Having lost to Newton North High School last year, the varsity football team is looking for a different result in this year’s Thanksgiving day game.

“For me personally, it’s kind of about redeeming ourselves from last year,” senior Ben Knopf said. “The two years where I’ve played varsity, we’ve only won once. It’s on our home field this year, so this is going to be a huge game.”

According to Knopf, the defense played well last year but the offense struggled. The team was also affected by some key injuries that threw its game plan off.

Since 1894, the two teams have squared off against each other, making them the oldest rivals in Bay State.

“There’s so much more hype around the Thanksgiving day game,” Knopf said. “It’s just a game of preparation. That game defines your season.”

In terms of practicing, Knopf says the team is taking it week by week and focusing on each game every week.

“We’re practicing hard, we’re watching film, we’re listening to our coaches and we’re building our team chemistry.” senior Matt Eydinov said.

Aside from practicing hard, the team is also facing changes. This year is health and fitness teacher Keith Thomas’ first year as the football coach.

“The team kind of feeds off the coach’s personality and his style,” said Knopf. “I think we’re more in tune with what Coach Thomas thinks and what he wants to do as we were last year with a completely separate coach.”

The team hopes to finish strong, given this is the last high school game for senior players.

“We want to show our fans that we’re a capable team and that after all those weeks of training, we’ve amounted to something,” Eydinov said.

Jennifer Sun can be contacted at [email protected].