St. Raphael claims early bragging rights in new Pawtucket city rivalry

PAWTUCKET — Pawtucket just had its best night of the football season.

Max Read Field didn’t have a crowd like Wednesday night throughout the fall. Parking spilled into the surrounding streets and seating wrapped around the front entrance of the field. Halftime for St. Raphael vs. Pawtucket was extended for a full marching band performance and cheerleading show.

It was everything the newest Thanksgiving rivalry game can – and should – be for the city. It was Private vs. Public and neither team wanted to let history fall in favor of the other. St. Raphael possesses early bragging rights, and a freshly minted trophy, after a 41-14 win vs. Pawtucket.

“It was a great atmosphere,” St. Raphael’s Brendan Cardoso said. “This game was important and we’ve been talking about it all week – it’s Rivalry Week. We cannot lose to Pawtucket. We cannot lose to that team across the street. And we definitely did our job.”

The standard, though, is set for the Saints. These two city programs will meet again in a year and it’s on St. Raphael to keep that Lombardi Trophy replica as far away from the co-op as possible.

Pawtucket? Stew on that loss for a year and return next fall to even the series.

That’s the best part about this game. It’s something everyone in Pawtucket can circle each season and look forward to. The trophy will exchange hands at some point, it’ll earn a few scratches along the way and already saw its first rainy Thanksgiving.

“This is going to be a great rivalry,” Pawtucket coach, Jason DeLarence said. “I felt it from the minute we walked down. The energy in the stadium - the fans, the kids – this is a true rivalry and it was wonderful.”

Wednesday was only the beginning, and if the Pawtucket Bowl outgrows Max Read Field, that’s a good thing. The best fix would be to open the shiny new stadium - Centreville Bank Stadium – that sits less than a mile down the road free of charge for the kids. North and South Kingstown play at University of Rhode Island’s Meade Stadium and this would be no different.

“I think the obvious answer, I think what we all think, is to play this game at Centreville Bank Stadium,” NBC 10 WJAR sports reporter and anchor, Kevin Moore said.

Moore, was at Wednesday’s game for work, but he’s a Shea alum and spent a year of high school at St. Raphael. Moore played football for both teams – he’s seen either side of the rivalry – and knows what it means.

“They want to win this game,” Moore said. “They want to be the best team in Pawtucket.”

Cardoso earned St. Raphael’s Pawtucket Bowl MVP honors after he caught nine passes for 159 yards and four touchdowns. The junior was the Saints’ catalyst with touchdown catches of nine, 29, 40 and 42 yards. Johnny Germaine got in on the scoring party with touchdown rushes of one and 62 yards as St. Raphael scored 41 unanswered points.

St. Raphael ended its season earlier than it wanted to with a quarterfinal loss at Hendricken. But that didn’t matter on Wednesday night. The Saints finally have an annual Thanksgiving rival after playing Moses Brown from 2012-23. Before the Quakers, St. Raphael had a two-year stint against Johnston. There were also scattered years vs. Rogers and Bishop Feehan.

The Saints have really been looking for someone consistent to play with since the rivalry game against Tolman, which extends to 1929, stopped after the 2001 season.

“We knew coming into this game after losing to Hendricken that this was a big game for not just us, but [longtime St. Raphel coach, Mike Sassi],” Germaine said. “He’s been through all these rivalries and we knew it was a big one for him.”

Pawtucket, in its first season as a co-op, won four games but was toppled by East Providence in the opening round of the playoffs. The playoff finish was irrelevant as Emmett Talaray returned the opening kickoff 65 yards to the house. That Pawtucket sideline, at that moment, didn’t care what happened during the regular season.

Pawtucket was out to win a football game, against a rival, because it’s important.

“These kids went to the same elementary and middle schools,” DeLarence said. “And then they got to high school and went different paths. It’s not a mean or bad rivalry – it’s friendly. I want to beat them and they want to beat us.

“[Thanksgiving games] matter in Pawtucket.]”

Talaray scored again early in the fourth quarter and Stephen Sayee earned MVP honors for Pawtucket after the senior hauled in six passes in the loss.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: St. Raphael claims early bragging rights in new Pawtucket city rivalry