This blog is part of Jeff Fisher's High School Football America network that is dedicated to providing high school football fans in Pennsylvania with the most up-to-date news and information in the Keystone State.
by Jeff Fisher Pennsylvania High School Football Huddle
Earlier today, I wrote on my main High School Football Huddle page, that Allen High School in suburban Dallas was going to build a $60 million dollar football stadium in these tough economic times.
Now, here's the other side of the coin.
Easton High School, the first team I covered at the start of my journalism career and is the second winningest football program in Pennsylvania history, is considering cutting its middle school sports programs to avoid a tax hike.
The Morning Call reports that, in addition to the proposed cuts in the athletic budget, the district is also considering cutting 70 teaching jobs. If the middle school programs are cut, it will have a definite impact on the high school teams because the middle school teams act as a feeder system.
The worst part of this story is that there are going to be hundreds of other schools around the country that will be making similar difficult decisions.
by Jeff Fisher Pennsylvania High School Football Huddle
Around 5:30 P.M. CST on Sunday, April 26, 2009...I received a call from my mother, who lives in Easton, Pennsylvania...actually Wilson Borough (my hometown) to be exact.
The call went like this....
Mom - "What was the final score to the game?"
Me - "The Liners won, mom"
Mom - "I know, but what was the score?"
Me - "P'burg 27-12"
The reason for the call was my mom was watching my old TV station, which during it's report gave the winner's name, but not the final score for the Gatorade Replay game that broke 1993's 7-7 tie between the two arch rival that meet every Thanksgiving morning at Lafayette College.
Of course, mom is a little jaded when it comes to reviewing the talent that replaced me when I moved to Chicago, but when she was done making light of the fact that the reporter was remiss in not giving the final score, it dawned on me that...high school football memories are as special as a first kiss!
This game was more than an advertising stunt, and my mom and the rest of the area were treating it as such!
They've play 102-games that counted before Sunday, but none of the 102 may have counted more than Sunday's Replay. It had all the romance of a Harlequin novel as two towns that have a combined population of 40,000 came together to show that the Thanksgiving Day rivalry is more than just a game. It showed the fabric of these two Delaware River communities, and it focused me on my job as America's central database for high school football.
The High School Football Huddle is about everything high school football....all 15,000 high schools and 1.3 million players, plus the cheerleaders and the bands. I promise you that this site will always be about ripping apart the fabric of communities around the country to tell the story of high school football.
Finally, for all of us who have thought, "if I had to do it all over again"...Sunday was a special day! It proved that there's nothing wrong with turning back the clock.
In closing, and using football terms...we should always remember that as time rushes by us, we should consider grabbing each passing moment and realize that the problems we tackled in high school, make very special memories.
Gatorade Replay showed that TIES really do bind.
And, don't forgot to check-out various video from throughout the day on College Hill in Easton, Pennsylvania...
by Jeff Fisher The High school Football Huddle You can do it all over again!
Phillipsburg (NJ) beat Easton (PA) 27-12 Sunday in the Gatorade Replay game that broke a 7-7 tie from a 1993 Thanksgiving Day game between the Delaware River rivals. The game lived-up to its hype, and went a long way to proving that these two may own America's best high school football rivalry!
Sitting here in Chicago, about 45 minutes from the start of the Easton-Phillipsburg Gatorade Replay game. I'm going to listen to the game on the internet with THE VOICE of the Red Rovers and Stateliners...Dick Hammer.
At 75 years young, Dick is my mentor and friend. However, to tens of thousands, he was the voice on WEST-AM Radio.
Dick's words have painted every hand-off, pass and tackle for these two schools since the 50's. WEST was known as "The Best Little Station in the Nation" for its community-based broadcasts that included not only Easton and Phillipsburg football, but also, basketball, baseball wrestling...YES WRESTLING. Hold-by-hold on the radio!
I spoke to Dick earlier this week, and he was very excited about calling today's game with his long-time sidekick Mike Moore, who also helped me cut my teeth in the news business back in the late 70's.
For those of you who have been following my blog about this game...do yourself a favor and click onto the WGPA radio link below, and make this truly a throwback game by listening to a man, who has been calling sports on the radio for over 50 years. While I love the pictures of TV, there's NOTHING better than an old-time radio broadcast.
Click here to go to the WGPA website to listen to today's game.
by Jeff Fisher Pennsylvania High School Football Huddle
While many may have considered Gatorade's idea to Replay the 1993 Easton-Phillipsburg Thanksgiving Day game to break the 7-7 a joke, on the eve of the game, the feeling in the two communities, is no different than it is on Thanksgiving Eve.
