The seven best Thanksgiving high school football rivalries in MetroWest and Milford

Massachusetts has been host to high school football on Thanksgiving for 140 years.

The rivalry games cap the season and often kick off a day of football and family.

Some series are close. Others, less so. But barring a state championship, it's one way every team can end the season on a high note and feel good heading into the cold winter months.

"It’s something that’s unique to Massachusetts, and no matter how your season went, you had that game to look forward to," former Framingham quarterback Dan Guadagnoli said.

Though their importance in the state's football landscape has shifted with the advent of state Super Bowls and now the statewide tournament, the turkey famously always tastes better after a win.

"It’s a New England thing. In New England the average household, the Thanksgiving meal is planned around the game," former Ashland football player Jim Norton said. "You’re not gonna have it at noontime because they’re just getting off the field."

Here are some of the area's best rivalries, and what makes them special:

Needham vs. Wellesley

Series began: 1882

Overall record: Wellesley 66, Needham 60, 9 ties

Why not start at the beginning? The country's oldest public high school football rivalry is also the third-oldest series in the country.

Recent meetings have featured overtime and postgame brawls. The venerable Frederick J. Gorman Centennial Trophy was refurbished in the past few weeks to give the 136th meeting an extra shine.

Groton School vs. St Mark's

Series began: 1886

Overall record: Groton 78 , St. Mark's 45, 2 ties

Though not specifically a Thanksgiving rivalry, St. Mark's' longstanding season-ending game against the Groton School serves a similar purpose. The longtime rivals meet every year on the second Saturday in November to close the season.

Alumni from both schools return and reminisce.

"The feeling of being a part of something that is way bigger than you, there's a shared, common experience of being part of the rivalry," said St. Mark's assistant coach Luke Chiasson, a 2015 alum from Hudson.

While the game doesn't feature a matchup of students that grew up playing each other in town sports, the nature of boarding school living and learning bonds them in different ways. Many of the students live in dorms and spend hours outside of practices and games together.

"That's what's unique about boarding school," Chiasson said. "That feeling of being able to hug that senior on your home field sending out on a win is indescribable."

Football began the rivalry between Groton and St. Mark's, but it has taken on additional life as more sports joined the fold and both institutions became co-ed. Now the schools keep a tally of results from the fall season, and whichever athletic program collects the most wins gains or retains possession of the raccoon coat.

The coat was first awarded in 1989 by Groton graduate and former Massachusetts governor Endicott "Chub" Peabody to the winner of the football game.

"It goes by so quick. It’s one thing for me as a coach to say that, it’s another for them to realize it," Chiasson said. "These kids don’t fully grasp the moment, of no fault to their own, they don’t understudied it. As a coach and alumn we try to help them understand the moment that’s bigger than them on that day."

Hudson vs. Marlborough

Series began: 1906

Overall record: Marlborough 71, Hudson 44, 5 ties

Gamesmanship for this historic matchup often begins the Tuesday before Thanksgiving at The Smoker, a gathering of adults from both programs to celebrate the seasons and gain a psychological edge.

The tradition dates back to the 1950s where it lived up to its name in a small room filled with cigars.

"They, I was told, cigarette girls walking around and both teams," Marlborough athletic director Jeff Rudzinsky said. "I was told at one time it was all men."

Now it's a more inclusive event hosted either at the Hudson Elks Club or the Marlborough Moose depending on which town is hosting the game. The hosting booster club lays out a spread of food. Both communities come together and discuss the season, usually showing a video.

"It becomes fun and you put coaches on the spot. Parents get to ask questions. Sometimes angry parents ask questions of their own coaching staff," Rudzinsky said. "It's like one up each other as the night goes on, more of a gamesmanship kind of thing. It gets you a step ahead in the game, more like a bragging rights kind of thing."

Marlborough has won the past 12 meetings despite Hudson holding a historical lead. Hudson coach Zac Attaway has been a part of the game since the 1980s when he watched his brothers compete, and he played in the game during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Now, for the first time, he'll coach his son, Hawks quarterback Jake Attaway, in the continuing tradition.

