MANCHESTER, NH — If Memorial High’s stunning loss to Salem in the Division I quarterfinals, earlier this month, left a bad taste in the mouths of Crusader players and coaches, Thursday’s win over West in Turkey Bowl XLIII was sweet as Granny’s homemade pumpkin pie.
Memorial used a stifling defense and balanced offense to rout West, 46-8, and claim its third straight City Championship, on Schubert Field at Gill Stadium.
”It’s a city championship. Any time you can end the season with a trophy, that’s awesome,” said Memorial Head Coach Rob Sturgis. “It’s definitely a good feeling for the kids. Seeing them smile is always way better.”
Junior Ledum Adumene ran for 98 yards on just three carries, including touchdown runs of 65 and 29. He also made his presence felt on special teams with a blocked punt.
Five different players had touchdowns for Memorial, which rolled up 225 yards on the ground. Sturgis said he and his staff have had complete faith in senior quarterback Alex Sutherland to make the split-second reads and decisions needed to make the Crusaders’ triple-option effective.
“Alex did a tremendous job this season. He makes really good decisions,” said Sturgis. “And that’s the thing with the triple option, the quarterback is making the decision where the ball is going on each play. Even we don’t know where it’s going.”
With Thursday’s victory, Memorial further strengthened its claim as the top high school football program in the city. After having won just once in the first 50 Turkey Bowls (1-9), Memorial (9-2) has won three in a row, having beaten Central in 2023 (15-0) and West in 2024 (20-14).
The story of the game was the play of the Memorial defense. The Crusaders limited West to just 55 yards of total offense, including minus-12 yards rushing on 16 carries.
”The defense rose to the occasion,” said Sturgis. “The defense has actually been pretty good all year. We knew we wanted to fired them to the edges because that’s our strength.
Memorial also forced three turnovers, including a “pick 6” by sophomore linebacker Jordan Gallego.
For West, it was a disappointing end to what had otherwise been an outstanding season. The Blue Knights posted a 7-2 mark in the regular season before dropping a heartbreaking 7-6 decision to Pelham in the D-II quarterfinals. Head Coach Andrew Provencher sees a strong foundation to keep building the program on.
”We’ve got a lot of good, young players. We had a lot of young players play tonight,” said Provencher. “The guys played tough, they’ve played tough all year. I think we just had too many mistakes, early on.
Despite the final score, the game was not without highlights for West (7-4). Junior quarterback Manny Mendoza was 11 of 25 through the air for 52 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to senior Liam King. King also had an interception on defense.
Senior linebacker Jarome Henert had a pair of fumble recoveries and a sack before leaving the game with a leg injury in the second half. Senior Rayvon Nelson added a goal line interception to stop a Memorial drive.
Memorial wasted no time taking control of the game. Junior Gabe Felch capped a 47-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run, giving the Crusaders a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Junior Moses White drilled a 28-yard field goal to pad the lead, before senior Jacob Schuff scored on a five-yard run to make it 17-0. The touchdown was set up by a beautiful 27-yard completion from Sutherland to Schuff.
It remained 17-0 though halftime, thanks largely to the play of the West defense. Three second-quarter Memorial drives were stymied by turnovers on the West side of the field, including a fumble on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
Later, another trip to the “Red Zone” ended with Nelson making a great play to intercept Sutherland at the goal line.
Memorial built its lead on a 29-yard touchdown run by Adumene on the opening possession of the third quarter.
Down 24-0, West finally got on the scoreboard with 5:55 to play in the third quarter when King hauled in a perfect thrown pass from Mendoza for a 22-yard touchdown.
Sophomore Kingston Green ran in the 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 24-8.
But that was as close as the Blue Knights would get.
On the first play from scrimmage, following the ensuing kickoff, Adumene was at it again, this time braking tackles, then breaking free for a 65-yard touchdown abs a 31-8 lead.
The Memorial defense got into the scoring column early in the fourth quarter, when Gallego picked off Mendoza at the West 25-yard line and took it to the house.
Senior defensive tackle Januel Pena-Ramirez was brought in to play tailback and ran in the two-point conversion to boost the lead to 39-8.
Jaythen Torres capped the scoring on a 14-yard counter sweep to make it 46-8.