With the Thanksgiving break upon us and the end of the fall athletic season, our Teaching and Learning Blog will take a bit of a departure this month from the focus on high quality curriculum and instruction. Instead, we will have some fun and give some focus to rivalries, specifically with athletics. While for many, high school athletics may not be their priority. But there is no doubt that competing in any high school sport adds an element to a student’s high school experience. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, nearly 8 million high school students participated in high school athletics in 2023, which represented a bounce back from the COVID related declines. It is estimated that around 40% of high school students will play a sport in high school. Surprisingly, given its relatively small size, Massachusetts has the 11th most High School athletes. For Pentucket, over 70% of students find themselves on a playing field, court or other athletic competition. It is clear that high school athletics is a big part of the American high school culture, and the source of establishing town and community rivalries.
Pentucket Superintendent, Dr. Justin Bartholomew & Triton Superintendent, Brian Forget - square off for a playful pose before recording the November 2024 Podcast on Rivalries. - You can listen to it here
When Pentucket travels to Triton on Thursday, November 28th for the 10 AM kickoff, the annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry will continue. Last year, Pentucket beat Triton 21-7 in the first Thanksgiving Day game played on the new field. A Thanksgiving Day Game rivalry that started in 1972, Pentucket has held the edge throughout the 50 plus years with a 34-18-1 record over Triton. Thanksgiving Day Football games between high school rivalries in MA is a long standing tradition. While changes in school competitiveness and sizes have forced some long standing matchups to switch, some have held true for over a century. In fact, Needham vs. Wellesley is thought to be the oldest public high school football rivalry in the United States, dating back to 1882. Obviously, the competitiveness of the games - be it football or any sport - is part of the allure to the rivalry game. But the history of it has great value too. For many, competing against an opponent that your mother or father competed against, and even your grandparents, adds to the long standing rivalries.
“To me, this rivalry game has been my Thanksgiving tradition for as long as I can remember. Growing up in New Hampshire, we didn't have a Thanksgiving day football game, so every Thanksgiving my family would attend the Pentucket/Triton football game at 10 am rain, shine, sleet, or snow. There have been so many memorable games between the two teams over the years, but what I remember most as a kid was watching the passion of the Pentucket community in the years where Pentucket needed to beat Triton in order to advance to the playoffs, and later on to the Super Bowl. The stands were always jam packed, with people standing multiple rows deep around the entire field, and the Pentucket/Triton game always delivered.” - Dan Leary - Pentucket Football Co-Head Coach
We often think of football as the primary rivalry, but the competition extends well beyond football. For two rivals such as Triton and Pentucket, Field Hockey, Basketball, Wrestling, Softball, Track and just about everything in between becomes a rivalry game. Of course, the two regional school districts, each made up of three smaller towns, have many things in common too. Maybe the thing the two districts have most in common is the desire that they both want to beat Newburyport.
“With the proximity and similarities between the two districts, the rivalry has been great. But everyone knows - for both Triton and Pentucket - beating Newburyport always feels good.” - Pentucket Superintendent, Dr. Justin Bartholomew & PRHS Class of ‘94
What Makes a Good Rival?
Being in New England, we can’t possibly think of rivalries without going straight for the Red Sox vs Yankees rivalry. Generations of Boston fans grew to both despise and envy the Yankees. While the heat of the rivalry would go through ebbs and flows, the desire to beat the opponent for no more than pride, is always present. Geography and proximity typically play a role too. “Border Wars” between neighboring communities, regions or states give some added fuel to rivalries. Being the best in an area for local bragging rights is what makes a rivalry tick. The intensity of a game with a rival seems almost at a breaking point from the very start of a game. Local legends and stars are often made in rivalry games with tales being told for decades to come.
Pentucket Baseball Coach and staff member, Al Mottram, who has only served as the Pentucket Coach for the past two seasons recognized the rivalry right away.
“I quickly learned which teams we need to beat! Triton and Port! In my two years as the Varsity baseball coach we have had some intense battles with both teams. In the Spring of 2023 we beat Port with a come from behind walk off win! That same season Triton handled us in both games so in the Spring of 2024 I made it clear to my squad what the season goals were and in which games we really need to turn it on. Triton was one of them. In our first game that season we lost a tough one 2 to 0. It was a classic pitchers duel and they got the best of us. When we played Triton later that season we knew how important the game was as we were very close to clinching a state tournament berth. We came out of the gates hot. We were hitting, we played great defense and our Senior captain Nick Kutcher threw a gem and we finally beat Triton 9 to 2.” - Coach Mottram
Rivalry Games are not just on the field
While it is athletes on the field that decide the games, rivalry games have great meaning for the fans too. Home field advantage is a real phenomenon because those on the field can sense the support, hear the cheers and feel the energy that fans bring to the game. While the experiences of those playing are drastically different than those watching, it can be just as thrilling. One only needs to think of the long standing rivalry between the University of North Carolina and Duke University. Often the rivalry is centered on basketball, but it extends well beyond the court. For the fans at these two esteemed universities the games represent the highest level of pride and commitment to their universities. Of course the rivalry continues well beyond the students' years in school and becomes a lifetime of good natured “judgment” of graduates from the rival university. The chants, the boos, the posters and even the “choice words” create an environment for rivalry games that is not replicated at any other point in the year.
At Duke, the fans behind the visitors hoop are in the student section and are known as the “Cameron Crazies” in reference to the name of the basketball arena, Cameron Indoor Stadium. When North Carolina is coming to town for a rivalry game, fans will sleep outside in tents for days in advance just for a chance at a coveted ticket to sit in the student section. Up the road, just a 20 minute drive, is Chapel Hill and the home of the UNC Tar Heels. This becomes an "inhospitable" place for Duke to play. The level of fervency shown by the fans of each school just adds to the intensity of the rivalry. One only needs to think about the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry to consider the chants and “good natured” arguments that break out between the rivalry teams - but also the cities themselves.
