By Michael Letendre
The year is simply going to be forgettable due to the fact that there will not be a Bristol Central/Bristol Eastern football clash on Thanksgiving.
The reality is that COVID-19 has foiled the annual Battle for the Bell.
The game has been postponed before but never outright cancelled until this year.
What was more fun than waking up on Thursday morning with the anticipation of an exciting scholastic football matchup from Muzzy Field about to take place?
It’s been a frustrating year for all our gridiron athletes who were not allowed to compete in 11-on-11 football this fall.
However, a spring season with a reduced schedule could still be in the works for those athletes.
But for now, we are left with some amazing Turkey Day memories from days gone by.
And we are not going to let this holiday season go by without running down a little BC/BE football nostalgia.
Over the next four days, check in with The Bristol Edition as we take a look back at all 61 battles between the public schools in town.
Our trip down memory lane will be broken up into divisional chunks: the Central Connecticut Interscholastic League years (1959-1973), the decade plus of Colonial Conference wars (1974-1983) and a two-part look at the Central/Eastern battles from the Central Connecticut Conference play (1984-present).
In part one, here are the highlights from the 15 confrontations under the CCIL banner when Eastern actually held the advantage over Central on Thanksgiving:
BC wins: 6
BE wins: 8
Ties: 1
Year – Victor – Score
1959 — Bristol Central, 14-0 – Rams’ co-captain Jim Nocera scored both touchdowns to lead Central to the victory. The Lancers had a tough day, posting just two first downs. The contest was the first of 17 shutouts by the Rams over the Lancers while the team’s combined for only 162 total yards of total offense.
1960 — Bristol Central, 20-0 – Central out-gained Eastern on the ground, 182 to 55, as the Rams shutout the Lancers.
1961 — Bristol Central, 20-0 – The Rams collected 251 rushing yards as Central, once again, blanked Eastern by the same score from the previous season.
1962 — Tie, 6-6 – The showdown, played after Thanksgiving, saw Eastern lead 6-0 going into the final minute of play but Central’s Bill Kelley made a three yard rush into the end zone to knot it up at 6-6, forcing Thanksgiving’s first ever tie and the Lancers first non-loss of the holiday. Eastern’s Dave Emonds nabbed a 17 yard touchdown pass from Joe Galiette to give the Lancers an early lead.
1963 — Bristol Eastern, 16-0 – At long last, the Lancers beat the Rams. Eastern’s Gordon Sargent took the opening kickoff for 79 yards and a touchdown to quickly put the game out of reach. Co-captain Mike Morin, a future Eastern assistant football coach, helped the Lancers to the win while Sargent had three interceptions – the most ever in the BC/BE series.
1964 — Bristol Eastern, 21-0 – Playing in only three games that year, Eastern’s Jon Petke scored two touchdown on carries of 75 and 80 yards as the Lancers defeated Central for the second straight year. It was Eastern’s only win of the campaign while BE QB Mike Hannon completed 87.5-percent of his passes – still a T-Day record. Jon Petke rushed for over 100 yards in the winning effort.
1965 — Bristol Eastern, 14-0 – The season series between the schools was knotted up at 3-3-1 as a result of the shutout victory by the Lancers. Terry Della Vecchia (10-yard run) and Keith Ronalter (11-yard run) rushed in touchdowns for Eastern. It was the Lancers’ first ever winning season (5-4) as a young Dave Mills was coaching the Eastern program. BE punter Dave Cichon averaged a Thanksgiving Day best 49 yards on four punt attempts.
1966 — Bristol Eastern, 20-13 – In a rare feat on Thanksgiving Day play, Eastern took the series lead away from Central in the seven point win. It was all “done” by Mark Dunn (three touchdowns rushes of 76, 7 and 11 yards) as the Lancers won by a touchdown.
1967 — Bristol Central, 8-0 – Central defeated Eastern behind Walt Kozikowski’s six-yard pass to Hal Herold with 59 seconds remaining in the contest as the Rams seized the win. It was Central’s first victory over Eastern since 1961.
1968 — Bristol Eastern, 20-13 – Eastern won the first of three consecutive Thanksgiving Day contests. Kevin Byrnes scored the go-ahead points on a 19 yard touchdown run to lead the Lancers to victory.
1969 — Bristol Eastern, 27-6 – The Lancers totaled 350 total yards of offense, 227 of it from the air, as Eastern QB Dennis Schermerhorn threw a Thanksgiving day record of three touchdowns in the 21-point win. Al Johnston made TD receptions of 16 and five yards
1970 — Bristol Eastern, 32-22 – Schermerhorn made 16 completions over 28 attempts for 308 yards – the most ever thrown on Thanksgiving – and three touchdowns for the victory. Overall, Eastern posted 463 yards of total offense as the Lancers’ Rick Schmaltz (eight catches, 160 yards – both records) helped to foil Central. The Rams were penalized just five yards that day.
1971 — Bristol Central, 34-0 – Central took back the series as several turnovers by the Lancers helped force the shutout. The Rams’ Jeff Castolene zipped in four rushing touchdowns (45, 7, 1, 4 yards – 153 yards overall) in the winning effort during another delayed battle between the schools. Castolene’s 43 carries remains a Thanksgiving Day record.
1972 — Bristol Central, 16-12 – The Rams scooped up over 400 yards in total offense as the Lancers allowed Central two quick scores to ice the contest. Central’s 7-2 record that year was then the best single season ledger in program history. Twenty first downs by Central remains a T-Day standard while Rich Godbout ended the day with 42 carries for 182 yards to lead his team to the win. Eastern’s Tim McHugh nabbed 135 yards on 20 carries.
1973 — Bristol Eastern, 7-0 – Eastern’s Frank Sanders zipped in the only score of the day, an 84-yard touchdown kickoff return, as Eastern came away with the shutout win. Central’s Dennis Hernandez played well in defeat, scooping up 116 yards on 26 carries.
Coming next – Colonial Conference Era (1974-1983)
