MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP – While most Shore Conference Thanksgiving Day rivalry games have gone by the wayside in recent years, the Middletown North – Middletown South Thanksgiving Day game still remains one of the township’s biggest attractions bringing out what seems like the entire community year after year.
Sadly, there are now just five Thanksgiving rivalry games still being played in the Shore Conference when just a few short years ago high school football was synonymous with Thanksgiving Day.
But with the NJSIAA expanding the state playoff system with the intent of eventually crowning outright group champions, scheduling those extra games around Thanksgiving has made it more and more unfeasible to play a game on Thanksgiving when winning a state championship is understandably the top priority.
But the show will go on in Middletown on Thanksgiving, much to the delight of its die-hard high school football traditionalists.
This year it’s Middletown North’s turn to host Thursday’s game at 10:30 a.m. as crosstown-rival Middletown South will travel to North with the Lions expecting another overflowing, standing-room-only crowd to be in attendance.
In a setting that takes on more of a festive, holiday spirit than the heated rivalry that it is on the field, students gather for bragging rights while alumni take advantage of a rare chance to renew old acquaintances and rehash the good old times while catching up with one another over a cocktail or two.
Middletown South holds a 30-12-1 advantage in the series with all games having been played on Thanksgiving with the exception of 2015 when the two rivals met twice, once in the playoffs and once on Thanksgiving, with the Eagles winning both games.
Then in 2016, the Lions snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Eagles, ending a drought that began in 2003 by knocking off South, 24-6, to claim the coveted town bragging rights.
However, the Lions’ key to the city was short lived as Middletown South reclaimed the town’s bragging rights with a 21-7 victory over Middletown North in “The Swamp” last year..jpg)
The two schools are both coming off playoff losses so there will be no holding back with both teams wanting to end the season on a winning note, as well impressing their peers in what is the last game of their careers for the seniors on both sides.
Middletown North, playing in arguably the most competitive division in the Shore Conference, finished the season at 2-7 with Long Branch head coach Dan George calling them ”the best 1-6 team in Shore Conference history” prior to his team facing Lions in the first round of the playoffs, won by the Green Wave.
The Eagles meanwhile finished 7-3 and captured the American Division championship with a perfect 5-0 record. They beat Northern Burlington, 35-14, in the first round of the Central Jersey Group IV tournament before stumbling in the semifinals when they were shockingly routed by Brick, 42-14.
Entering that game, the Eagles defense had been the team’s strength allowing just 57 points in their previous eight games for 7.1 points per game average, so you can expect that unit to come out Thursday breathing fire.
The defense is led by senior linebackers Matt Tardy, Dylan Walling and Troy Burbank and junior Brendan Bigos, senior defensive backs Jamie Petrillo and Chris Lotito, junior defensive back/linebacker Matt Krellin, junior defensive tackle Vincent Candito and senior defensive tackle Joe DellaValle.
Offensively, senior dual-threat quarterback Trevor Brey spearheads the Eagles attack with Petrillo and Candito getting the bulk of the carries out of the backfield. Sophomores Luke Albrecht and Connor Ard are Brey’s main targets with Petrillo and Tardy at tight end getting targeted as well.
The Lions defense is led by senior defensive end Steve Holler, senior linebacker Pat Connelly, junior linebackers Travis Thompson and Eddie Farrell, senior defensive backs Aiden Campbell and Alec Zenker and junior safety Nick Ferreira.
On the offensive side, senior quarterback Sean Glenn makes things happen for the Lions. The 6-foot gun slinger is averaging close to 200 passing yards per game with a .550 completion percentage. His main targets include Campbell, juniors Anthony Soto and Matt Spencer and senior Rob Higgins out of the backfield.
Senior Connor Robbins and Higgins give the Lions two good options out of the backfield with Soto and Campbell contributing to the rushing game on jet sweeps.
If you like good football played in an environment second to none, this is the game to take in especially with the fate of future Thanksgiving Day games blowing in the wind.
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