Waltham High School football team concludes year with 32-13 Thanksgiving Day loss at Arlington

Thanksgiving Day football has stood the test of time as one of Massachusetts’ most storied high school sports traditions.

Towns across the state flocked to the field on Thursday to enjoy the morning sun and watch the boys of fall lace up the cleats for one last time in the 2025 regular season. The Waltham High School football squad felt the spirit and brought some intensity to Arlington High School, however, the Hawks fell short by a final score of 32-13.

Looking to avenge last year’s home loss to the Spy Ponders, the Hawks made a few big plays over the course of the contest and did what they could against a formidable Arlington group with loads of size at all positions. The effort was not quite enough, though, dropping the Hawks to a 2-9 season record.

Both teams began the game with a ground-and-pound approach amid blustery winds. While the weather was much prettier compared to the torrential downpours of Thanksgiving 2024, the conditions were still quite nippy. Hawks senior running back Wes O’Connor got the tilt going with a strong run off-tackle to provide WHS with a quick boost. However, the Hawks failed to convert a first down on the series and the Spy Ponders quickly took advantage of favorable field position. Running back Ori Forest bruised his way to a first down before quarterback Joey Schiano tossed a 25-yard touchdown to give Arlington a 7-0 lead with 4:34 left in the first quarter.

Waltham hopped back into contention with haste, however. O’Connor started a drive yet again with a nice run and senior quarterback Ryan Dragone went to one of his favorite patterns, hitting junior wide receiver Bobby Mendez on a slant near midfield. The speedy wideout took off unopposed down the right sideline, racing in for a long TD to tie the score with 7:54 remaining in the half.

The main issue of the game was the Hawks’ inability to contain Arlington’s rushing attack. The Spy Ponders utilized Forest’s size on the next possession, as he churned his way to a bevy of yards capped off by a four-yard touchdown at the conclusion of the drive. Forest then ended the first half by taking a misdirection screen pass from Schiano 53 yards to the house with just nine seconds left. The long touchdown was a back-breaker for the Hawks, who were this close to heading into the halftime break facing just a one-score deficit.

The gap widened at the beginning of the third quarter. Schiano stepped up in the pocket following a play-action fake and uncorked a beautiful pass down the middle of the field for a racing Matt Grande, who ran it in for a 75-yard score to provide AHS with a commanding 25-7 advantage.

As they did throughout the autumn, Waltham continued to prove its resiliency. On a fourth-and-one near midfield in the middle of the third quarter, Dragone hit promising freshman receiver Julius Genece on the exact same type of slant route as before. The dangerous outside wideout then followed in Mendez’ footsteps and marched into the end zone to cut the hole to 25-13.

The Hawks failed to muster anything else, though, and the season came to a screeching halt with a Dragone strip-sack fumble at the conclusion of the fourth quarter. All in all, WHS does have some budding talent that will look to take steps forward heading into 2026 behind strong leadership in head coach Sean Brackett.