The Magicians took home the turkey on Thanksgiving morning at Piper Field, beating the Swampscott Big Blue, 29-22, and retaining the Rotary Cup for the 13th consecutive year.
Swampscott opened the scoring with a 49-yard passing touchdown early in the first. Marblehead responded with a 59-yard Landon Dosch receiving score to tie the game two plays later.
After forcing Big Blue back to the one, the Magicians capitalized on a botched punt to set up on the doorstep. On the first play of the drive, Finn Gallup found the edge, running 12 yards for the score to put Marblehead up 14-7 in the dying seconds of the first.
Another passing touchdown by Swampscott late in the second would send the teams to the halftime break with the scores level at 14-14.
The Magicians opened the second half with a bang as Owen Coyne housed the opening kickoff to hand the lead back to Marblehead.
A 64-yard Swampscott score would bring the game within a point and a successful two-point try returned the lead to the Big Blue with 8 minutes to go.
Marblehead would get their miracle on their final drive, dramatically marching 92 yards in 1:20 to regain the lead on a two-yard James Machado plunge. A back shoulder grab by Timmy Wales would complete the two point try and give the Magicians a five-point lead with 32 seconds remaining.
After gaining two quick first downs, the Big Blue failed on their hail Mary attempt as time expired.
With the 29-22 victory, Marblehead makes it 13 in a row and advances to 60-50-6 all-time in the Thanksgiving rivalry.
The Current spoke to Marblehead Coach Jim Rudloff right after the game.