Complete with the traditional bonfire, everyone is getting into the sold-out game that will be played Sunday afternoon at Lafayette's Fisher Field.
For the players, there are probably the same butterflies that were felt 15-years ago. For one player, this replay has been a life changer. You can check-out that story from CNN's Reynolds Wolf below.
In about 48-hours, the communities of Easton (PA) and Phillipsburg (NJ) will turn back the clock and replay the 1993 Thanksgiving Day high school football game that ended in a 7-7 tie. The event, sponsored by Gatorade, has captured the two communities that are separated by the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey.
About 60-players from the 1993 squads have been training for a couple of months for this game that is sold-out to the tune of 13,000 tickets.
The process of getting in-shape has been documented with episodes on the Gatorade Mission G website, and today they released the third installment of the documentary.
I really like this one!! It focuses on the relationship between Easton's Tim Gadwell and Phillipsburg's Tyrone Randolph.
Check it out & enjoy!!
By the way, the game itself can be seen on Service Electric Cable at 8 P.M. Sunday night.
by Jeff Fisher The High School Football Huddle The buzz continues to grow around this weekend's Gatorade Replay game between the 1993 Easton (PA) and Phillipsburg (NJ) football teams. Friends and family in my hometown of Easton really seem to be pumped-up about this "old-timers" game, and from several recent conversations, I get the sense that this April 26th game is being treated as a real game by all involved.
For Huddle readers that haven't been following the story, the two Thanksgiving Day rivals will meet April 26th to settle a 7-7 tie from 16-years ago with players that played in that game. The game is sold-out with 10,000 tickets selling in 90-minutes. NFL quarterbacks/brothers Eli and Peyton Manning are honorary coaches for the game.
Below is the second episode of the second coming of Easton-Phillipsburg "1993 Part Deux".
by Jeff Fisher The High School Football Huddle Here's Episode 1 of Gatorade's Replay game between Easton (PA) and Phillipsburg (NJ). This fall the two will square-off on Thanksgiving morning for the 103rd time. But before that, Gatorade has come-up with a promotion to break the 1993 7-7 tie between the Delaware River rivals.
Yes, 35-something guys will be strapping on the shoulder pads one more time in the ultimate fantasy camp next Saturday (April 26th) at Lafayette College!
For those of you that are not familiar with the rivalry and the Gatorade promotion, check-out the video below.
by Jeff Fisher The High School Football Huddle As all of my readers know, I'm an unabashed promoter of the Easton (PA)-Phillipsburg (NJ) annual Thanksgiving Day football game. I believe it's THE BEST high school football rivalry in America.
However, even I'm amazed how the two communities are approaching next Saturday's (April 26th) made-for-the-internet game between players from the 1993 Turkey Day game that ended in a 7-7 tie. It took only 90-minutes to sell-out tickets for the Gatorade Relay game.
The fans goggled-up the $10 tickets faster than you can say, "do 13,000 people really want to watch guys 15-years past their prime, play in another high school football game?"
Bottom line...these two communities, separated by the Delaware River, love this game! So in addition to being the best rivalry in high school football, this proves that they may also be THE BEST high school football fans!
To read more about preparation for game from the Express-Times, click here.
The game itself is part of a Gatorade documentary that is being shown Gatorade's Mission G website. The trailer is below.
Gatorade is hoping to break a 15-year old tie between Easton (PA) and Phillipsburg (NJ). According to a report in the Express-Times, Gatorade has asked the schools if they can find 25-to-30 alumni players each from the November 25, 1993 game that ended in a 7-7 tie. According to the report, Gatorade wants the two schools to put the 30-something players on the field to "play it again Sam" and break the tie as part of Gatorade's program highlighting great American high school rivalries.
The Easton-Phillipsburg rivalry is one of the best in the country. The two schools are separated by the Delaware River, and this past year played their 102nd game on Thanksgiving morning at Lafayette College. Phillipsburg is New Jersey's winningest high school football program, while Easton is #2 in Pennsylvania.
The game is big enough that it's been aired live on ESPN twice.
I said it all week long...throw out the records when it comes to Turkey Day high school football. Easton proved it Thursday beating arch-rival Phillipsburg (NJ) 35-14 in a game that saw the Red Rovers enter the contest with a 6-6 record and the Stateliners ready to play for a New Jersey state title next weekend.
