By BRENDAN MCGAIR

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET – The turkey will have a better taste if you’re a member of the Shea High football community. Shea rocked city rival Tolman High, 39-6, on Thanksgiving Eve before an enthusiastic gathering of frigid fans inside McCoy Stadium.
The convincing showing allows the Raiders to get a leg up in the series (4-3) and wrap up the season on a high-flying note. Coach Dino Campopiano’s club, a victim of several close losses, conclude at 3-8 overall.
“We’ve had a disappointing season, but this shows the potential of what we’re made of and what we can do,” said Campopiano as his players enjoyed the moment in the visitors’ clubhouse, this after taking a victory lap around the infield. “Even through all the bad things we stuck together, we didn’t fold.”
Tolman knew coming in that it has at least one more game remaining on the docket. The Tigers face Cumberland High next Tuesday in the Division II semifinals at Max Read Field. Awaiting the winner is a trip to the Super Bowl, set for Dec. 8 at Cranston Stadium.
The dismal showing is far from what coach Dave Caito expected, especially with a pivotal contest looming on the horizon.
“Flat-out embarrassment,” said Caito, whose locker room, as you would imagine, was silent. “I’m just very disappointed in my ball team.” 

It was the Raiders who came out with a sense of urgency, building a 21-0 lead at halftime before salting away their third straight win in the series with 18 points in the third quarter. Fourteen of those points for Shea were the result of two Tolman turnovers coming less than 15 seconds apart.
Senior Albert Amado, who briefly lost his job as Shea’s quarterback, finished with arguably his finest performance in his two seasons under center. Amado, a senior, threw for three scores and 144 yards on 7-of-13 passing.
Those numbers made Amado an easy selection to be named MVP from the Raiders’ end. The honor for the Tigers went to senior offensive lineman Brandon Brown.
“We haven’t seen the complete package from Albert all year, but I knew what he could do,” said Campopiano. “He had some matchups we liked, but he threw the ball where it needed to be. I think he put too much pressure on himself, but I’m happy to see him to go out like this because he’s been with us for four years.”
Amado’s primary target was Conrad Wise, going in his direction on all three of his scoring strikes. Wise, a sophomore, snatched four balls for 122 yards, delivering the type of performance that must have Campopiano thanking his lucky stars that he gets to coach him for two more seasons.
The Amado-to-Wise connection reached its maximum peak in the third quarter when Wise broke free of the Tolman secondary. Amado applied enough touch to allow Wise to make the catch in stride. The play covered 51 yards and put Shea comfortably ahead, 27-0.
The game turned on Tolman soon after. All three of the Tigers’ turnovers came in the third, the first coming on the opening kickoff. Tolman dodged that bullet, but couldn’t completely escape. Amado completed his high school career with a 42-yard interception, which was soon followed by a 50-yard fumble recovery by Max Perry.
Asked if there’s solace in ending a tough season on a high note, Campopiano answered, “It’s a nice way to go out and makes for the off-season to be a little better. It  still doesn’t take away from everything that happened this year. This shows what we could have done, but in the back of my mind, this year will always be what if?”
Tolman, which finally got on the scoreboard early in the final quarter on an 11-yard run by Jason Lafond, must quickly circle the wagons and get ready for a game with much greater stakes attached.
“We came to win, and we stressed that to the kids all week. We just didn’t show up,” said Caito. “We’ve just got to regroup right now. We’ll look on the films on Cumberland and see how we can stop them and move the ball on them. You just hope they can get it back mentally. Football is more mental than physical at this point in the season.”  

SHEA, 39-6
Shea 7 14 18 0 -- 39
Tolman 0 0 0 6 -- 6
S – Conrad Wise 5 pass from Albert Amado (Dominic Lopes kick)
S – Malcum Moniz 27 pass from Amado (kick failed)
S – Wise 24 run (David Segrain pass from Amado)
S – Wise 51 pass from Amado (pass failed)
S – Amado 42 interception return (kick failed) 
S – Max Perry 50 fumble recovery (kick failed)   
T – Jason Lafond 11 run (run failed)

S T
First downs  7 4
Rushes-yards  23-186 13-74
Passing  7-13-0 1-11-1
Sacks by  1-5  0-0
Net passing  144 28
Punts-avg.  3-29.6 5-30.4
Fumbles-lost  0-0 2-2
Pen.-yards  2-10 1-5
***
Individual leaders
Rushing: S – Malcum Moniz 10-86, Conrad Wise 4-45, Albert Amado 4-37, Dru Wertz 2-10, Adelino Dias 1-3, Manny Baptista 1-4, Diego Osorio 1-1; T – Jordan Johnson 3-33, Jason Lafond 6-33, Ousmane Samb 3-0, Jordan White 1-8.
Passing: S – Albert Amado 7-13-0-145; T – Jordan Johnson 1-11-1-33
Receiving: S – Conrad Wise 4-122, Malcum Moniz 2-27, Johnny Moavero  1-(-4); T – Jason Lafond 1-33