Rivalries can become personal too
Coach Mottram describes the personal connections with rivalries.
“As a player growing up I was usually on good teams and had many rivalry games against other good teams. In middle school I played in North Andover and our rival was Andover. In high school I attended Central Catholic and once again my rival was Andover.”
Coach Mottram was a well regarded and a heavily recruited baseball player while in high school, and after staring at Umass-Lowell, he signed a professional contract with Arizona Diamondbacks organization and played several years in their minor league system. The personal connections, which now would be described as friendships, didn’t always feel so friendly but in the spirit of competition, often drove Mottram to work harder.
“In those years I got to know future Major Leaguer, Ryan Hanigan. We were in the same class so we basically grew up together as rivals from Little League. We ended up becoming good friends after so many years but he was one person that drove me to train harder in the off-season because I knew he was always getting bigger and stronger in his off-seasons.” - Coach Mottram
Left - Pentucket Baseball Coach playing for Class A South Bend Silverhawks of the Diamondbacks organization in the Midwest League
Right - Major Leaguer, Ryan Hanigan, who became personal rival and good friends with Coach Mottram
For Pentucket Field Hockey Coach, Ruth Beaton, the Triton vs. Pentucket rivalry also has some personal significance. The battles on the field hockey field are intense and the students certainly increase their focus, but Coach Beaton has a long history with Triton, dating back to the former Triton Field Hockey Coach, Donna Anderson. Coach Anderson and Coach Beaton played against each other in high school. Ruth would describe Donna as a personal rival while in high school and she was a fiery player and even more fiery as a coach, always commenting to refs with phrases like "are you kidding me?” This rivalry has history for both of them. In fact when the two were in high school Triton Regional was being built and kids from Salisbury and Newbury actually attended both Pentucket and Newburyport high school. Coach Anderson went on to play field hockey with many other former Cape Ann League coaches at UNH while Coach Beaton went on to play field hockey at Trinity College in CT.
Ruth knows that this rivalry has many plot twists. Coach Anderson always had her Triton teams skilled and competitive. Triton games had been emotional for years as they used to be the last games of the season. Playing at Triton in late October could be grueling with the wind whipping off the marsh. They used to play on a grass field behind the softball field -- it dipped to one side so it was always frustrating for one half. Coach Beaton remembers a recent “controversy”, that only highlights how rivalry games take on a life of their own.
“In 2021 when Pentucket won the Cape Ann League Conference Championship, Pentucket had to flip flop games because of field conditions. So when they came to the Pentucket for the 2nd game, Triton thought it was their home game and they came in light colors. I think she knew but was pulling some sort of gamesmanship? Anyway, refs struggled a bit because socks were both light for both teams. We had a goal called back but still won the game... It was intense! By beating them in that last game, we secured the 1st ever FH League Championship!"
Coach Beaton will tell you, it’s all about the kids on the field - but deep down - she knows beating Triton means a little more to her.
Tradition and Pride - lead to memorable big moments & Local Legends are born:
Some particular games come to mind over the years. Certainly David Ortiz’s heroics against the Yankees makes him a legend. But locally, the Thanksgiving Day game has provided some memorable games. Dr. Justin Bartholomew, the Superintendent in Pentucket, was a 1994 graduate of Pentucket and member of the Football team. He remembers playing on the frozen field at Triton his senior year with the winds coming off the marsh next to the field. He also recalls beating Triton when Coach Hayden called for a QB sweep to end the game.
“There was nothing like walking off the field from your last game with a victory.” - Dr. Bartholomew
Big moments can live on years after they occur. Some remember the newspaper Headline from the 1968 Harvard vs Yale Football game- “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29”. The game ended when Harvard came from behind a 29–13 deficit in the final seconds and scored to tie Yale, 29–29. Both teams were undefeated at the time. Pete Varney caught the pass to tie the game. Varney would go on to be a professional baseball player as a catcher for White Sox and Braves, an accomplishment of note for sure. He would also become the head baseball coach at Brandeis University and is the winningest coach for any sport in school history. But for Harvard alum - he will always be remembered for “The Catch” that “beat” Yale.
Pentucket vs. Triton
For Dan Leary, who has been coaching football at Pentucket with Steve Hayden for the past 18 years, he has some specific memories of the Triton vs. Pentucket games. In 2014, Triton beat Pentucket handily 31-7, in a regular season game that was not the Thanksgiving Day game. But Pentucket got a second chance to play them on Thanksgiving. Leary recalls,
“With 6 inches of snow on the old Pentucket Flaherty Hayden Field with current Coach Wesolowski as our captain, and Pat Freiermuth (Current NFL Tight End with the Pittsburgh Steelers) as our quarterback, we prepared for Triton again. We ended up winning that game 14-10. It is a memory that all of those players still talk about to this day.”
Leary also thinks often about a recent game. In 2021, Pentucket played Triton in a close first round playoff game, beating them 41-30, before getting knocked out of the state playoffs a few weeks later. With a quick 5 day turn around to play Triton again on Thanksgiving, Pentucket was down 7 points with under a minute left from their own 20 yard line and drove down to score a touchdown, and converted a 2 point conversion to win the game 15-14.
Like any good rivalry, when Pentucket and Triton play each other, records can be thrown out the window. Both teams compete as hard as the other. In football, it is often the last game the seniors play in their football careers. For other sports, the rivalry and the memories create lasting stories that may even take on a life of their own at Thanksgiving dinners for years to come. The history, the geography, the competition and heightened sense of importance - whatever it is that makes the rivalry games special - the games are to be remembered.
Dr. Brent Conway
Assistant Superintendent
Pentucket Regional School District
Comments