"To be coaching now is special, as well being able to coach my son and his teammates, a lot of kids I've known 15-plus years now is really special," said Zac Attaway, who is a sergeant with the Marlborough Police Department. "To know the type of community support we have makes that rivalry special, that border battle that we have."

Framingham vs. Natick

Series began: 1904

Overall record: Natick 80, Framingham 33, 5 ties

Framingham forbids the color red during its football practices and summer workouts.

"That's our Super Bowl when we're getting ready to play Natick," Framingham graduate Stephen O'Rourke said. "During those two weeks, we were disciplined. We took everything seriously. We ran our reps hard, everything was fluid, and we were focused. If we could do that for a whole season, you would see a different program."

The game often feels like a Super Bowl for Framingham because historically Natick usually wins. It's the most lopsided rivalry in eastern Massachusetts.

"You could go winless, but if you beat Natick that's all that matters," O'Rourke said. "You can talk it up as a successful year."

Natick has won nearly 50 more games than Framingham in the more than a century series that has survived schools merging, towns becoming cities, two World Wars and the pandemic.

"Obviously the two towns are so close, the kids have grown up competing against each other at all different levels. There’s that knowledge of each other all the way through,” legendary former Natick coach and athletic director Tom Lamb said. “You grow up with that through the many years. The two schools are big schools and love their sports,  and the towns love their sports. A lot of these families their parents competed.”

Lamb led Natick over two stints for more than 20 years. He won three Super Bowls and held a 21-6 record on Thanksgiving.

"You probably remember the games you lose more than the games you win," Lamb said.

One game he and the Redhawks lost that will stick in both towns' memories came in 2008. Pat O'Connell didn't want to leave Bowditch Field even though the Flyers had a playoff game the next week to prepare for.

"It was great to see the cheering fans and see Natick walking off looking away as we were holding up the trophy," O'Connell said. "It’s something that sticks with you forever."

Ashland vs. Hopkinton

Series began: 1923

Overall record: Hopkinton 54, Ashland 38, 4 ties

Even good neighbors have their issues. Ashland and Hopkinton are often connected more than they're in conflict. The towns' Pop Warner football programs are merged. They play American Legion baseball together. Both football teams used to sit down and have a meal together the Monday before Thanksgiving. But one day a year, the towns draw a line on Route 135.

"Most of the time if Hopkinton’s playing, Ashland’s rooting for them," said former Ashland football player Jim Norton, whose son, Dan, is the Hopkinton boys lacrosse coach. "Except for one game."

That one game is celebrating its 100th anniversary this Thanksgiving. Hopkinton's Doyle family hasn't missed a game since the mid 1940s. Aubrey Doyle's father, E. Aubrey Doyle, played for Hopkinton in the late 1940s then coached in the late 60s and 70s, serving as an athletic director for more than 30 years. Aubrey and his brothers picked up the mantle before passing it down to their sons this century.

"The day was a really good day or a really bad day depending on the outcome of that game, even after he was done coaching," Aubrey Doyle said. "For us, it was always a big deal."

It wasn't a big deal, though, when his sister Julie married an Ashland grad Paul Rice after they met in college. After some initial joking about a Clocker getting involved with a longtime bleed green Hopkinton family, the dynamic settled.

"Other than when Ashland wins on Thanksgiving," Aubrey Doyle said.

Sometimes the family ties overlap and encompass both towns. Jerry Hanna captained Ashland in 1964 then later moved to Hopkinton.

"For a number of years, I was a traitor," he said.

His son Josh Hanna, now Franklin's principal, was a Hopkinton captain in 1995, and his grandson Jack Cunningham is a junior on this year's Hillers squad.

When the Clockers and Hopkinton clash, though?

"I can't lose," Jerry Hanna said.

Franklin vs. King Philip

Series began: 1960

Overall record: Franklin 34, King Philip 28, 1 tie

Tim McDonald learned everything he needed to know about Franklin's Thanksgiving rivalry with King Philip from his father, Timothy.

