By STEVE KRAUSE
The kids who played in Thursday’s Classical-English Thanksgiving Day game will perhaps have plenty to talk about if they come back 40 years from now for a ceremonial coin toss.
And chances are if they do, they’ll be saying some of the same things members of the 1976 Rams-Bulldogs squad said Thursday when they gathered at the 50-yard line to commemorate their epic game that had Super Bowl implications.
Wait. That’s not really accurate. There weren’t Super Bowl implications at all. Either the Rams or the Bulldogs would go to the Super Bowl that year. It just depended on which team won.
It turned out to be Classical, 7-0, when the late Jay Alicudo scored all 7 points for the Rams (he kicked the extra point as well as scoring the game’s only touchdown).
Photo gallery: English vs. Classical 2016 Thanksgiving football game
Arthur Akers was perhaps the most renowned player on that team. After graduating he traveled across the country to attend UCLA, where he used to discuss life with the likes of the legendary basketball coach John Wooden.
“I used to work out there, and our lockers were next to each other,” said Akers. “We’d discuss all sorts of things.”
Akers agrees with those who say that Thanksgiving football in particular, and high school ball in general, helped shape his life.
“I definitely think so,” he said. “Before I played for Bill Wise, I thought it was just a team, and it was just a game. I didn’t know, until I started playing in Thanksgiving games, just how much this meant to people, especially people in this city.”
When he went out to California, he took a trip up the coast to Sausalito, and “I must have had a Classical shirt on, and I got pulled over by at least four people who told me they’d lived in Lynn and played for Classical or English.”
Akers said the closest he ever came in college to the Classical-English experience was his senior year, when more than half of the Pac-8 (as it was then) teams were ineligible for bowl games for one infraction or another. The final game, against Southern Cal, was UCLA’s Rose Bowl.
“And we beat them,” Akers said.
That team had, among others, Marcus Allen, Ronnie Lott, Charles White and Anthony Munoz.
“What an atmosphere,” he said. “We both played at the L.A. Coliseum, so it was a home game for us both. We both wore our home uniforms. All I could think of was Classical-English.”
For Mark Holey, now a Lynn Police officer, the memories are strong.
“Although,” he said, “they would be a lot more enjoyable if we’d won.”
“That was a great game, especially for its magnitude,” said Holey. “Those memories stick with you.”
Holey’s best memories were of the buildup, as well as the game. All season long, the Rams and Bulldogs had matched each other win for win, with each team losing a game — English to Beverly and Classical to Salem. As it got closer to Thanksgiving, the coverage — not just in Lynn but in the Boston papers as well — got more and more intense.
“Back then,” said Holey, “you never got that kind of coverage. That was really cool.”
Kenny Green, now chief of police for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, says his best memories are about what football taught him.
“I learned discipline,” he said. “Even now, in my life, I am very disciplined. I learned that from Coach (Bill) Wise.
“You learned to be a man,” he said, “and to take responsibility when you messed up, and learn from it so you didn’t do it again.”
Paul Baribeau, a fullback on that ’76 squad, put the day together and actually tossed the coin. And English athletic director Dick Newton helped organize it.
“What I remember most is how hard the game was played,” said Newton. “The hitting was fierce.”
A junior on that team, Newton said he always remembers the leadership shown by the senior class.
“They went through a lot,” said Newton. “Those guys really were leaders.”
After Thursday’s improbable 21-20 win by Classical, there’s a good chance those who gather 40 years from now won’t be at a loss for conversation.
Steve Krause is the Item’s sports editor. He can be reached at: [email protected].