'You'll always remember': Fairhaven, Dartmouth Thanksgiving rivalry not just another game
Scott Francis has many fond memories from his final year of playing football at Fairhaven High, but one sticks out more than the rest.
On the way to winning the 1991 Super Bowl, the Blue Devils beat rival Dartmouth by one point on Thanksgiving Day.
“That game was more memorable to me than winning the Super Bowl the week after,” recalled Francis, who is currently an assistant football coach at Fairhaven. “We played East Bridgewater in the Super Bowl and we had no rivalry. It was just another game.
“Beating Dartmouth meant more personally to me because it’s Dartmouth. That’s the rivalry.”
Dartmouth assistant coach Mike Martin agreed.
“It’s got that added feel to the game that makes it more than a football game,” said Martin, who played in the Turkey Day rivalry for Dartmouth from 1987-89. “It’s not just another game on your schedule. It’s something that you’ll remember forever.”
SOUTHCOAST'S MARQUEE MATCHUP OF 2023
This year’s matchup between Dartmouth (9-1) and Fairhaven (10-1) has the potential to be one players, coaches and fans on both sides will be talking about for years to come.
Both teams won their first seven games of 2023.
Dartmouth went undefeated during the regular season before suffering its only loss to Milton in the Div. 3 state quarterfinals.
Fairhaven, which suffered its only loss in its regular-season finale, is headed to the Div. 6 Super Bowl thanks to playoff wins over Winthrop, Norwell and Hudson.
“I don’t remember a time in my lifetime when both teams have been this good at the same time,” Dartmouth assistant coach Peter Rossi said. “We’re kind of on a collision course which is pretty cool. I think it’s great for both communities. It’s going to be a big one.”
The teams feature four of the SouthCoast’s top scorers in Fairhaven’s Justin Marques (196 points; 32 touchdowns) and Dartmouth’s Ray Gramlich (84 points, 14 touchdowns), Markus Andrews (66 points, 11 touchdowns) and Jackson Hart (60 points, 10 touchdowns and 14 TD passes).
“It’s going to be a fun game,” said Fairhaven assistant coach Donnie Joseph. “We’ve both had nice years. We’re all looking forward to it.”
SEASON STATS: SouthCoast's leading scorers in high school football entering Week 11
WHAT MAKES THIS RIVALRY SO SPECIAL?
It’s the storied history the two SouthCoast schools share.
“Everybody knows what it means from a player to an assistant coach to a head coach to a community member,” Francis said. “It means more than most schools.”
This year marks the 91st meeting between Fairhaven and Dartmouth, dating back 100 years. Fairhaven holds a slight edge over Dartmouth in the series with 44 wins, 42 losses and four ties.
“Whether you were 8-0 or 0-8, you knew that everything came down to that Fairhaven game and you put everything into it,” Martin said. “On either side, when they win that game, it’s everything.”
Dartmouth head coach Rick White added, “We’ve had some good battles over the years.”
Fairhaven dominated the rivalry in the early days, winning the first 13 matchups and 10 out of the next 13.
“They really dominated us in the late 20s, 30s and 40s to the point where we dropped them in the 50s and picked up Dighton-Rehoboth,” said Rossi of a six-year stretch between 1950-1956.
“Way back, Fairhaven was bigger because it had Mattapoisett kids as well as Acushnet kids and a lot of the athletes came from Mattapoisett,” said Hall of Famer Dana Almeida, who coached Fairhaven to 110 wins and three Super Bowl titles in 19 years at the helm and is now an assistant under his son, Derek. “When Old Rochester got built, we lost the Mattapoisett kids and that’s when Dartmouth started to grow and get bigger and they started to dominate.”
Since 2000, Dartmouth has won 17 out of 22 games, but Fairhaven has taken the last two under head coach Derek Almeida.
“The goal for the program is we’ve got to be able to compete in that game every year,” Almeida said. “I want to be able to show up every Thanksgiving morning and have a legitimate chance to compete. I owe that to the town, the school and the kids.”
FROM PLAYERS TO COACHES
All but one member of Fairhaven’s current coaching staff played football for the Blue Devils. It’s the same situation at Dartmouth where 10 out of the 11 coaches/volunteers are alumni of the school.
“I think that shows how special each of us thinks about our school,” Joseph said. “I love this place. It means something to us. I think Dartmouth is going to tell you the same thing. It means something to them.”
Dartmouth assistant coach Justin Dexter added, “It’s a unique situation. Their staff is similar to ours. They’ve dedicated their lives to teaching and coaching just like us.”
For Dartmouth’s coaching staff, it all began with the legendary Carlin Lynch.
