By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher LINWOOD – Victor O’Farriel wasn’t lacking for any motivation heading into this year’s Thanksgiving Day game. The Egg Harbor Township senior spent the first two years of his high school career at Mainland Regional, and on Thursday morning he wrecked havoc on his former team as the visiting Eagles used a dominating defensive effort to post a 13-0 shutout over the arch-rival Mustangs. O’Farriel had an interception and a hand in all five turnovers the Egg Harbor Township defense forced, including a pair of fumble recoveries, as the Eagles (5-5) finished the season .500 under first-year coach Kevin Stetser. “It’s crazy, man. I’ve been waiting all year long for this. I used to play for Mainland and I really just wanted to play this team. Last year, I didn’t get the chance to, and I came out here and just put my heart out for my team,” O’Farriel said. “It’s a great feeling. It’s like no other. This is like another family for me and we all worked hard in the beginning of the season, in the summer. We put the work in.” “I didn’t send (the seniors) off with a win, they went out and earned it. The game that Victor had today was unbelievable. That was one of the finest high school performances I’ve seen, and certainly on Thanksgiving Day. That was awesome,” Stetser said. “He was responsible for four turnovers, flips the quarterback on a big hit, hits a kid on a kickoff. He’s been our guy all year. He’s our flag carrier. He does everything the right way and he played his butt off today.” 
Egg Harbor Township defenders Victor O’Farriel (bottom), Bright Wiafe (center) and Dietrich Trumbauer stop a run by Mainland Regional’s Brian Thelismond during the Eagles’ 13-0 win over the Mustangs on Thanksgiving Day. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) Mainland was driving early in the first quarter before O’Farriel picked off a Ryan Swenson pass at the 5-yard line. That set the tone, as Mainland (3-7) turned the ball over on its next two possessions. On the first play of the second quarter EHT took advantage, as Dante Moore broke free down the right sideline for a 30-yard touchdown run to put the Eagles up 7-0. The score stayed the same until the closing minutes as both defenses dug their heels into the mud and refused to give up ground. Egg Harbor Township finally put the game on ice with 1:09 left when bruising sophomore fullback Connor Agostino broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage and rumbled 50 yards to paydirt to push the lead to 13-0. “That’s the big thing, the shutout. It’s been such a long run with these guys, all the things we’ve accomplished. Today was just a Cinderella story ending. That team averaged 30-something points a game and we made it a point to come out here and play great defense, and that’s what we accomplished,” said EHT senior defensive end Angelo Branca. “Our offense played well all through the season, and in games like this when it’s going to come down to whatever team breaks that one play, that’s where it goes right back to the weight room in the summer when guys are doing conditioning, and sweating, and everything sucks about football season. But that moment right there, when (Agostino) broke those last two tackles and took it to the end zone, that’s where that all pays off.” Stetser said the difference on Thanksgiving wasn’t the effort, but the execution. He said his team hasn’t lacked for effort the entire year. “Our kids, we’ve given good effort all year, we really have. And we’ve been saying sometimes our execution needs to match our effort and I felt like that’s what happened today. They played their guts out,” Stetser said. “The last couple days we’ve been doing a lot of senior stuff and it’s emotional, and we told them to use that. Use it as fuel. And they did that. They came out with emotion, but they didn’t let it get to be too much. They just played really hard today and that’s what you want.” 
Mainland Regional quarterback Ryan Swenson hurdles an EHT defender during the third quarter. Stetser said the win was especially sweet for Branca, who has been the emotional leader all season for the Eagles. “Angelo, that kid is what you want when you’re trying to get a program going and the type of things you want to instill in the kids, he has it. We just say, ‘look at that guy and do what he’s doing,'” Stetser said. “It’s awesome for a lot of these seniors. Our whole offensive line is seniors, our quarterback is a senior. We had a lot of guys out there that this was their last game to play together. And for some of them it’s their last football game ever. So this was awesome.” The win will give the Eagles some momentum heading into the offseason, Stetser said, and will serve as a building block to what his team is trying to create at Egg Harbor Township High School. “It means a lot. For one, it’s Thanksgiving, so you have your biggest crowd and the town is around you. We’ve talked about how we want the community to be behind us, which they have been this year,” Stetser said. “So to come out and get them a win was big. To come out and get to 5-5 was big. To get our seniors a last win was big. To go into the offseason with a win is big. This game is huge in so many ways.” As for the seniors, well, there’s no better way to close out a career than beating your rival on Thanksgiving. “(Mainland) played really well. It was tough, but our offense came out and made plays,” O’Farriel said. “It’s an amazing feeling. (Our seniors) have played together since they were little and just playing on this team is a great feeling. It’s good to come out on top in the last game of the season. Said Branca,”This is our first win over them in a couple of years. It’s been such a long ride with football. My parents have been coming to every single game. I’ve been through this ride with them. They are probably more upset than I am (that my career is over), but I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my senior year.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Dominating defensive effort lifts EHT to 13-0 win over rival Mainland in Thanksgiving Day matchup
