STAKES STILL SAME IN 100TH CHAPTER
Eastie-Southie has meaning on field, within community
East Boston coach John Parziale fully understands and respects the historical importance of this year’s 100th meeting with South Boston.
But in his eyes, the Southie game always is significant.
“I don’t care if its the 98th, 99th, 100th or 103rd game, playing South Boston is huge in this community,” said Parziale, who is a perfect 8-0 against the Knights. “The kids take this game very seriously, and the alumni really care about this game. The only game people ever ask us about is Southie.”
The teams first met on Saturday, Nov. 21, 1903, at the Locust Street Playground in Dorchester, with South Boston rolling to a 30-0 win. Arthur Mayo emerged as the star with three touchdowns. After an 11-year absence, the teams resumed playing and have done so ever since, with East Boston holding a 5044-5 edge.
South Boston’s glory years came under the guidance of Hall of Fame head coaches Steve White (1924-1954) and Joe Crowley (1955-1976). The Knights dominated the series under Crowley, going 18-2-1 on his watch.
Steve Flaherty played for Crowley from 1963-1965 and would eventually replace him in 1977 and spend 26 years as head coach. Now an assistant coach at Norwell, Flaherty vividly remembers the pride the community took in the game.
“You have remember that was before the Super Bowls, so that game was our Super Bowl, and we’d get 10,000 people at White Stadium,” Flaherty said. “People in Southie didn’t care if we were 8-0 or 9-0, if we lost the Eastie game, it was not a successful season. I’d be walking home from practice in the day leading up to the game, and people would be yelling from their windows to beat East Boston.”
Every so often, there would be someone who understood the rivalry from both sides. Former Boston City League athletic director Rocky DiLorenzo played for South Boston in 1956 and 1957 and later became the head coach at East Boston from 1975-1983. DiLorenzo said there was no such thing as a split allegiance.
“You build a bond with those kids, and the sole objective is to win,” DiLorenzo said. “In those days, it really meant a lot to the people in Eastie to win that game.”
Former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins knows exactly what DiLorenzo means. He attended East Boston and played there for three years, leading the Jets to a 20-14 win in 1992.
“For me, the biggest thing was uphold the legacy of the game,” Wiggins said. “I remember when I was younger, the older kids talked about what the game meant to the people of East Boston, what it meant to win that game.”
The rivalry took a dramatic turn in the mid-1970s when busing changed the landscape of the Boston Public School system. South Boston was in the crosshairs, and the football program suffered mightily.
Flaherty became the head coach in 1977 and lost 13 straight games to the Jets before winning in 1990. One of the most successful coaches in city history (his 157 wins rank third behind Leo Sybertz and Joe Mason), Flaherty was able to eventually even the playing field and won seven of his final 14 Thanksgiving Day games, but admitted it was not easy.
“It was a very difficult time, but the two Johns (East Boston coaches John Loftus and John Sousa) were terrific gentlemen, they understood what we were going through early on,” Flaherty said. “We were able to get things going a little bit.”
Sousa himself understood what a losing streak was all about. He attended East Boston High from 1965-1968, a time when the Knights were in the midst of an 11-game winning streak. The teams were undefeated when they met in 1968, and it was one of the more memorable game in the series.
“They were unbeaten and unscored upon,” said Sousa, who was a senior captain in 1968 and later had his uniform retired. “There was also a battle for the scoring title in the city as John Riccio and (Bob) O’Keefe from Southie were tied for the lead with 66 points.
“All week long, we said to John, just get us a touchdown and we’d shut them out. John scored in the fourth quarter to win the city scoring title,
we won 6-0 and I got a game ball. The community was so appreciative that they sent the football team to Bermuda for a whole week.”
As the teams head into the 100th meeting, recent history has not been kind to South Boston. They are in the midst of a nine-game losing streak dating to 2008, when Derick Willis rushed for 199 yards in a 34-6 victory, one they dedicated to former coach Bob Lerro, who passed away a year earlier.
“That was a special group of seniors, a very impressive group of kids,” said Sean Guthrie, who coached at South Boston from 2007-13 before becoming principal of the Young Achievers Science and Math Pilot School. “They wanted that game so bad, they got the running game and it was exciting to watch.”
The game has been hosted by Fenway Park and Braves Field as well as Boston University. For the first time since 1989, the game will not be contested at White Stadium as field conditions mandated a move to East Boston Stadium.
“We’re hoping that we can play the game here every other year from now on,” said East Boston headmaster Phil Brangiforte, who is quick to add that he scored a touchdown in the game. “It’s exciting to have it here for the 100th game, it’s going to be a special day.”
As Parziale might add, it’s always a special day when East Boston and South Boston get together.