(WHDH) — It is a break with tradition at football stadiums across the state as high school teams are forced to hit pause on their Thanksgiving games until next year.
“It’s tough, but we’ll get through this,” Quincy High School Football Coach Kevin Carey said.
His team is part of a fierce, 87-year-old rivalry with nearby North Quincy.
“This time of year, it’s so funny. you’re either rooting for red and black or blue and white, and it runs deep,” he said.
The Thanksgiving game is a staple in the city but because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the football season has been canceled in its entirety.
“It’s heartbreaking for the seniors, it’s heartbreaking for the other members of the program, the community, the high school,” Carey said. “It’s something that people look forward to here in Quincy.”
Veterans’ Stadium will remain empty this Thursday and so will Harvard Stadium, where Boston Latin and Boston English were set to play in their 135 Thanksgiving game.
It is the oldest continuous high school football rivalry in the nation and dates all the way back to 1887.
“We played through World War I, World War II, we played during the flu pandemic, Spanish flu, Asian flu,” Boston English Football Coach Ryan Conway said. “We’ve played through everything except COVID.”
Conway said that without this game, there will be a void for the players, coaches, and communities.
“I feel bad for both communities, English and Latin, that we won’t be able to have this opportunity to play in this great game,” he said.
Another tradition will be put on hold this year — the matchup against Xaverian and St. John’s Preparatory School.
“To not be able to play Xaverian on Thanksgiving Day, that’s a big deal,” St. John’s Prep Football Coach Brian St. Pierre said.
When COVID-19 canceled their plans, the competition moved off the gridiron and became a way to collect money for charity.
“The administrations at both schools came up with the idea,” St. Pierre said. “It’s just an idea to try to make the best of a tough situation.”
Pitted against each other, the teams raised more than $30,000 for local food banks through a competition called “Touchdowns for Turkeys.”
Because St. John’s raised more money, Xaverian’s administrators had to wear St. John’s jerseys this week.
Just one way to keep the rivalry alive.
“We can’t wait to play,” St. Pierre said. “We gotta get those jerseys back though. I’m a little nervous. I don’t trust those Xaverian guys all the time.”
Each coach echoed the same sentiment in pride for all of their players this year.
They have adapted to the COVID-19 guidelines and tried to embrace this new normal.
But that does not mean the hope isn’t to get back on the field for a shortened football season this February.
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