Thursday morning brings football fans another highly-anticipated Thanksgiving matchup between Marblehead (4-5) and Swampscott (6-4).
Each side made its respective state tournament this fall, but now, it’s rivalry time.
“The kids understand the rivalry… they understand the importance of the game,” said Swampscott coach Peter Bush, who will helm his first Thanksgiving Day game. “The kids are fully aware of what this tradition means to the town and they are ready to represent it Thursday morning.”
Bush led the Big Blue to a Division 6 state tournament appearance, in which they were stumped by Lynnfield in the first round. But with the playoffs in the rearview, his full attention is set on beating the town’s biggest rival.
“Obviously, getting eliminated from the playoffs and not qualifying to go to Gillette, this becomes a Super Bowl game,” he said.
Although Bush is in his first year as head coach, it’s far from his first rodeo as he’s been involved as an assistant and player, bringing his care for the game to a different level.
“My dad (Bill) being the former head coach, [I have] great memories of some great battles with Marblehead, and then as a player, too,” Bush said. “I’ve been involved in the Thanksgiving Day game for quite a while and it means so much to both communities… it’s always had a special place in my heart and I’m looking forward to it.”
As for the Magicians, they, too, don’t take this game lightly, and head coach Jim Rudloff knows what goes down once the ball is kicked off.
“I always say that we’re extremely lucky – in Marblehead, and in Swampscott – that we have such a strong rivalry,” Rudloff said. “It doesn’t matter if one team has one win or one team is undefeated. Everybody is going to get up for that game… it’s the end of the season and [the players] know they have nothing to hold back.”
Rudloff believes his team is starting to hit its stride after upsetting Middleborough and suffering a close loss to Grafton in the state tournament. After a strong finish to what was a rocky start to the season, he looks to see his team’s best version come Thursday.
“Defensively, I feel like in the last four games, we started hitting our stride and playing well,” he said. “Hopefully, we can come together with all the things we were doing wrong on offense and finally fix some of those things.”
Similarly to Bush, Rudloff wants to put that “exclamation point” on the season.
“We’ve had an up and down season, they’ve had an up and down season, and I would think that a win on Thanksgiving Day does sort of the same thing for [Swampscott] as it does for us,” Rudloff said.
As for logistics, Bush wants his side to play tough from the get-go.
“I think we’ve got to compete for all four quarters,” Bush said. “I think the games that we’ve won this year, you can go quarter by quarter and see our competitiveness and ability to focus.”
Despite being rivals on Thursday, smart minds think alike.
“As a coach, for me, to look out and see 22 kids having their best games, that’s what makes me feel good,” Rudloff said. “If they play their best game of the season, then we did something right.”
This year, Swampscott welcomes Marblehead to Blocksidge Field for Turkey Day action with kickoff slated for 10 a.m.
“It means a lot for the coaches, it means a lot for the players, it means a lot for the alumni, and it means a lot for the town,” Bush said. “Turkey always tasted that much better after Thanksgiving Day, so that’s what we’re looking forward to.”
