Think of all the great players and great games we’ve been privileged to watch on Thanksgiving. Think of the great moments. The names. The history.
Harry Agganis. Dick Jauron. Tony Thurman. Peter Holey. Doug Mackey. Arthur Akers. Mark Bettencourt. You could write a book centered around these names, and many more like them, helped shape the history of one of our most enduring traditions around these parts: Thanksgiving Day Football.
I always get a chill when I go to an old-timers dinner and hear these old men reminisce about their days on the gridiron. I always have this image of raccoon coats, fedoras, and flasks of whiskey hidden surreptitiously in a side pocket. I see striped scarves. And the whole scene looks … I don’t know … like 1929 or something.
Ask anyone, from any era, what the most historic Thanksgiving game is and, almost guaranteed, that person will harken back to a time when he or she was a little kid. Or, better still, to a game before the person was even born, but whose father, or even grandfather, recounted the tale.
Of course, by then, whatever exploits made the game memorable have been magnified times 10. The Football Hero ran the ball in from the other team’s goal line, legend says, zig-zagging all the way. Come to find out, with a little research, it may have been a 20-yard run off-tackle.
Well, I have a game that didn’t take place 100 years ago. Or even 10 years ago. How about four years ago? That’s right. Only four years ago, at Manning Field. I have seen my share of astounding athletic events, and on so many different levels. But for Thanksgiving games — and maybe even games, period — the 2016 Classical-English Turkey Day game leaves them all in the dust.
For the record, the score was 21-20, Classical. But oh, it was much more than the score.
Thanksgiving itself was beginning to lose some of its luster. The state athletic association managed to concoct a playoff system that left the biggest game of the year, in the minds of many, as an afterthought. And on a day where there were really not a lot of bonafide “big games” on the menu, this one appeared, at the outset, to be the clump of mashed turnip on your plate.
Both teams were 2-8 coming into the game. Both had underclassmen who gave us a glimpse of what was to come, but it was not their time yet. Nobody paid much attention to the game leading up to Thanksgiving. Two Lynn teams vying for bragging rights. That was all.
But as so often happens, the first shall be last, and vice versa. Even before the improbable ending, this game was memorable. You forget that nobody from Classical wants to lose to English. Ever. And nobody from English wants to lose to Classical. Ever. These kids fought like gladiators from the opening kick to the final gun. And it was a terrible shame that one of them had to lose.
We can skip over most of the game and focus on the final eight seconds. I want everyone, right now, to count to eight. Contemplate what little you can accomplish in eight seconds. It takes you longer than that just to tie your shoes.
But that was the time showing on the clock when Matt Severance, a superb underclassman quarterback, hit senior Jonathan Kosmas with a touchdown pass. And when Kosmas also got the two-point conversion, England had its first lead of the game, 20-15.
That was all the English crowd needed to see. The Bulldog kids jumped out of the stands and stormed the field in jubilation, only to be told that there were eight seconds left. And unlike tying your shoe, strange things can happen in eight seconds on a football field.
Classical fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and English recovered. Now, finally, those kids could celebrate for real. But for the second time, that would not be the case. English was called for an illegal procedure penalty on the kick, and the Bulldogs had to kick again. I don’t suppose that even now, there are too many English people who look kindly on that call.
This time, the kick went to Melvin Nieves, who almost immediately began looking around for Marcus Rivera so the two could complete a previously-arranged lateral-and-run maneuver. Nieves found Rivera coming around from the far side of the field. Rivera caught the lateral and just kept running.
It was one of those crazy, crazy things. The English kicking team had over committed to the opposite side of where Rivera caught the ball and began running. The next thing anyone knew, there was Rivera, running down the near sideline as if a river of fire was chasing after him. He ran faster and faster, with nobody from English anywhere near him.
You had to blink, and rub your eyes, to make sure you weren’t hallucinating. Here was this 17-year-old kid, who was almost certainly sprinting not just to victory, but into history.
The English kids, some of whom never returned to their seats, just stood there, stunned. Now it was the Classical kids’ turn to storm the field. And, in the words of the announcer in that famous Tennessee Titans-Buffalo Bills game, there were No. Flags. On. The. Field.
This was the beginning of a two-day period of fame for Rivera. He got a call bright and early the next morning from ESPN. His touchdown came in second in ESPN’s Top Ten of the day. He was featured on the show early the following week.
For others, things were not that wonderful. English coach Chris Carroll, who obviously was ready for some celebratory turkey, was instead left to ponder how it had all happened.
Classical coach Tim Phelps, despite the shocking win, was not able to hang onto his job. His contract was not renewed, and it paved the way for former English star Brian Vaughan to take over.
The very next season, Classical and English were among four Lynn teams who were undefeated up to the third-to-last week of the season. It ushered in another golden era of Lynn football for the next two years.
Going back and examining all of the thrilling games I’ve seen on Thanksgiving, all the surprises, and all the meaningful wins, a game between two 2-8 teams still takes the cake.
