starting its comeback attempt.

Jesus Morales recorded the first points of the day for the Purple Knights on a 35-yard score at 5:21 of the third quarter. The junior broke a couple Tigers tackles and powered into the end zone, cutting his team’s deficit in half after a successful two-point conversion made it 16-8.

During the fourth quarter, Jaziel Castellano brought South Hadley’s lead down to two on a 3-yard score following a lengthy Holyoke drive.

The visitors tried to even the score with a two-point conversion, but couldn’t as the Tigers remained ahead 16-14 with 6:30 to go.

"We came out a little foggy maybe,” Couture said on the difference during the second half. “We were up and down on whether to go in or stay out in the cold and we made a choice to go in and keep the back door open. We came out a little stiff maybe.”

Ultimately, the Purple Knights failed to find the end zone again, capping off a notable performance from the South Hadley defense.

"It was outstanding,” Couture said. “From our line to our backs, everybody stepped up today.”

The Tigers know a thing or two about winning on Thanksgiving, but according to Hambley, the feeling never gets old.

“I heard from a friend that turkey tastes way better when you get that 'W' versus Holyoke,” Hambley said. “That's what we were trying to do. All season it was this, it was for Holyoke."