FOOTBALL RIVALRY’S BIG FEAST
Northampton, Catasauqua happy to be playing again on Thanksgiving
John Toman and Travis Brett are head coaches for the first time in the annual Thanksgiving rivalry between Northampton and Catasauqua.
But both have previous experience with the game.
Toman, completing his first season in charge at Northampton, was an assistant coach on Teko Johnson’s staff in 2004 and 2005.
Brett played in the game several times but has a special memory of his last game in 1992.
“I caught the game-winning touchdown,” he said of his role in a Rough Riders win. “That that was the year we had Jonathan Linton and Brad Lower and were district champs.”
In a Morning Call story that was headlined “Tiny Brett comes up big for Catty”, Brett, who was actually a backup receiver that year, said: “I didn’t get to catch too many this year, but every one I caught went for a touchdown. Give credit to Ed [Erie, Catty’s quarterback]; he laid it right on the money.”
On Thursday morning, just one day away from exactly 29 years since his big moment, Brett is hoping his current Catasauqua players make some special memories they’re still talking about 29 years from now.
The Rough Riders host Northampton at Alumni Field at 10 a.m. in the 98th edition of one of the few remaining Thanksgiving Day football rivalries left in the Lehigh Valley.
Last year’s game, like so many others, was a victim of the pandemic, which makes this one all the more special.
Adding to the anticipation is the fact that both teams enter the game with winning records for the first time since 2005.
In addition, it’s the first Thanksgiving game played on the new turf field at refurbished Alumni Field.
Brett’s big moment in 1992, The Morning Call story noted, was played in soggy conditions created by steady rain.
The footing will be much more steady this time in Catasauqua and both teams will want to put their best foot forward after losing in District 11 tournament games.
The Rough Riders, whose seven wins are their most in any season since 2013 and are just two years removed from a winless season, are looking to bounce back from a 47-7 loss to Palmerton in the Class 2A semifinals on Nov. 6.
The Konkrete Kids, who have won 11 games for the first time in school history and got their firstever district win, are coming off a 21-9 defeat to Freedom in the 6A semis on Nov. 12.
“The opportunity we have is unique because most teams who make the playoffs end their season on a loss,” Toman said. “Unfortunately we didn’t beat Freedom, but we have this game out there for us to give us a chance to end our season on a winning note and send our seniors out on a winning, positive note also get a 12th win which doesn’t happen very often.”
Toman said it has been a weekand-a-half since the K-Kids’ last game, and he admitted that practice was a little slow last week.
“But [Monday] we had a better practice, so I think the kids are starting to get excited about the game,” Toman said.
The excitement generally builds during game week as special events like Monday night’s “Senior Players Dinner,” Tuesday night’s “Bury the Hatchet” banquet and pep rallies and other special events unfold.
Toman was coaching at Allentown Central Catholic last year, but said he senses from the players who were deprived on this game last year are especially excited about having it back.
“The seniors who were juniors last year definitely feel it,” Toman said. “The juniors who were sophomores also can feel it. Not playing last year has led to more excitement. It’s a rivalry game and there’s a heightened sense of everything for a game like this when you run out and play in front of a big crowd as we expect on Thursday morning.”
Northampton leads the series 60-33-4 and has won the last six meetings, including a 63-0 rout the last time they met in 2019.
The Konkrete Kids are favored again, but that won’t deter the Rough Riders staff and kids from going out and competing hard in trying to pull off what would be the biggest upset of the 2021 season.
Brett has a coaching staff comprised of mostly Catty products. He said the game still means a lot to them.
“Most of these guys played in this game and I think as coaches we sometimes care more about this game than the kids do because a lot of our players aren’t Catty-raised kids,” Brett said. “It’s kind of a process teaching them what the game means to the town because it’s still very important to the people in this town who have lived here and know the tradition.”
Like Toman, Brett said the game offers an opportunity to put the district loss behind his team and for the seniors and other players to be together for a few more weeks.
“We’re looking forward to it,” he said. “Especially with our new turf and our new fieldhouse, we’re proud to host it”
Brett wishes his team was healthier.
“Hunter Reitz, our big running back, went out with an ACL, Anthony Hunsicker is out with a broken collarbone, Dylan Kalynych is out with a torn labrum and so is William Bear,” Brett said. “So we’re down a few kids, and at Catty it hurts because if you lose a kid on offense, you’re also losing him on defense and on special teams. It’s like losing three kids when one gets hurt. It’s tough, but some of the young kids have stepped up and made the most of their opportunity.”
Brett said that the new Colonial-Schuylkill League scheduling format has been beneficial for Catty because they are playing other schools of similar size.
“We’re going to have 25 kids going into this game on Thursday,” he said. “We’re barely a 2A school. So playing smaller schools have been definitely to our advantage.”
Brett said he knows that because of that size disparity his team is the underdog Thursday.
“They’re a big, solid team,” he said. “Our kids know that. The hope is that we can keep it competitive and get the game into the fourth quarter with a chance. We want to move the ball a little bit, get some first downs, control the clock, and at the end of the game, who knows.”
Win or lose, there will be extra emotion at game’s end.
“Most of these seniors will never play another organized football game and for those going on to college, it’s not the same,” Toman said. “High school football is different than college, which is much more like a job. It’s a different experience. So I tell the kids that when they get off the bus here on Thursday morning, take it in, enjoy the experience because when they wake up Friday morning, they will never look at football the same way again.”