It wouldn’t feel like Thanksgiving without an Athol-Mahar showdown on the gridiron.
A tradition dating back to 1894, the Bears and Senators will square off for the 88th time on Turkey Day in what is one of the oldest Thanksgiving rivalries in the state. Athol enters with a 53-33-1 lead in the series.
The game is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Woodward Complex in Orange.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have a Thanksgiving rivalry that means something,” Bears coach Josh Talbot said. “We’re one of the last few of a dying breed of historic Thanksgiving rivalries. We’re fortunate to have this game every Thanksgiving and not have to chase a game. You always have this one circled on the calendar.”
When Mahar coach Percy Eady took the Senators job last year, it was with the Turkey Day rivalry in mind.
“This game is so special,” Eady said. “It’s what attracted me to the job in the first place. You see all the stuff that this is the oldest rivalry in western Mass. so it’s special to be part of it. You look at the history of it, there’s been some interruptions but it’s amazing how far back this game goes. While I’m not from the area you couldn’t find a bigger Senator than me. I love who I work for and I might as well have been a Mahar Senator since I was born. Now, I want to see a victory over Athol.”
The rivalry has had its ebbs and flows the last decade. Athol won each Thanksgiving contest from 2014-2017 before Mahar won the next two. The 2020 Turkey Day contest was canceled due to COVID-19.
The Bears ran away with a 52-12 victory in 2021, the Sens responded with a 12-0 shutout in 2022 but it was all Athol last year, as the Bears pulled away with a 40-8 victory.
It hasn’t just been on Thanksgiving where the Bears have had Mahar’s number the last two years. Athol won the regular season matchup as well last season and when the two rivals squared off in Intercounty League North action at O’Brien Field last month, the Bears walked away with a 35-6 victory.
Being a rivalry game, and with precipitation in the forecast, don’t expect Talbot and the Bears to see Mahar as any less of a threat.
“It’s Thanksgiving so anything can happen,” Talbot said. “With an unstructured week of school and the weather, things would certainly be playing into the underdog’s favor. These are the types of games where silly things happen.”
Three losses in a row has the Senators extra motivated going into Thursday.
“We have a chance for some redemption,” Eady said. “You want to show improvement going into the offseason. What better way is there to go into the offseason than getting a win on Thanksgiving?”
The Bears entered the season with high expectations, based around an 18-player senior class.
Athol had a strong year and was in the mix for the Intercounty League North title before a loss to Greenfield late in the year dashed those title winning hopes.
The Bears enter Thanksgiving with a 6-4 record, and Talbot hopes to send a large senior class out on a high note.
“For us, this is something we started building together three years ago when we took this team over,” Talbot said. “It’s sad to see it come to an end. Hopefully we’ll be able to make one more awesome memory together on Thanksgiving. As a group, these guys are like my kids. They’ve been a big part in our lives, not just on the football field. Unfortunately as a group this is the last time they’ll be able to suit up together.”
The biggest thing for Athol will be having a healthy squad on Turkey Day.
The Bears have been plagued by injuries all season long, but will have nearly their full arsenal against Mahar. Talbot said they want to show everyone the type of team they can be when all their pieces are in place.
“We’re probably as healthy as we’ve been all year,” Talbot said. “They’re a big group and a talented group. We had super high expectations coming into the season and we’ve faced adversity at every turn. It’s been a learning experience for all of us. We’ve all grown immensely through it. Lucky to have one more time to do this all together. Everyone is healthy for the first time which is great.”
The Senators got to see the talent of Athol signal caller Aidan Melanson during the rivals’ regular season matchup last month.
The senior threw for 203 yards and five touchdowns in the Bears’ victory. His fifth touchdown pass that day gave him 37 for his career, which surpassed Eric LaFountain for the most in Athol program history.
You don’t set a school passing touchdown record without having some good weapons to throw to. The Bears have a plethora of those, led by Raydin Sousa, Ethan Goodwin, Aaron Ouellet, Logan Cormier and Dom Pope.
“We really want to get as many guys involved as possible,” Talbot said. “We want as many guys as we can to be in a position to have a memorable moment. When it’s all said and done, we want them leaving the field with a big smile on their faces.”
One player the Senators didn’t get much of a look at the first time around was Athol running back Sawyer Lefsyk, who left the game with an injury early on.
Lefsyk, a 1,000 yard rusher, is joined in the backfield by fellow senior Hayden Barrieau, giving the Bears two players who are tough to get on the ground. With sloppy conditions expected, look for the pair to carry the rock plenty on Thursday.
“We threw the ball on them a lot after Sawyer got banged up,” Talbot said. “I don’t think that team understands who Sawyer is. I’m confident by the end of Thanksgiving they’ll know who he is. He only had one or two carries the last time out and we’ll make sure he gets his work in. It’s a challenge to tackle him and not many teams want to have to tackle him.”
Mahar has dealt with similar injury problems throughout the season, but is also getting healthy going into Thursday.
Malaki Grummell is back at running back, and joined by Ronnie Stone and Jayden Delgado in the backfield, the Senators have a trio of threats that defenses must account for.
Morgan Softic has been a playmaker under center all season for the Sens, as he is a threat with both his arm and his legs. Mahar (3-7) is hoping to put it all together on Thursday to spring the victory.
“We’re getting healthy,” Eady said. “There’s a different kind of enthusiasm. The season is coming to a close and with our senior class as big as ours is, they dominate the locker room. There’s some nostalgia going back to the first time lacing them up to this being their last game. There’s excitement for this game.”
After seeing the Bears already this season, the Senators feel they have a better game plan in place to make for a competitive game.
“After the first Athol game I have a better respect for their passing game,” Eady said. “They found a chink in our armor and exploited it. We have to tighten that stuff up a bit.
“Getting a Mahar victory Thursday would mean we would be very, very diligent with our offensive game plan. We have to stay on point no matter what we’re facing. We have to be very stubborn about our game plan. Defensively we have other tighten up the things that didn’t go well the last time. If we can lock those things up, we can aim for a more competitive game and hopefully a victory.”
Both coaches noted how they wanted to send their seniors off with a win during their final high school football game.
“The biggest focus is sending the seniors off the right way,” Eady said. “It’s been an absolute pleasure coaching these guys. Those guys who have been with me the last two years have done their work and I want to give them the one going away present I can give them which is a Thanksgiving victory. That’d be special.”
Being the final game with the senior group comes with emotion, and Talbot said he hopes that can be channeled onto the field.
“I want our kids to enjoy the moment, play with high energy, with passion and with love for one another,” Talbot said. “There’s a lot of close relationships on the team and I want them to embrace one another on Thursday and leave it all out there from an emotional and physical standpoint. It’ll be a challenging day from an emotional standpoint with what these kids have meant to our program and to our coaching staff.”
