March 28, 2024

Sports Update

Posted

Thanksgiving Football & Tradition:
Thanksgiving 2022 saw the continuation of Rhode Island’s longest standing high school football rivalry.  As mentioned in previous articles here, the East Providence-LaSalle rivalry has gone on for 94 years.  93 of those years were on Thanksgiving with the first game between the schools played in 1927.  By now most followers of the big game know that the series has been watered down by a change in the state playoff format.  The Townie-Ram game is no longer a league contest and doesn’t count in the standings.  But more on that later.

The 2022 game had just about everyone expecting a Ram blowout at Pierce Stadium.  LaSalle (LSA) came into Thanksgiving as the Rhode Island Division I state champion.  The Rams defeated Hendricken the week before in a mild upset for the state title.  The Townies had a fair season but made it to the playoffs, losing in the first round.  Only the most diehard fans of this once fierce rivalry expected a good game this year.  Well, the Townies surprised everyone and played well enough to have a chance to win the game with just a few seconds left.  Early in the game, LSA scored quickly on a short pass which turned into a 75-yard touchdown run.  East Providence would soon answer with a Max Whiting to Steve Clark touchdown pass.  The Townies played superb defense and the Townies scored again to take the lead.  Whiting would eventually throw for three EP touchdowns and run for two more in the 41-36 loss.

East Providence was behind 21-14 but didn’t go away quietly.  However, LSA pushed the score to 28-14 and things didn’t look good for the home team squad at Pierce at halftime.  Opening the third quarter, a Whiting to Yusef Abdullah 18-yard pass was good for a touchdown.  The two point conversion was good making the score now 28-22.  A running TD by Whiting tied the game at 28 but a penalty was given to EP after the score and the game was now tied at 28.

LSA went ahead in the fourth quarter 35-28 and the game had the fairly large EP crowd on the edge of their seats.  The Rams were driving toward another score when EP junior Steven Clark intercepted a Ram pass and returned the ball to the LSA one yard line.  Quarterback Whiting ran it in for the short touchdown run and EP took a 36-35 lead after a surprise pass to Joe Cabral for the two point conversion was good.  Once again LaSalle scored to take the lead but failed on its two point conversion try.  EP was still alive.  The Townies moved the ball to within the Ram 9 yard line but with seconds left on the clock, a storybook ending was not in the cards.  Time ran out and the state champion Rams escaped with a narrow win over upset minded East Providence.

The History:
The series officially began in 1929.  Although the two schools started turkey day play in 1927 (EP won 6-0), there was no game in 1928 and the state league officially “started” in 1929 with a LaSalle 19-6 win.  For many Townies, Thanksgiving week has always been full of tradition and plans for school reunions, family get-togethers and THE football game between old rivals East Providence High School and LaSalle Academy.  However, to the chagrin of many, traditions have drastically changed.  Today, legions of young people may never know what those glory years of that Townie - Ram rivalry was like.  They have only heard older family and friends talk about it. The game was played alternately at each other’s home field.  The Townies home field was beautiful Pierce Memorial Stadium while LaSalle played in an old field behind their school on Academy Avenue in Providence, RI.  East Providence always has a large fan following and would even outdraw LSA at their own field.  Most games were standing room only and you had to arrive by 8:30 am for the 10:00 start time, if you wanted to get that great seat.  Pierce was often known to house 10,000 spectators during the rivalry’s glory days. 

When the mostly old wooden stands at LaSalle were closed due to safety concerns in the early eighties, the school was forced to host Thanksgiving at various Providence fields.  City Stadium at Mt. Pleasant High and Brown Stadium were used at times.  When the cost of renting Brown became too expensive, LSA offered to have all Thanksgiving Day games at Pierce. "It was cheaper for us to rent Pierce and it is a great field," said one LaSalle official.  For several years players from both schools only knew playing at Pierce. 

