Nauset Drubs Dennis-Yarmouth To Take Chowder Cup, Snap Five-Game Streak

NORTH EASTHAM – After a five-plus year drought, the Chowder Cup is staying on the Outer Cape.

Nauset thumped Dennis-Yarmouth 50-24 last Thursday on Thanksgiving morning to take the 29th installment of the holiday football rivalry. The win for the Warriors snapped a five-game streak for Dennis-Yarmouth.

To get the Cup back, Nauset exploded for their largest point total in a game all season, finding the end zone on offense, defense and special teams. It was the first time a Warriors team had put up 50 during the high school career of senior quarterback Brendan Peno, who in his final game taking snaps for Nauset threw four touchdown passes and earned Offensive Player of the Game honors.

“Beating those guys, nothing compares to this feeling,” he said. “Like this is the greatest feeling that I’ll probably ever have.”

Senior Seamus Mahoney caught two touchdowns, and junior Will O’Loughlin and sophomore Parker Swain each caught one. Sophomore Jake Tompkins ran an interception back for a touchdown. Sophomore Jack Peno opened the scoring with a punt return TD and capped the day with a rushing touchdown. O’Loughlin also earned Defensive Player of the Game honors after Nauset held Dennis-Yarmouth scoreless in the second half.

The morning actually began inauspiciously for the Warriors, who after kicking off to the Dolphins appeared to surrender a nearly 70-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game. The score was called off for offensive pass interference, and Nauset proceeded to force a three-and-out instead. Jack Peno took the ensuing punt back 60 yards to the house. He cut once, turned the corner and was gone. Brendan Peno ran in the two-point conversion.

After a couple drives sputtered out for each side, Dennis-Yarmouth capitalized on a Nauset turnover, with senior Oliver Doto running in a score and two-point conversion to tie the game 8-8 in the second quarter. Not even two minutes later, Peno scrambled from pressure at midfield and dropped it in the bucket for Swain to jump back ahead. Peno credited the offensive line for holding off Dennis-Yarmouth’s three-man rush.

“Those guys give me the time to throw,” he said. “It meant everything and it showed.”

On Dennis-Yarmouth’s first play following the next kickoff, freshman Darrius Mendes ran for a 55-yard touchdown, and the Dolphins took the lead. Nauset almost gave the ball away again but recovered their own fumble, then Peno hit Mahoney for a 37-yard touchdown. A rivalry matchup that has frequently turned into a high-powered barnburner in recent meetings looked to be developing that way again. The Warriors and Dolphins combined for 28 points in a less than three-minute span.

The teams went on to add to what ended as a 42-point second quarter. With about four minutes left, Peno scrambled at the 44-yard line and found Mahoney wide open for another score. Doto ran in another touchdown to bring the Dolphins back within two, the first half ending 26-24. Those were the last points allowed by Nauset for the rest of the day.

On the first drive of the second half, Peno threw a strike to O’Loughlin on a slant for another touchdown, and Mahoney took a jet sweep in for two. With the third quarter winding down and the Dolphins going for it on fourth-and-7, Tompkins juggled and bobbled the Dennis-Yarmouth pass attempt, corralling it and running back the pick-6. Peno connected with his younger brother Jack for the two-point conversion.

“To go out and have basically every side of the ball contribute — a special team score, a defensive score, some offensive scores — it feels great,” Nauset head coach Jesse Peno said. “Everything came together. It's complimentary football. It’s awesome.”

A Jack Peno rushing touchdown (two-point conversion by O’Loughlin) and an interception by junior Fin Parker put the finishing touches on the dominant win to keep the Chowder Cup trophy in Eastham for the first time in a while.

“We just had to come out and prove it in the second half,” Peno said. “I felt like we did, and it's the best feeling in the world.” 

O’Loughlin was named Defensive Player of the Game for Nauset. For Dennis-Yarmouth, Doto received Offensive Player of the Game honors while junior Ledor Auguste was named Defensive Player of the Game.

“The D-line stepped up,” O’Loughlin said. “We made a bunch of plays, filled our gaps, hit them hard. That's all we got to do — gritty football.”

The win was about as perfect a way to end what was a tough season for the Warriors, who played without Peno for the first few weeks as he sought to return from injury. They could have easily checked out for the season after losing 38-18 to Bishop Stang earlier in November. Instead, they put together the two best weeks of practice they’ve had all year, Jesse Peno said.

“Played through adversity today and just played their butts off,” he said. “Just so proud of them, so it really, it makes the season.”