Live up in North Jersey now, Bergen does not have the tradition of the Thangsgiving games that the Shore has. One yr our HS played on Thanksgiving (due to a hurricane postponement earlier in the ye) everyone came out, the next yr it was back to the okd ways. I miss the game in Middletown, it was the highlight of the season.
NJ Thanksgiving HS Rivalaries (go Lions)
- Thread starter RUtix4me
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122 years strong-- Vineland (my HS) and Millville ---Battle of the toothless
Sadly Belleville/ Nutley fell by the wayside of realignment about 4 or so years ago (though Nutley dominated the series from '98-on). I think Bloomfield/ Montclair, Barringer/ East Orange (another 100-year game) and Clifton/ Passaic are still kicking.
Joe P.
Joe P.
SJR-Bosco and BC-PC played up until last year. The publics killed the games this year. Games like Hackensack-Teaneck, Dumont-Tenafly still exist. A few others like the Paterson schools and Clifton-Passaic. Overall the playoffs killed these games because they didn't count except for conference titles.
Hackensack-Teaneck Thanksgiving game isn't going anywhere. It's this oldest in Bergen County and one of the older one in the state.
In North Jersey, there are sadly only a handful of long time rivalries left on Thanksgiving morning.
Paterson Eastside vs Paterson Kennedy
Newark Barringer vs East Orange
Newark Weequahic vs Newark Shabazz
Passaic vs Clifton
Hackensack vs Teaneck
The Weequahic vs Shabazz game always draws a large crowd.
The Eastside vs Kennedy game used to draw near 10k at Hinchcliffe Stadium.
Paterson Eastside vs Paterson Kennedy
Newark Barringer vs East Orange
Newark Weequahic vs Newark Shabazz
Passaic vs Clifton
Hackensack vs Teaneck
The Weequahic vs Shabazz game always draws a large crowd.
The Eastside vs Kennedy game used to draw near 10k at Hinchcliffe Stadium.
Phillipsburg - Easton Rivalry game is crazy. The P'burg fans line up in P'burg, walk over the free bridge and then up College Hill to Lafayette College (nice campus !) where the game is played. Huge crowds approaching 20,000 sometimes.
These are games that should be played on Thanksgiving morning.
Morris Knolls vs Morris Hills
Mendham vs West Morris
Boonton vs Mt Lakes
Parsippany Hills vs Parsippany
Randolph vs Roxbury
Madison vs Chatham
Wayne Hills vs Wayne Valley
Caldwell vs West Essex
Hopatcong vs Lenape Valley
Livingston vs Hanover Park
West Orange vs Orange
Ridge vs Bernards
Morristown vs Delbarton
Morris Knolls vs Morris Hills
Mendham vs West Morris
Boonton vs Mt Lakes
Parsippany Hills vs Parsippany
Randolph vs Roxbury
Madison vs Chatham
Wayne Hills vs Wayne Valley
Caldwell vs West Essex
Hopatcong vs Lenape Valley
Livingston vs Hanover Park
West Orange vs Orange
Ridge vs Bernards
Morristown vs Delbarton
Not disagreeing, but this is a very recent rivalry. I am old enough to have played for Wall when we did not have a real Turkey Day rival and Manasquan would play Point Boro.
Morris Knolls vs Morris Hills was always a good game! Now that I live in OC its all about Ocean City (not a very good team at all, yet they are great in most other sports) vs Pleasantville. Its quite a clash of cultures with milk toast, dry town OC being 98% white and Pleasantville being about 98% black. Thanksgiving morning HS football is a great way to start the day!
I'm with the OP. Go Lions! Back when I was there (mid-late 90s), North & South were pretty evenly split and it was a good rivalry.
South just beat North last Friday in the playoffs, so I'm not sure if that's taking some of the shine off the Thanksgiving Day game this year. 2 games at South in 6 days.
South just beat North last Friday in the playoffs, so I'm not sure if that's taking some of the shine off the Thanksgiving Day game this year. 2 games at South in 6 days.
I always thought Immaculata vs. Somerville should have been a Thanksgiving game.
What year? (VHS 90 here). One of these years I'm going to take my kids down to the bonfire to show them what a pep rally is supposed to be like.
Growing up in Brooklyn, we would 'vacation' in Vineland, lol. Drive down, go crabbing near Sea Isle City, come back and have a huge party in the yard w boiling pots of sphagetti and crabs. Playing corn hole in the yard, adults singing songs, for a 7 year old in Brooklyn , this was awesome ! Staying at Uncle Pete and Aunt Bernise was awesome !
I remember the days when Hills and Knolls didn't play games because the schools were so lopsided from a student number perspective.
I remember the late summer session scrimmages got a lot of fan/family turn out and we played both played extremely hard.
VHS 80 here with a brother who still teaches math at VHS
Yes remember those bonfires. I think they approached Texas A&M proportions at times. LOL
Millburn vs. Madison will play their 83rd consecutive game this Thanksgiving. Madison has dominated the series 48-29-5.
Madison also has their state final game on 12/3.
Madison also has their state final game on 12/3.
Agree, but the Kubu vs. Barnes matchup made the first 10 years of the rivalry something to be hold. During those years both teams were regular playoff participants and Division Champions.
Lakewood plays Toms River South (Toms River) for the 96th time tomorrow and Asbury Park will meet Neptune for the 80th time.
Ya know, Wayne Hills had a long time Thanksgiving rivalry which I attended while I was in college and after college. But at some point in the 90's they ended it, maybe when they did a conference realignment or whatever. But now I don't know if they even play on Thanksgiving.
West Orange - Columbia was played for something around 50-60 years. For much of the time it was played at Columbia because WOHS's field was too small to hold the crowd. It was a 1 way rivalry as Columbia dominated the series. I believe it ended around the time the Big 10 dissolved.
I remember when I was kid the Green Brook Vs. Dunellen football rivalry was a lot of fun
Yes they have attended Watchung Hills since the early 90's but before that Green Brook had its own HS. It was the smallest in the state at the time.
No, Long Valley is up in Morris County.
It must just be Watchung, Warren and Green Brook.
I thought a solid Middletown North might have something for South this year but after a 41-14 drubbing last week at the hands of south it is clear North picked the wrong South squad to match up against. They are ferocious this year.
Agreed, Knolls-Hills was always a good one. As a Knolls grad, I wouldn't have minded Randolph on Thanksgiving, either. As a Hackensack resident now, I do like the Teaneck rivalry. And not sure how the OP defines North Jersey, but as somebody who covered football in the Shore and lives in Bergen, the P'Burgh game is significantly better than anything either has to offer in terms of atmosphere. Is the football better than the Bergen county Catholic schools? No, not even close. But that vibe is something else, the P'Burgh fans marching up the hill, helping pack the place with 20k, going back two, three generations. Anybody that's a HS football fan should see it at least once.
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