LaSalle has since constructed a new football stadium with synthetic turf and the series has returned to an alternating home venue with this year's game a home contest for the Townies.  EP also has a brand-new stadium with synthetic turf behind the gleaming new EPHS on Pawtucket Avenue.  However, with a seating capacity of under 2,000 spectators, Thanksgiving Day games will remain at Pierce.

A Rivalry to Remember:
The EP-LSA series has seen changing momentum swings. From 1929 through 1940 the series pretty much went back and forth between schools. La Salle dominated the series from 1941 through 1948, winning a state title in 1942. A little back and forth again and then the Townies won from 1960 through 1967 and then again in ’69 and ’70 and ’72 and ’73. EP won state titles in ’66, ’67 and ’69 and ’70.  LaSalle took over and won the 1974, ’75 and ’76 games while EP bounced back to win from 1977 through 1980 and then again from 1982 through 1984. It was an eight-year run next for LaSalle as they beat EP from 1985 through 1992. La Salle spanked EP in 1992 by a 50-6 score but EP returned the favor with a 41-6 victory the next year. And on it went, win one, lose one, until LaSalle has now gained dominance on Turkey Day.  Most public schools can no longer compete with the privates who can draw their students from any city or even nearby state locales. 

But what a tradition it was.  Each school, especially EPHS, would hold massive rallies on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  EP Alumni would return for the rally and from Wednesday through the Sunday, class reunion parties would pop up all over East Providence.  In addition to partying the night before, many Townie alumni and former players would gather for “breakfast” before the big game at 6 or 7 am.  The most popular spot back in the day was Bovi’s Tavern at six-corners on Taunton Avenue.  Owner, the late John Bovi (a LSA grad), would host scores of fans from both schools.  After “breakfast” the group would move on to Pierce Stadium and greet thousands of other fans.  The Thanksgiving game between EP and LSA often determined or had major impact on the state championship.  It was the place to be.  Thanksgiving dinner couldn’t start until the game was over and it always tasted better after a win.

Rivalry on Life Support:
The once storied Townie-Ram rivalry is all but gone as older Townie and Ram alumni remember.  EP now has won 15 State Championships.  Hendricken had raced ahead of all schools with their 17th state championship over LaSalle last year.  Hendricken won consecutive state titles from 2010-2016.  LSA won their 16th title in 2017 and Hendricken won again from 2018-2021 (no game in 2020 due to Covid) giving them the 17 state titles.  In an upset this past November 20, 2022, LSA beat Hendricken for its league tying 17th title.  LaSalle’s recent students now feel the Hendricken is their true rival.  By Thanksgiving Day, the RIIL season is basically over.  A Division I champion has been decided.  The EP-LSA Thanksgiving game is non-league and really has no meaning.  East Providence players and alumni hold a little bit of the traditional feel and strive to win but the feeling is not generally the same from their former rivals from over the river.  In fact, LSA has not always played all its starters for much of the game in recent years.  Fear of injury and other factors come into play.  And where will Townie alumni gather during Thanksgiving week?  The long famous Bovi’s Tavern is gone, demolished with an empty lot in its place.

New Tradition Possible?
Townie alumnus and former football standout player John Oliver is trying to start a new tradition for EP alumni to gather for “breakfast” before the game.  Oliver is co-owner of a sports bar/restaurant, The Local, at 478 Waterman Avenue in EP.  Oliver invited Townie and Ram alumni and friends to gather at The Local to reminisce before the game.  Many did show up before last month’s game.  A full breakfast menu was available and big screen TV’s played films of Townie Thanksgivings from decades ago.

EP and LSA Voted Against New Format:
Both LSA and EPHS voted against the playoff change when announced in 2014. "We tried to convince the league to keep Thanksgiving Day as a league game for us," said former East Providence Athletic Director Bob Duarte in 2015 comments. "The rest of the league's athletic directors approved. They don't have the tradition that we have. It could mean the end of the LaSalle-EP Thanksgiving Day game as we know it," said Duarte.

