The Falcons saved their best performance of the 2007 campaign for last.
The boys of St. Paul/Goodwin Tech/Lewis Mills made it look easy, rolling over Wilcox Tech 42-7.
"I'm happy for the kids," Falcons coach Jude Kelly said after getting a congratulatory water dousing. "They've continued to put the work in everyday. It was a good win for them and the entire program."
While the St. Paul faithful have come accustomed to living and dying by the right arm of Brian Kaczynski, there was simply no need for the Falcons quarterback to lead the way on Thursday. The day belonged to Marcus Aiken.
The St. Paul running back ran around, through and over the Indian defenders on his way to the end zone on a consistent basis.
Aiken tallied 213 yards on 17 carries and had three rushing touchdowns.
His success started early.
After being stopped for no gain on his first run of the morning, Aiken went for 163 yards on his next 11 touches in the first half, including two rushes of 30 yards or more and seven of at least 10 yards.
"Marcus was tremendous today," Kelly said. "He ran hard, he ran the ball tough and he blocked well. It was certainly his best game."
Aiken got the Falcons on the board late in the first quarter via a 1-yard plunge.
Just over four minutes later, and on St. Paul's very next possession, the junior went untouched from 33 yards out on a sweep to the right side. The score extended the St. Paul lead to 14-0. The drive took just three plays to result in a score. All three were identical.
All game, especially on those three plays, Aiken's road to the goal line was clear thanks to senior captain Chris Powers.
Time-after-time the pulling guard could be seen out in front of Aiken, leading the way.
"He does all the dirty work," Aiken said of Powers. "He's my eyes out there."
Kelly couldn't argue that Powers was a major player in any success the team had, not only against Wilcox Tech, but at any other point this season.
"Chris Powers has been a leader both on and off the field all year. He's always ready to go," the coach said. "He's a true leader and just a pleasure to coach."
Powers added that he's just happy that he could help his running back tally a big game. He's happy to end both his and his fellow senior Falcons' careers with a win.
"It's great," he said. "It makes you feel like all the hard work finally paid off."
Powers, Giovanni Ortiz, Kyle Cruz, Davon Davis, Sean Shanley, Winston Jones, Tom Ivers, Giedrius Bagdonas, Nick MacLellan, Jordan Durica, Nelson Ramos, Andrew DeSimone, and Jonathan Adamski stepped onto the field for the final time for St. Paul/Goodwin Tech/Lewis Mills.
Nearly all - whether it was a big hit, a special teams' play, setting the tone on offense, or just providing some emotional leadership - played a key role in the St. Paul season-ending victory.
"All the seniors were big today," Kelly said.
After a 40-yard touchdown run by Aiken, a beautiful 59-yard touchdown connection from Kaczynski (6-of-8, 183 yards, 2 TDs) to Davis, as well as a 42-yard pass to Aiken out of the backfield (his fourth touchdown of the game), St. Paul found itself with a 35-0 lead.
It could easily have been more but a 99-yard pass to Ryan Moore was erased on a block in the back penalty.
Although the Falcons did eventually surrender a score, just like their offense, the St. Paul defense was on top of its game as well.
The Indians ran 23 plays in the opening stanza, in which the picked up just 34 total yards. The Falcons were able to keep stellar running back Jeffrey Vidal in check, allowing just 83 yards to the big 6-2, 210-pound fullback. Indians quarterback Taylor Stec didn't complete a pass at any point of the 48 minutes of action. In fact, two of his five attempts resulted in interceptions by Powers and Aiken.
St. Paul forced Wilcox Tech to either a three-and-out or a turnover in each of its six first half possessions.
By the time the Indians were able to move the ball with some success, the game was already over. The Falcons scored four of its first five times with the ball.
St. Paul simply wasn't going to be denied on this day.
"Coach Kelly told us that maybe we weren't able to achieve all our goals this year, but let's go out there and win this last game. We all knew that we had to play well. We wanted to win this one for our seniors," Aiken said.
While maybe this one win doesn't erase the eight losses, at the very least it makes for a happy Thanksgiving in the world of St. Paul football.
"This is definitely going to make the turkey taste really good," Aiken said.