Mt. Hope holds off Barrington in exciting Thanksgiving Day win

Mt. Hope overcame early mistakes and an overpowering Barrington ground game to pull out a 20-19 win in the annual Thanksgiving Day grdge match.

Quarterback Vincent Berretto capped off a long, 65-yard drive late in the third quarter with a pretty spin move at the goal line to put the Huskies in front for good. The Husky defense, which had been gashed by running back Barrington MVP David Kelley for most of the game, stood up in the fourth quarter, holding the Easgles to punts on both of their possessions.

Berretto - named the Huskies MVP - and the Mt. Hope offense did the rest, grinding out long drives to chew up the clock and salt the game away. The quarterback's third quarter touchdown came at the perfect time, just after Barrington opened the second half with a 73-yard drive for a touchdown and a 19-14 lead.

"We wanted to run the score up early, but in the second half we knew we just needed to hold the ball," Berretto said. "We knew we just needed to hold the ball and drive on them. We knew if we held the ball, they couldn't beat us."

It was Barrington that held the ball early in the third quarter. Kelley was dominant on the drive, racking up runs of 8, 5, 6 and 12 yards, ahead of his 5-yard touchdown run. The drive ate up the first eight minutes of the third, setting the tone for a disciplined half by both teams.

"That was our best drive," said Kelly, a linebacker who rushed for 84 yards in his first game at running back. "The plan was to give me the ball and see if I could piound it in. We knew we couldn't give them the ball. It's disappointing, but we can't be too mad. We worked hard."

If the second half was about ball control, the first half was the opposite, featuring big play after big play. The excitement began on the first play from scrimmage after Mt. Hope received the opening kickoff. Berretto pitched out to running back Coby Castriotta, who pulled up and heaved the ball down field, hooking up with receiver Jayson Pompey on a 60-yard bomb to open the scoring.

Barrington responded two possessions later when linebacker Lucas Dillon blocked a Mt. Hope punt. The Eagles recovered on the 17-yard line, setting Kelley and the Eagles offense up with a short field. The running back pounded ahead for a touchdown on consecutive runs to tie the game.

After another Husky three-and-out, Castriotta struck again with his second big play, intercepting quarterback Liam McManus on the Eagles 40 yard line. Running back Corey Cardoso took control of the drive, striking for a 27-yard run before punching it in from the 2-yard line.

The Barrington defense quickly responded in kind, inctercepting Berretto at the Mt. Hope 17. But the offense faltered, pushed back by a Cardoso sack and a McManus fumble, leading them to punt. Mt. Hope's Maxwell Moskala settled under the punt at the 22, but the Barrington coverage arrived at the same time as the ball, knocking it loose and setting its offense up with another short field. Mt. Hope Head Coach T.J. DelSanto insisted Moskala was hit early, but no flag flew.

Kelley powered ahead for 17 yards to the Mt. Hope 4 on first down, before a Husky goal line stand forced fourth and goal. Running back Samuel Read punched it in, but a missed extra point left the Eagles down 14-13 at the half.

The wild first-half swings wasn't exactly in the game plan, but the Huskies felt like they remained in control, Coach DelSanto said.

"It didn't feel like it was going to get out of our hands," DelSanto said. "We kind of gave them momentum early, but I'm happy we were able to control the line of scrimmage, settle things down and move the ball. We felt like we would be in control at the end."