The Silver Lake High School football team had a chance to finish their season 8-3. They took advantage of that situation.
At home on Thanksgiving this year against their annual rival, the Pembroke Titans, the Lakers prevailed again this year with a 40-20 win. As a result, they finished the year 8-3.
It took awhile for the Lakers to get going. But once they did, their offensive attack was potent.
In the first quarter, they would not score. But midway through the second quarter, they struck. Driving downfield, Alec Snell took it in himself for a two-yard score. The two-point conversion attempt was no good.
As the first half expired, Snell connected with Drew Neal for a 14-yard touchdown pass. It put the Lakers up, 12-0, headed into the locker room as they continued playing stout defense. And then, it broke open in the second half.
Max LaFerrera started the third quarter just about as well as anyone could have hoped. He ran for a 65-yard touchdown to put the Lakers up, 18-0. But the Titans quickly countered and took their kick return to the end zone for a touchdown.
A few minutes later, the Lakers pieced together a quality drive. It ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Snell to Laferrera.
With 4:20 left in the third, the Titans scored again, on a quarterback run. Their extra point try was good, which put them within 11 — the closest they would come to a comeback.
Snell had another touchdown pass to Neal late in the third quarter to give the Lakers some breathing room. The 29-yard TD pass along with a successful LaFerrera two-point conversion bumped the Lakers lead back up to 19 points.
With that kind of a deficit headed into the fourth quarter, the Titans were not able to orchestrate any sort of a comeback.
Last year, the Lakers came out with a 50-6 win over the Titans on Thanksgiving. But since it was a closer game this year and the Lakers are stronger this year than they were in the past, it implies the Titans have also grown.
This marks the third straight time the Lakers have topped the Titans on Thanksgiving. In the all-time series, the Lakers hold the edge, 8-3.
The 2016 football season also holds significance to the Lakers because it was the first time they had won a playoff game since 1980 — which was 36 years ago. They did so in the first round of the playoffs against Scituate, 28-26, on Oct. 28.