Pottstown, OJR holding pep rallies in leadup to final Thanksgiving game
In keeping with the magnitude of the games, the Pottstown/OJR Thanksgiving Day football rivalry generated a number of traditions designed to get players and fans alike torqued up for the on-field dramas.
Jim Tsakonas recalled how effigies of players would be hung over the South Hanover Street bridge.
“It’s always been a very big rivalry,” the former Pottstown player and head coach noted. “It’s a great rivalry, a Homecoming for the kids.”
Tom Barr, a player and coach for the Wildcats in his time, recalled how Owen J. would hold bonfires at high school, on one of the sports’ practice fields.
“They had a bunch of pallets they piled up,” he said. “It was so neat ... the cheerleaders, the heat from the fire.
“But the turf fields killed the bonfires.”
Jeff Endy, a quarterback for Pottstown from 2007 to 2010, remembered how his family would hold a Thanksgiving Day breakfast.
“We had about 50 people come over ... teammates, family friends, old high-school friends,” he said. “My dad did most of the cooking.”
Endy also recalled how the team’s coach at the time, Brett Myers, enhanced the pre-game energy.
“He got a bonfire and pep rally going the last three years,” Endy said. “He’d also bring old alumni back, to explain what the game meant to them.”
Mark Fischer has been part of the Trojan/Wildcat rivalry just this year. But Pottstown’s first-year head coach is familiar with Thanksgiving Day football from his scholastic time at North Penn, participating in the Knights’ games with borough rival Lansdale Catholic around the 2000 school year.
“Everyone talks highly about it,” he said. “It’s one thing people pride themselves on.”
In prelude to Thursday’s game, both schools have planned activities designed to stoke the players’ and fans’ energies.
Pottstown will host a bonfire 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the high-school softball field.
On Thanksgiving Day, all Pottstown High School alumni football players, football coaches, football cheerleaders and former members of the high-school band are invited to create a tunnel for the 2017 Trojan football team to enter the field prior to the start of the game. Announcements will be made to join the tunnel at the north end of the field.
As part of the Thanksgiving Day festivities, the school will be honoring two fallen Trojans. Prior to the game, Mr. Ben Eckroth will be honored for his dedication to the Pottstown School District as both an educator and supporter of Pottstown athletics.
At halftime, the granite bench located on the hill — in memory of Pottstown Trojan Jared Bentley — will be rededicated. Pottstown alumnus Russ Gofus (Class of 1982), owner of Gofus Memorials, oversaw the dedication of the new bench.
At Owen J. Roberts, a Pep Rally for Tradition will be held 6 p.m. today at Wildcat Stadium. The gathering will include recognition of Owen J’s fall sports programs, football’s District 1-6A playoff qualifier, the boys soccer team’s district-level qualification, girls soccer’s Pioneer Athletic Conference champion and state-playoff semifinal squad, the state-quarterfinal field hockey team, and the boys and girls cross country PAC champion/state-meet qualifying teams.
Tickets for the Thanksgiving Day game will be priced at $5, with advance tickets being sold today at the Pottstown High main office 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and at the Owen J. athletic office 1 to 3 p.m.
The game at Pottstown High’s Grigg Memorial Field will start at 10 a.m.