Stonington - After scoring 47 points and 48 points in back-to-back games in October, Stonington's offense began to struggle.

"It's frustrating," coach A.J. Massengale said.

That meant that Thursday was no time for the Bears to run into the Westerly High School defense, which has been the Bulldogs' mainstay season after season and especially so this year in willing Westerly to Rhode Island's Division II playoffs.

Westerly held Stonington to 161 yards total offense, 67 yards in the first half, and forced a pair of turnovers in a 30-0 rout that marked the 150th meeting of the teams in the nation's oldest Thanksgiving Day football rivalry.

Playing before a traditionally vocal crowd of more than 3,500 at Donald E. Palmer Field, Westerly quarterback R.J. Travisano had 148 yards rushing, including a 98-yard touchdown run on the last play of the third quarter, and defensive back Peter Broccolo scored on a 40-yard interception return for the Bulldogs (7-4).

Meanwhile, Stonington's offense sputtered, despite a few different wrinkles attempted by Massengale, with Bears' running back Josh Whitford at one point taking direct snaps under center. Shane Balestracci led Stonington (5-5) with 66 yards on 14 carries. Whitford had 38 yards on seven carries.

"Westerly always has great defense. This year was no different," said Massengale, whose team won the two previous meetings against the Bulldogs, including a 19-16 thriller with under a minute left a year ago. "The last few weeks, we've had problems moving the football."

Stonington, which shared the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division title at 4-1 with Griswold and Killingly, last won Oct. 30 against Killingly. That day, running back Jim Connelly had nine carries for 149 yards and ran back a 91-yard kickoff return on the day the Bears clinched a tie for the title.

Since, however, Stonington lost 15-14 to Griswold on a touchdown and two-point conversion with 33 seconds left, playing itself out of sole possession of the title, and 27-6 against East Lyme.

Westerly took a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter when Travisano trew a 36-yard touchdown pas to Spencer Read.

It remained 7-0 until there was 6 minutes, 1 second left in the third quarter, when Brandon Van Horn kicked a 21-yard field goal.

It was Stonington's next possession that Whitford took snaps at quarterback, handing off to Connelly on one play, running the next and throwing the interception to Broccolo that he returned to make it 16-0.

Pinned at its own 2-yard line, Westerly then got the 98-yard run from Travisano on the last play of the third quarter to make it 23-0, and finally got a 3-yard run from Jordan Richard in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.

Massengale said he mainly talked after the game about Connelly, who was taken to Westerly Hospital in the fourth quarter with what the coach called an internal injury.

"We talked about Jimmy," he said. "I wanted the kids to have some perspective on things. That's more important."

Westerly coach Chris Wriedt, meanwhile, joked that his offense stumbled somewhat this year. The Bulldogs lost to Coventry, R.I., 10-6, in the first round of the playoffs.

"For two, three, four minutes we do well, then we fall apart," Wriedt said of the offense. "I wish I could put it in the bank for when I need it."

Westerly rushed for 293 yards on 44 carries.

v.fulkerson@theday.com