Get ready for more Thanksgiving football

Friday, December 16, 2011

The Turkey Bowl will continue, and it will continue for a while.

Not long before this year’s edition of the Thanksgiving Day high school football game between Merrimack and Souhegan, the coaches of both teams agreed to play the game once again in 2012. And after more discussions in the weeks since the holiday, the schools will continue the game, at least until 2015.

“That’s not to say it’s going to end,” Souhegan coach Mike Beliveau said. “We’ll just revisit the conversation. We didn’t want to go through it every year, should we do it or not do it. We’re excited and glad to continue the tradition.”

It had been Beliveau and Souhegan who decided to end the 15-year series after playing in 2011, citing the difficulties of getting players up to play what amounts to an exhibition game. In 2010, the Sabers were just five days removed from beating Portsmouth for their third straight Division III championship, when they lost to Merrimack 54-15.

But after missing out on the playoffs in 2011, and spending time talking to Merrimack coach Joe Battista and to Souhegan alumni, Beliveau changed his mind.

“You don’t win that many championships,” Beliveau said. “There are going to be years that you want to play that game than you don’t.

“Merrimack always wanted to play. It was on us. I didn’t realize how many alumni from both schools, players and non-players, come down and watch the game. It’s something to do on Thanksgiving morning. I was blown away by that. This had to keep going.”

Battista, who was upset to see the game come to an end, was glad when the possibility to continue the game first came up.

“We are going to keep this going,” he said after this year’s Thanksgiving game.

The game is the state’s longest running Thanksgiving game that features the same two teams every season. Manchester’s Turkey Bowl has been played since 1981, but features any two of the city’s four schools.

After Souhegan’s 48-21 win this year, the Sabers lead the series against Merrimack 10-5, and brought the Milk Jug back to Amherst after losing to the Tomahawks in 2010. Prior to that, Souhegan had won the previous seven games.