BRAINTREE, MASS. (WHDH) - Despite frigid temperatures and sub-zero wind chills, Braintree’s football team turned on the heat in the team’s final game of the season.
When the team took on Milton in the annual Thanksgiving clash at 10 a.m., industrial-sized heaters were set up on the sidelines to help keep players warm.
“We’ve never had a heater like this before,” said Braintree high school athletic director Michael Denise, “but I don’t think we’ve had extreme temperatures like this before.”
Braintree had planned to move up the game to Wednesday night, but roughly 1,800 people signed a petition to get the Thanksgiving Day game put back on Thanksgiving Day.
“It’s not a Thanksgiving game if it’s not on Thanksgiving,” said one student. “It’s our last game, too. It has to be on Thanksgiving.”
More than a dozen other annual holiday games were moved and played Wednesday night.
“You know, I think it was the right decision,” said a parent at Lincoln-Sudbury, one of the teams that moved its annual contest. “It was very cold, lots of small children like to come. This way it’s warmer and more comfortable for everybody.”
Braintree’s quarterback, Mike Tellier, said he didn’t think the cold would affect his team, even if it’s 0 degrees out.
“It matters to the seniors, it meant a lot for them to play on Thanksgiving,” Tellier said. “Wednesday night, Thursday morning, it doesn’t really matter to me, but I’m glad it’s on Thanksgiving.”
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