By Michael Letendre
It’s always fun to look back at past Thanksgiving Day battles between Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern as a ton of talented individuals have stormed Muzzy Field over the holiday break.
And starting in 1996, the contest started to feature the Thomas R. Monahan Player of The Game Awards.
And from Reinaldo Soto, Tim Washington, and D.J. and Aaron Hernandez, the list of Offensive and Defensive players of the game represents a who’s who list of Bristol’s finest athletes.
Here’s a look at every Battle for the Bell Offensive and Defensive Player of The Game award winners, starting in 1996:
THOMAS R. MONAHAN
PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARDS
1996
BE Offensive Player of the Game: Reinaldo Soto
BE Defense Player of the Game: Rob Houle
BC Offense Player of the Game: Nick Richardson
BC Defense Player of the Game: Garth Camp
1997
BE Offense: Pat Brookman
BE Defense: Ryan Forcier
BC Offense: Craig Capurso
BC Defense: Brian Kozikowski
1998
BE Offense: Pat Brookman and Reinaldo Soto
BE Defense: Ryan Bauder
BC Offense: Craig Capurso
BC Defense: Jim Piotrowski
1999
BE Offense: Ed Stanton
BE Defense: Eric Carbone
BC Offense: Tim Washington
BC Defense: Mike Egan
2000
BE Offense: Eric Carbone
BE Defense: Adam Zadrozny
BC Offense: Tim Washington
BC Defense: Mike Drury
2001
BE Offense: Brian Walker
BE Defense: Adam Zadrozny
BC Offense: Tim Washington
BC Defense: Jason Kasparian
2002
BE Offense: Brian Walker
BE Defense: Nick Consonni
BC Offense: Breyone Evans
BC Defense: Mike Correa
2003
BE Offense: Greg Jenkins
BE Defense: Kyle Curtis
BC Offense: D.J. Hernandez
BC Defense: Josh Whistnant
2004
BE Offense: Lorenzo Brown
BE Defense: Jeff Laroche
BC Offense: Cory Brown, Sean Ware and Steve Ziogas
BC Defense: Mike Fiorini
2005
BE Offense: Kyle Mullaney
BE Defense: Greg Grochowski
BC Offense: Dustin Tucker
BC Defense: Jeremy Raducha
2006
BE Offense: Todd Krolikowski
BE Defense: Joe Langer
BC Offense: Aaron Hernandez
BC Defense: Dennis Sansoucie
2007
BE Offense: David Casanova
BE Defense: Tom Tarantino
BC Offense: Matt Coyne
BC Defense: Nolan Galipo
2008
BE Offense: Dean Connelly
BE Defense: Tyrell Holmes
BC Offense: Dymetric Maisonet
BC Defense: Dan Belfi
2009
BE Offense: Raymond Ortiz
BE Defense: Dylan Oakes
BC Offense: Jared Lincoln
BC Defense: Kyle Pecevich
2010
BE Offense: Dylon Ouellette
BE Defense: Tyrell Holmes
BC Offense: Tim White
BC Defense: John Simpson
2011
BE Offense: Jahmil Effend
BE Defense: Mitch Wheelock
BC Offense: Mike Benites
BC Offense: Dylan Stanco
2012
BE Offense: Nick Crowley
BE Defense: Harrison Sacharko
BC Offense: Jake Martel
BC Defense: Jarrett Michaels
2013
BE Offense: Gerry Ouellette
BE Defense: Kyle Porter
BC Offense: Tyler Burrow
BC Defense: Christian Hildebrand
2014
BE Offense: Gerry Ouellette
BE Defense: Allen Arbuckle
BC Offense: D’Andre Conaway
BC Defense: Tommy Nelligan
2015
BE Offense: Josh Sampson
BE Defense: Zac Thompson
BC Offense: Noah Cruz
BC Defense: Tyler Boi
2016
BE Offense: Connor Trowbridge
BE Defense: Tyler Mason
BC Offense: Luis Medina
BC Defense: Mike Guzman
2017
BE Offense: Ariza Kolloverja
BE Defense: Elijah Gagliardo
BC Offense: Dathan Hickey
BC Defense: Devon Dawson
2018
BE Offense: Justin Marshall
BE Defense: Matt D’Amato
BC Offense: Justus Fitzpatrick
BC Defense: Ryan Rodriguez
2019
BE Offense: Alex Marshall
BE Defense: Bobby Mosback
BC Offense: Victor Rosa
BC Defense: Jakob Salinas
And while we’re here, let’s look at all the scores from past Central/Eastern battles: a historic rivalry that first took place in 1959 when Bristol high school broke off into two individual institutions.
Currently, the Rams lead the all-time series by 13 games:
Here’s all the scores from past showdowns:
All-Time Records: Bristol Central leads the series, 36-23-2
1959 — Bristol Central, 14-0
1960 — Bristol Central, 20-0
1961 — Bristol Central, 20-0
1962 — Tie, 6-6
1963 — Bristol Eastern, 16-0
1964 — Bristol Eastern, 21-0
1965 — Bristol Eastern, 14-0
1966 — Bristol Eastern, 20-13
1967 — Bristol Central, 8-0
1968 — Bristol Eastern, 20-13
1969 — Bristol Eastern, 27-6
1970 — Bristol Eastern, 32-22
1971 — Bristol Central, 34-0
1972 — Bristol Central, 16-12
1973 — Bristol Eastern, 7-0
1974 — Bristol Eastern, 7-6
1975 — Bristol Central, 19-0
1976 — Bristol Central, 20-6
1977 — Bristol Central, 24-21
1978 — Bristol Central, 22-6
1979 — Bristol Central, 8-6
1980 — Bristol Central, 12-0
1981 — Bristol Central, 13-8
1982 — Bristol Central, 18-13
1983 — Bristol Central, 6-0
1984 — Bristol Central, 33-8
1985 — Bristol Eastern, 14-8
1986 — Bristol Central, 31-0
1987 — Bristol Central, 22-0
1988 — Bristol Eastern, 14-12
1989 — Bristol Central, 20-13
1990 — Bristol Central, 34-14
1991 — Bristol Central, 20-14
1992 — Bristol Central, 24-0
1993 — Bristol Central, 18-0
1994 — Bristol Eastern, 22-6
1995 — Bristol Central, 12-0
1996 — Bristol Eastern, 29-14
1997 — Bristol Eastern, 33-7
1998 — Bristol Eastern, 35-7
1999 — Bristol Central, 28-6
2000 — Bristol Central, 39-0
2001 — Bristol Central, 36-12
2002 — Bristol Central, 38-0
2003 — Bristol Central, 20-0
2004 — Bristol Central, 20-0
2005 — Bristol Central, 20-7
2006 — Tie, 14-14
2007 — Bristol Eastern, 42-14
2008 — Bristol Eastern, 34-28
2009 — Bristol Eastern, 46-13
2010 — Bristol Eastern, 35-0
2011 — Bristol Eastern, 21-14
2012 — Bristol Eastern 17-6
2013 — Bristol Eastern, 21-18
2014 — Bristol Eastern, 20-18
2015 — Bristol Central, 12-4
2016 — Bristol Central, 30-12
2017 — Bristol Central, 33-27
2018 — Bristol Central 24-19
2019 — Bristol Central 34-32 (OT)