Easton jumped out to a 35-0 halftime lead and never looked back taking a 57-40-5 lead in the all-time series. The victory was also the 131st of head coach Steve Shiffert's career, which ties him with Bob Rute for #1 on all-time victories list. Shiffert also equalled Rute's mark of 11 wins against the Liners. Shiffert is 11-4-1 all-time on Turkey Day.
Highlights Easton/Phillipsburg from Service Electric
Pennsylvania High School Football Scores Thursday, November 27, 2008
Bartram Charter 42, Del-Val Charter 0 Boyertown 16, Upper Perkiomen 14 Bristol 44, Morrisville 7 Click here for game story Conestoga 11, Great Valley 8 Conwell-Egan 35, Truman 28 Click here for game story Dobbins 14, Ben Franklin 0 Easton 35 Phillipsburg (NJ) 14 East Stroudsburg South 34 Stroudsburg 0 Click here for game story Father Judge 42, Lincoln 6 Germantown 20, Martin Luther King 0 Imhotep Charter 20, Edison 6 Malvern Prep 34, St. Joseph's Prep 27 Northampton 19 Catasauqua 0 Click here for game story Northeast 38, Central 0 Olney 23, Fels 16 Overbrook 18, West Philadelphia 7 Owen J. Roberts 34, Pottstown 13 Penn Wood 21, William Penn 6 Phoenixville 18, Spring-Ford 10 Pottsgrove 49, St. Pius X 14 Quakertown 34, Pennridge 29 Ridley 14, Interboro 7 Roman Catholic 48, Roxborough 0 Sun Valley 39, Chichester 20 Upper Darby 17, Haverford High 10 Upper Moreland 27, Hatboro-Horsham 13
Highlights Northampton-Catasauqua from Service Electric
As most readers of The High School Football Huddle know, I'm partial to eastern Pennsylvania football. Year-in and year out it produces great teams. It may not put a lot of blue chippers on Rivals.com and Scout.com lists, but as far as team play goes, most of the top teams would be able to hold their own against competition from around the country.
Now on to what I believe is the best Thanksgiving Day football game...Easton (PA) vs. Phillipsburg, who will meet for the 102nd time on Thursday to grab bragging rights along the Delaware River, which is all that separates the two schools.
Plenty of tradition to go around as Phillipsburg is New Jersey's winningest program, while Easton is #2 in Pennsy.
Below you will find links to lots of stories from the Express-Times, which is the local paper that has covered this series which began on December 3, 1905 and has been played on every Thanksgiving since 1916. How big is the game...ESPN has aired it live twice.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Tomorrow is one of my favorite days of the year when tradition reigns supreme in high school football. Yes, it truly is a day when records are thrown out the window and two teams battle for pride and bragging rights.
Some 40-years ago I attended my first-ever high school game, and can remember it like it was yesterday. The game was between my alma mater Wilson and it's hated Turkey Day rival Nazareth. The game then was played around 10 in the morning at Lehigh University's Taylor Stadium, which was a big treat for not only the players, but the fans. Kinda made you feel that you were in the big leagues.
Wilson and Nazareth no longer play each other, which saddens me, but there is talk of renewing the rivalry next year. Click here for that story from the Express-Times.
After freezing my butt off at Wilson and Nazareth, my parents then took me back to Lafayette College in Easton where I watched Easton battle Phillipsburg in the Battle of the Delaware. Two years ago, the Pennsylvania and New Jersey rivals played their 100th game in front of a national TV audience on ESPN.
Ahhh, the memories of watching two games within a six hour period! Helped build-up healthy appetite for the Thanksgiving meal!
Over the next couple of days, I'm going to be posting stories from around the country about the best Turkey Day high school football traditions.
What I consider the granddaddy of all Turkey Day high school football games was renewed for the 101st time on Thursday at Lafayette College when Easton (PA) and Phillipsburg (NJ) played their annual border war.
Easton behind senior blue-chipper Jarred Holley beat Phillipsburg 17-6, which for the first time in several seasons marked the last game for both teams. Holley, who has played in four Easton/P'burg games, picked-off three passes and accounted for 134 yards in total offense and one touchdown.
Easton finishes the season with an 8-4 mark, while Phillipsburg ended 5-5.
Over the past couple of seasons, both schools had to play this one and then turn around two days later and play a state playoff game. This year both teams lost early in their respective state tournamaments.
