Ask any local high school football player over the age of 40 about their favorite moments and chances are they involve playing on Thanksgiving morning.
Putting on those shoulder pads, buckling the chinstrap and donning your jersey one last time to face a local rival on Thanksgiving morning was the perfect way to end a high school career.
Playoff appearances are terrific accomplishments, but short of winning a state championship, it’s the game against your chief rival that sparks laughs – and sometimes even a tear or two – at reunions.
There was a time not so long ago when virtually ever high school football team in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland Counties played on Thanksgiving.
A certain sportswriter was always covering a game in the 1980’s that morning before joining his family for turkey.
Some games dated back decades or even centuries.
Millville and Vineland first played in 1864, the same year Abraham Lincoln was President. There’s no proof, but there’s a good chance fans arrived in covered wagons, since the automobile had yet to be invented.
Ocean City and Pleasantville started their rivalry in 1917. That was the same year the United States entered World War I.
Atlantic City and Holy Spirit began their rivalry in 1926. A year later, a kid named Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs for the Yankees.
Other Thanksgiving games included Bridgeton-Cumberland, Absegami-Oakcrest, Oakcrest-Mainland, Mainland-Egg Harbor Township and Lower Cape May-Middle Township.
The Lower-Middle game was called the Anchor Bowl. The winner took possession of a plaque that featured an actual anchor from a fishing boat belonging to former LCM coach Bill Garrison.
In recent years, however, most of the rivalries have faded away due to the expansion of the state playoff system.
As a result, most regular seasons now end before Halloween rather than Thanksgiving.
Trick or treat …
Ocean City and Pleasantville last played on Thanksgiving in 2023. Lower and Middle now play in September. Most of the others ended years ago.
Fortunately, a few schools still regard their Thanksgiving games as vital parts of their culture.
Millville and Vineland will meet for the 154th time on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at Millville’s Wheaton Field.
Millville, fresh off a berth in the South Jersey Group 4 championship game, is heavily favored, but anyone familiar with that Thanksgiving rivalry knows better.
Thursday marks 70 years since Millville entered the game on a 31-game winning streak. At halftime, Millville fans presented Thunderbolts coach John Barbose with a 1956 Oldsmobile.
After Vineland ended the streak with a 27-6 upset, Barbose was so disappointed that he left the car at the school for a week before driving it home.
Atlantic City and Holy Spirit will square off for the 97th time at 10 a.m. Both teams were in the state playoffs, but even if they were winless, the stands at Bader Field figure to be packed.
I was fortunate enough to cover a few NFL Thanksgiving games in Dallas and Detroit. It was fun, but they didn’t compare to watching the Anchor Bowl.
High school Thanksgiving games are special, especially for the players.
Ten, 20, 30 years from now, the scores and plays from the playoff games will have faded.
But the Thanksgiving games will be forever etched in their memories.
Local fighters excel
Mays Landing heavyweight Rodney Brooks, Atlantic City cruiserweight Christian Figueroa and Pleasantville lightweight Francisco Rodriguez all posted convincing victories at Hard Rock Casino Resort in Atlantic City last Saturday.
Brooks (5-0, 4 KO’s), an Oakcrest High School graduate and former professional basketball player, earned a second-round TKO over Anthony Woodson III (1-4, 1 KO) of Crown Point, Indiana. Brooks dropped Woodson early in the second round and followed with a flurry that prompted referee Ricky Vera to stop the bout.
Figueroa (1-0, 1 KO), younger brother of unbeaten super-welterweight Justin Figueroa, gained a first-round knockout in his professional debut over Lisandro Perez (0-3), of Putnam, Connecticut. Figueroa dropped Perez twice with powerful hooks, causing referee Eric Dali to halt it after just 43 seconds.
Rodriguez (8-0, 8 KO’s) has yet to go the distance in his career. The Pleasantville High School grad earned a TKO over Mexico’s Ivan Basurto (11-10, 10 KO’s) when Basirto failed to answer the bell for the third round.
David is a nationally recognized sports columnist who has covered Philadelphia and local sports for over 40 years. After 35 years with The Press, he has served as a columnist for 973ESPN.com and created his own Facebook page, Dave Weinberg Extra Points.
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