Ledyard - The mere term “Thanksgiving football” comes with its own sentiments, mainly tethered to emotions, memories, throw out the records and how the only thing predictable is the unpredictable.

Which is what made Thursday morning at Bill Mignault Field so bizarre. The sons of Fitch, who have made coach Mike Ellis hoarse this season even in times of victory, picked an auspicious moment to earn their most stress free win of the season.

Fitch led 14-0 five minutes into the game and kept the Colonel Ledyard Sword in Groton for the seventh straight year, after a 33-0 victory before 2,007 fans. There was no game held in 2020 due to COVID.

Fitch completed a 9-1 regular season and will play at home in the state Class MM playoffs Tuesday night at 6:30 vs. the school that gave the Falcons their only loss earlier this season - North Haven.

“These games are normally very nutty and different things happen,” Ellis said. “The thing that kept going on in my mind was back to my Waterford days at East Lyme. In two consecutive series, we fumbled the ball and it bounced right in the East Lyme kids’ hands for a score. And in my mind, I’m thinking about today and how that’s the stuff we can’t do.”

They didn’t. Quarterback Ben Perry hit eventual Player of the Game Calvin McCoy III with a 33-yard touchdown pass with 8:19 left in the first quarter that gave the Falcons a 14-0 lead. This came after a long opening drive that Devin Cook capped with a 3-yard touchdown run.

“We talked to the kids about the importance of getting the lead because we knew they were going to slow it down,” Ellis said. “We executed and that was huge. They weren't able to keep drives going and we were able to take time off the clock ourselves.”

After Cook’s score, Fitch recovered an onside kick to set up McCoy’s touchdown reception. Or so it looked.

“It's really not an onside kick,” Ellis said. “In all honesty, I tell Gabe (kicker Gabe Carey) there are certain people that we don't want to kick it to. I tell him to go the other way. And it just happened to be that we got one.”

McCoy caught a 32-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in the first half to give Fitch a 20-0 lead and a 22-yarder early in the fourth period to make it 27-0. Devon Edwards scored his first touchdown of the season late for the Falcons.

“I think our coaches prepared us very well,” McCoy said. “Defensively, we knew all their plays, in that they were going to come out and run. They stressed just doing your job.”

FItch makes its return to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

“We didn't talk about the playoffs before this game,” Ellis said. “We just wanted this.”

m.dimauro@theday.com