Wellesley tops Needham at Thanksgiving football game to finish season strong

The Wellesley High School Raiders knocked off forever rival Needham High on Thanksgiving morning at home by a 20-6 score. It put an end to a 2-year skid in the matchup for Wellesley, which finished the year at 6-5 and dropped the Rockets to 3-8 just a year after Needham made the D1 title game.

It was the 138th edition of the longest-running public high school rivalry.

Raiders quarterback Bobby Shanahan threw for two touchdown passes and early in the game ran one in from 25 yards. Wellesley’s defense held Needham to just one touchdown, scored in the second quarter and that sliced the Raiders’ lead to 7-6. A pass from Shanahan to Matt Liebman, however, put Wellesley up 13-6 at halftime. A short touchdown pass, this to Tennyson Charney in the third quarter, gave Wellesley the breathing room it needed to hold Needham at bay for the rest of the contest.

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