Thanksgiving Game Memories:
Officials from LaSalle and East Providence are hoping to keep the tradition going. "The change in the format certainly had an impact on the Thanksgiving game," said La Salle's Ted Quigley. "When I became La Salle's AD in 2000, it was close to the peak of the current rivalry. Everything about the game was magnified. In the 1990's. Ken Reall (former EP AD) started the "Good Faith" dinner prior to the game. It was attended by the coaches, captains, and administration from each school. Phil Ricci (former EP AD) and I continued the tradition and expanded it to include all of the seniors on each team. That lasted almost 20 years. The 2001 game was probably the most watched high school football game in Rhode Island in the past 50 years. People were sitting along the grass berm by the main entrance because the bleachers were full. Both teams were undefeated coming into the game and the atmosphere was electric. Each year, if the game wasn't being played to determine a champion, it was played for seeding in the playoffs. Once the game became a non-league game, much of the excitement was lost," added Quigley.

"Because the game is now played after the playoffs are concluded and the championship has been decided, it has lost its competitive luster. It has become, in essence, a glorified exhibition game. This is not the Thanksgiving Day rivalry we all grew up with and enjoyed so very much. We are keeping tradition alive but it is certainly a far cry from the glory years," said East Providence current Athletic Director Gregg Amore.

"I would hope that the game would continue, but so much of the enthusiasm for it has waned. Attendance has gone from counting it by the thousands to counting it by the hundreds. However, high school sports are very cyclical. Things have a tendency to come around. This is the longest in-state rivalry in Rhode Island. We are less than ten years from the anniversary of the first game in 1927. It would be a shame to see it end, but I am also realistic enough to know that not everyone feels that way," Quigley said.  Both Amore and Quigley agree that "tradition and pride still make it worth it to play the game.”

East Providence former Co-Captain John Johnson is a 1967 graduate. He remembers his senior Thanksgiving game with great fondness. “We won 57-7 and won the state championship that year,” said an animated Johnson in a recent interview. EP also won the state title in 1966. “A lot of us would hang out at Kelly’s Burgers (Burger King today) on Friday nights across from the high school and talk football,” Johnson recalled. Most high schools played football games on Saturday mornings years ago. “We liked to think that we hated LaSalle,” continued Johnson, “but actually I felt lots of respect on both sides of the line.”

To be continued …

Bay View Wins Division III Volleyball Championship:
Bay View academy defeated Central Falls for the RI Division III volleyball championship in November.  Bay View was 17-3 on the year while Central Falls was impressive at 16-2.  During the regular season Central Falls shut out the Bengals but Bay View got revenge in beating the Warriors in the finals.

EPHS Volleyball in Division II Finals:
East Providence finished a very successful girls volleyball season last month.  The Townies made it to the championship game in Division II, but lost out to the favorite, Chariho High School.  The finals were played at Rhode Island College and although EP showed skill and determination, they couldn’t match the top seed, Chariho.  The Townies beat back Mt. Hope and Cumberland in the quarter and semi-finals but had no answer for Chariho.  “We didn’t play as well as we could have,” said coach Alex Butler.  “This happens in sports at times, we can’t control it.  It was a good season overall, but we wanted to do better.”

EPHS Winter Sports
Winter Sports began officially on November 28th for most Rhode Island middle and high schools.  All athletes must have an up to date physical and be registered on Family ID in order to participate in East Providence athletics.  Athletes new to Townie Athletics also need to submit a notarized Assumption of Risk Form. Please see link below. Contact the winter season coaches for more information:

Boys Basketball, jandrade@epschoolsri.com
Wrestling, tgalligan@epschoolsri.com
Swimming, bhassan@epschoolsri.com
Boys Indoor Track, rlyons@epschoolsri.com
Girls Indoor Track, malmeida@epschoolsri.com
Comp. Cheerleading, bethier@epschoolsri.com
Gymnastics, caseyrapp27@gmail.com
Hockey, gamore@epschoolsri.com
Girls Basketball, open at this time

Link to Family ID for Assumption of Risk form: https://www.familyid.com/organizations/east-providence-high-school-athletics 

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