Jameir Taylor scored three touchdowns to help lead Kennedy to a win over Eastside in the 92nd annual Thanksgiving Day game between the Paterson rivals.
PATERSON – Kennedy’s players stayed on the field.
Long after the final whistle blew, long after they had earned a decisive win over Eastside in the 92nd annual Thanksgiving Day meeting between the Paterson rivals, the Knights kept celebrating.
They jumped. They shouted. They held up the trophy.
This was a meaningful victory.
“This means as much as a playoff game to us,” senior running back Jameir Taylor said. “It’s great to win it for my last year.”
Taylor scored three touchdowns and sophomore Calvin Clyburn ignited his team by scoring on a 90-yard kick return to start the second half as Kennedy defeated Eastside, 26-0, at Bauerle Field on Thursday. The Knights were also strong defensively, earning their third consecutive win over Eastside in the annual rivalry game.
Kennedy (5-5) evened its record with the season-ending victory, cementing its third straight non-losing season.
“It’s our playoff game,” coach Ron Jackson said. “I’m proud of my kids. We took no days off. We practiced every day. We don’t take anybody lightly. I’m just happy for Kennedy, our side of town.”
The game was scoreless at the start of the second half, but not for long.
Eastside (2-8) kicked off and Clyburn made the catch at the 10-yard line. He then made a cut, got to the left sideline and took off.
Ninety yards later, he gave the Knights the lead. They were off and running from there.
“It started us right up,” Taylor said. “We went in [the locker room at halftime], we were like, ‘We’ve got to get points on the board.’ It started us right up. After that, we banded together and made plays.”
Taylor was right in the middle of that.
Kennedy began its final drive of the third quarter at its own 43-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Taylor found a hole up the middle and sprinted 39 yards to get a first down at Eastside’s 18.
After Taylor had a five-yard run, a holding call against the Knights gave them a second-and-20 at the 28. But the penalty didn’t matter, as Taylor ran to his left and into the end zone.
The Knights went for two points, but couldn’t convert. Still, they took a 12-0 lead and continued tacking on until the final minutes.
“We weren’t tired,” Jackson said. “We kept pressing and pressing and pressing. I think that and our conditioning as a team won it. You could see, they got tired, and that was it. We kept coming, coming and coming.”
Taylor scored on a four-yard run with 1:58 remaining in the game, and Ranfy Pujols ran the ball for two points to give Kennedy a 20-0 lead. Taylor’s seven-yard run in the final minute capped the scoring and sealed the victory.
When the final second ticked off the clock, the Knights clinched a win they desperately wanted.
“We’ve been waiting for this the whole season,” Clyburn said. “Now finally, we won. Three years straight.”