The Cranston West Falcons won the Mayor’s Cup and Superintendent’s Trophy after beating the Cranston East Thunderbolts 53-21 on Saturday afternoon during the Thanksgiving game at Cranston Stadium.

Star sophomore running back Brennan Stetson led the Falcons with three rushing touchdowns while junior quarterback Cam Alves added a passing TD and a defensive score.

The Falcons’ signal caller was proud to bring the Cup back to the West side.

“It’s always great to bring it back to West,” Alves said. “We have a great group here. We’re young, we’re very close, and I owe it all to the coaching staff. They’ve put in hours that nobody even knows about and it’s great to bring it back to the community and it’s great to be a Falcon today.”

“I’m very happy for the team, the kids, the seniors, and the program,” West head coach Tom Milewski added. “It was tough last week with the Super Bowl, but going out on a good ending note is what we do and I’m very happy for everybody, including myself.”

“It’s a great way to end the year,” Milewski continued. “And going into the off-season, now we start building for next year, but we sent the seniors that have done so much for us, off with a win on their last game on the high school field.”

West started its first possession from its own 41 after Falcons senior defensive back Ken Alexander intercepted a pass from East quarterback Rayven DeOliveira.

Then, on a 3rd-and-8, Cam Alves tossed a dart down the field to senior wide receiver Shadlaire Pinthiere, who took it for a 39-yard score, putting the Falcons on top 6-0 early. Madison Alves added the extra point after that and upped the West edge to 7-0.

East evened the score early in the second quarter when DeOliveira scored a 5-yard rushing TD after the ‘Bolts marched 95 yards down the turf, making it 7-6. Junior Aaron Fonseca added the extra point following that, knotting the game at 7.

Nonetheless, the Bolts would give the Falcons great field possession minutes later when East junior running back Andrew Amoako fumbled the ball on a first down and West’s Alves returned it to the East 14. Two plays later, Stetson rushed 15 yards to the house, giving the Falcons a 14-7 advantage with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.

DeOliveira suffered an ankle injury on the ‘Bolts ensuing possession, so East moved standout wide out Robenson Antoine Jr. to quarterback to finish the contest.

West got the ball first to begin the second half and started from its own 42 after an East squib kick.

On first down, Stetson rushed left 25 yards to the East 17. On the next play, Stetson took it again, this time, seven yards to the 10. Four plays later, Stetson ran middle left, five yards and in for the score and extended the Falcons lead to 20-7. Madison Alves extra point attempt was short following the TD.

On both first and second down, Antoine totaled 52 yards on the ground and brought the ball out to the West 28. Moments after that, Antoine rushed into the house from 15 yards out and pulled the ‘Bolts within 20-14 with 7:49 left in the third quarter.

Four minutes later, East took a 21-20 edge when Antoine threw a bullet up the middle to senior wide out Nick Chea for a 39-yard score.

Though, West would close the third quarter up 26-21, after junior running back Noah Robert rushed 24 yards up the middle for a touchdown with 54.8 seconds left.

With 10:25 left, the Falcons added to their cushion when on a third-and-8, Stetson rushed left and juked two defenders before sprinting 44 yards down the left sideline and into pay dirt and increased the West margin to 32-21.

Twelve seconds later, West’s Pinthiere, who was at defensive back, intercepted a pass and lateralled it to Alves, who brought it 20 yards and in for the score and upped the Falcons’ advantage to 39-21.

West ballooned its lead to 46-21 with 5:29 remaining when senior running back Evan Degaitas rushed 15 yards and into the end zone.

The Falcons got their final score with a minute to play when East suffered a miscue during a handoff and West senior defensive back Isaiah Cruz stripped the ball and went the other way for a touchdown which gave the Falcons a 53-21 lead.

It’s been a tough season for the Bolts, who’ve battled through many wounds this season and finished with a 4-6 record overall.

“This year we dealt with adversity a lot,” DeOliveira said. “A lot of injuries. A lot of guys quit on us even though we started off the season 2-3, everyone just kind of gave up on us. But the guys that stayed together, we stuck together as a family and fought to the very end.”

“It was a long, difficult season with so many injuries, but the kids were resilient,” East head coach Tom Centore added. “We had our battles. We did some good things this year and I’m just proud of them. They finished up as strong as they could. We took it as far as we could, I think with where we were with the injuries.”