“The real reason almost all of our guys are from Dartmouth is coach Lynch,” White explained. “He’s the one that said, ‘You should become a teacher and a coach; you would be good at it.’ When he did that to these particular guys, we all listened. He had a big influence on us.”
Lynch also had an impact on Dana Almeida at Fairhaven.
“There is so much respect between the schools,” Dana Almeida said. “The coaching staffs have always been very friendly. Coach Lynch was one of my mentors. I would go over and grab a cup of coffee and sit with him and we’d talk football when I first started coaching.”
Playing football at Dartmouth and Fairhaven drove coaches on both sides to return and help provide a similar experience for the next generation.
“It’s something to be said,” Francis said. “I came back and coached for Dana right away.”
“When guys come back and they're 25 years old, they realize what it means to play Dartmouth football and it’s a little bit bigger than just a sport,” White said. “Most of them get it when they come back and visit.
“I think Derek is trying to bring back to Fairhaven the experience of being in high school with the guys you grew up with and playing sports together and being lifelong friends.”
The days leading up to the Thanksgiving Day matchup each year are filled with longstanding traditions on both sides. Fairhaven holds a bonfire while Dartmouth uses a rally to get ready for the big game. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, seniors and coaches from both sides come together for breakfast. On Thanksgiving Eve, members of both coaching staffs get together.
“All the coaches get together the night before and break a little bread,” Rossi said. “It’s a special thing. Coach Lynch and coach Almeida started doing that a long time ago and we’ve stayed with it. It’s just fun to be a part of tradition."
White added, “It’s a great tradition and it shows the respect we have for each other.”
RELIVING THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS
“The most memorable one was (in 1991) when a couple of the other guys played in and both schools were going to the Super Bowl. That game was a great game. It was a battle. We ended up winning it. The crowd was unbelievable. On Larch Avenue, Green Street and Huttleston Avenue, on the front porches and roofs of the front porches of almost every house, people were watching, sitting and standing.” — Dana Almeida
“That 1991 football game. They used to have a rope around the field and people were standing eight deep. I’ve never seen that many people.” — Francis
“Jordan Todman’s freshman year; that was the big moment. We never had a freshman play and Jordan put on a show. I think he had over 200 yards rushing. That was one good memory. That was the beginning of a great career for Jordan.” — Peter Crane
“What was unique for my senior year (1989) is that on the Thursday it actually snowed and they postponed the game. I remember that Friday we were out in Fairhaven. Coach Lynch had us there helping plow Fairhaven. Then all the snow melted and we played in a mud bowl. We played on the Saturday. It was 7-6 and we won. You were covered in mud from head to toe.” — Martin
“I played in three of them and all three of them were at Dartmouth. That’s one of the most vivid things. When I was here, they were building an addition (at Fairhaven) and we didn’t have a field. I never actually got to play in a Thanksgiving game here. My first year back coaching here last year and having it be a home game and taking a victory, did mean a little something to me.” — Fairhaven assistant coach David Donnelly
“The two seasons I was a major component, we lost both times on a last-second field goal.” — Derek Almeida
“My junior year (2001) we were down in the game and they ran an option play and fumbled the ball. We got the ball late. Peter Simmons booted a field goal for us to win.” — Zexter
“What I remember is we lost to them after they ran a fake punt. We might have been 9-2 and they might have been 2-9. Being in that game early in my coaching career opened my eyes to really how you have to throw the records out the window and anything can happen.” — Dartmouth assistant coach Sam Madden
“There was a wild one a few years ago. Nate Oliver picked off a 2-point conversion on a backward pass. They were going to win it and he scooped it up and scored on that and we won the game. That was a good one. There are so many over the years. There are games we should have won and Fairhaven won. There were games they should have won and we beat them.” — White
MAKING IT MEAN SOMETHING
Knowing what it meant to play in the Thanksgiving rivalry themselves, coaches from both sides are determined to have their players enjoy similar experiences.
“It’s different. As a coach you always have another one,” Derek Almeida said. “You’re looking at it through the eyes of the player. It meant so much to me when I played, you want to do the best job you can for those kids. If there is an opportunity to win a game or play it well, you’re giving them the best chance that they have. Maybe success is not winning the game, but a senior plays his best game.
“As coaches we’re trying to do the best we can for the kids to have the same great experience.”
Joseph knows just how important the rivalry is. His father, older brother, two younger brothers, nephew and son also played in it for the Blue Devils.
“It means something to be in this game,” Joseph said. “I know how much it meant to me as a player. As a coach I just want to make sure every time we're helping those kids get the best opportunity they can to feel that.”
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Fairhaven vs. Dartmouth football rivalry one of the best in the state
