Thanksgiving Day in Massachusetts has long been the day for high school football rivalries. Before families carved their turkeys, or fortified their cranberries, they hit the local stadium to cheer for their team against a familiar annual foe.

In Boston, two matchups dominated the Turkey Day conversation for most of the last century and a third – Boston Latin vs. Boston English, beginning in 1887, with Game 137 set for Thursday at Harvard Stadium; East Boston vs. South Boston, beginning in 1903 and ending in 2022 with a 48-0 Eastie victory in Game 105 at White Stadium in Franklin Park.

But there will be no touchdowns at White Stadium this year. South Boston (now Excel) High School forfeited last year’s game due to a lack of players and no longer fields a football team. East Boston will play Chelsea High in Chelsea as its holiday rival on Wednesday this week.
Excel High is not alone in the world of Boston Public Schools football.

“We need kids as well to play football,” said Bobby Jenkins, a Mattapan-based football referee. “There’s been a major change with football. We need more participation across the board, especially our high schools…I played for Madison Park and scored the first-ever touchdown in Madison Park history. But Madison Park hasn’t had a football program in five years at least.”

Madison Park Technical Vocational School used to face off against O’Bryant High School on Thanksgiving. Now, it’s Boston Latin Academy (BLA), whose home field is White Stadium, against O’Bryant at West Roxbury High School Academy Field.

There was a time less than 20 years ago when Charlestown High won state championships, as did Brighton High – but now the two programs must form a collaborative just to field a team. The same is true of The English High School, which collaborates with New Mission High in Hyde Park.

City high schools with teams now include BLA, BLS, O’Bryant, TechBoston Academy, English/New Mission, Brighton/Charlestown, and East Boston. Gone are the Burke High School, Madison Park, Excel/Southie, any Hyde Park team.

There is no public high school now in West Roxbury, where one of the best football teams in the state, Catholic Memorial, is located with several Boston players on its roster.

BPS Athletic Director Avery Esdaile said there has been an overall decline in football participation over the years at all levels, but the loss feels more pronounced for high school.

“Everyone remembers when we had larger football teams and larger schools,” he said. “Obviously, there were more teams across the city. You had a lot of the teams that weren’t able to withstand changes in numbers…What I tell people is you can’t fake football. It’s a very unique sport.”

He said the length of the season, the varying weather, frequent injuries, a move to soccer, and grade restrictions have been an obstacle. He added that BPS feels it’s important to field a junior varsity as well as a varsity because kids need to be able to safely learn the game and participate.

“It’s not fair for someone to devote themselves to a season and never be able to participate in a game – a junior varsity game,” he said. “It’s important we do it right, safely, and consistently.”

Jenkins said BPS programs are not only losing students for lack of football, but also losing them because there usually aren’t cheer teams without football. “But the Charter Schools, they have football and cheer,” he said. “Because of a lack of BPS programs, kids are opting to go to options other than BPS. They go to private schools, or Catholic schools, or METCO. If you can’t meet the demand, it will go somewhere else. That’s a big, major issue in the city.”

Jenkins said he sees that as a referee, noting there are few city games to work. “I did six games last week in Braintree because there was not one football game in Boston. The demand is out in the suburbs now,” he noted.

While some point to the fact that youth football has seen great success lately, with the Dorchester Eagles winning a Pop Warner National Championship last year, the Boston Raiders winning a cheer championship, and the Mattapan Patriots routinely sending teams to the national tournament, some doubt the assertion.

Both Jenkins and Esdaile said you might see a lot of kids out there playing, but many quit before high school, and they contend there were more in the past.

“I don’t think the youth scene is as vibrant as we might think it is,” said Esdaile. “I think there’s been some loss on that front as well.”

Jenkins noted that there are only three Pop Warner programs left in Boston, and others have switched to the American Youth Football (AYF) league. He said many of the programs that existed even last year have folded this year. He sees flag football – which he also officiates – as a potential solution.

“The decrease in football is lining up with the emergence of flag football, but flag football in Boston is very rare still,” he said. “There are only two significant flag football organizations in Boston.”

Esdaile said they do need to break down “silos” between youth programs and BPS coaches, and he said they won’t give up on city football. “The football conversation is always going to be ongoing,” he said. “We will continue to work together as a group, and we need to meet people where they’re at.”