The Panthers won a state title in 1965. It didn't mean as much as the 46-15 victory over King Philip that same year.

"That game is all that matters," McDonald said.

A 1997 Franklin grad, McDonald has chronicled the game's history after wrapping up his playing days in the mid-1990s. He writes a letter to the team every year expressing what Thanksgiving football means to an alum, former player and the community. It carries on the tradition of former Franklin coach Brad Sidwell, now at Taunton, bringing in alums to speak to the team during the Thanksgiving week about the game.

"I tell them how important it is when you're driving that 10-minute ride down 140, that's everything. The 140 Showdown, it's like no other," MacDonald said. "I tell them how important it is what they do for the community and the younger generation of kids. Some day they want to be them. Once your days are done, they can look forward to this game, that this battle still exists."

Only neither team is making a 10-minute ride this season. Both will trek up I-95 into Boston to play the 64th edition of the rivalry Tuesday at Fenway Park.

Batter up: 'Once in a lifetime' Franklin football players elated to face King Philip at Fenway

That pushes McDonald's deadline up a few days, though it will be worth it.

The matchup rarely disappoints. King Philip has played in the past two Division 2 Super Bowls, while Franklin reached the quarterfinals a year ago.

"It's a matchup of pretty reputable programs," Franklin coach Eian Bain said. "We've got to play our best best football to have a chance to beat them, and it’s cool. It’s cool when your rival is a great team."

Franklin has won the past two games against King Philip, which adds even more to Tuesday's game at Fenway. Whoever wins each year's game receives the bronze football trophy listing the results of every past game. But if one team triumphs three years in a row, they retire that trophy and keep it in their case at the school, and a new trophy is added. There have been 12 trophies retired in the series, seven by Franklin and five by King Philip.

"I’m gonna see these King Philip kids in the area. These kids are gonna bump into each other. It makes the bragging rights a little more important," Bain said. "When the team that beats you is 45 minutes away, outside of social media, the bragging rights don’t kick in the same."

The Panthers also mark the occasion as the last football game many of them will play. At the last Franklin practice before the game, the team burns a cleat while its seniors talk about what their experience playing football for Franklin has meant.

"It’s not like other sports. There’s no men’s league football. You don’t have beer league football. This is it," Bain said. "There is no more football after Thanksgiving."

Blackstone Valley Tech vs. Nipmuc

Series began: 2008

Overall record: Blackstone Valley Tech 9, Nipmuc 4

Five hundred yards of Pleasant Street in Upton separates Blackstone Valley Tech from Nipmuc Regional. When their football teams face off on Thanksgiving mornings, they warm up on their own field, and the visitors walk across the street for kickoff.

"Our practice field and their playing field is a football throw away. Nobody has to take a bus, which is good," BVT coach Anthony Landini said. "For a young program like BVT, it's one of the first rivalries they've been able to establish."

Both programs are young. Nipmuc began playing football in 2003 and reached the varsity level in 2004. The 2021 matchup took over Fenway Park.

They've only played on Thanksgiving a baker's dozen times, but the programs are connected.

Most of the players on both teams have grown up together playing football or other sports. Nipmuc coach James Royster spent five years as a Beavers assistant.

"We usually have 25 percent of our incoming class ultimately end up at BVT. We have a lot of kids go there," Nipmuc athletic director Chris Schmidt said. "The game itself is your typical game, but at the end of the game kids are taking pictures with one another, families are taking pictures with one another. In that regard I think it is something that is entirely unique to what we have."

Last year, Landini inserted sophomore Jason Loschiavo into the game for one play at nose guard. His older brother Alec Loschiavo was lined up at center for Nipmuc.

After the play, Landini asked Jason how he did on the play.

"My brother freaking pancaked me," Jason replied.

"You can rag on him because we got an interception that play," Landini said.

Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: What makes the 7 best MetroWest Thanksgiving football games unique?