English–Latin football rivalry

Since 1887, two of the oldest public schools ^{[1] [2] [3]} in the United States, the Boston Latin School and English High School of Boston, have faced off in an annual football competition which now takes place on Thanksgiving day at Harvard Stadium. The rivalry had been the longest-running continuous high school football rivalry in the U.S., ^{[4] [5]} until the streak was broken in the 2020 season; the game was played every year, even during World War I, the Spanish flu, and World War II, but high school football was banned in Massachusetts in 2020 as a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts. It remains the fifth-longest all-time behind Phillips Academy versus Phillips Exeter Academy; Wellesley, Massachusetts versus Needham, Massachusetts; New London, Connecticut versus Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, Connecticut; Germantown Academy vs. William Penn Charter School; and Lawrenceville School vs. The Hill School.

Stats

The series began with both teams' formation in 1887. Prior to 1887, English and Latin had fielded a unified team. ^[6]

Until the late 1960s, the rivalry was fairly even. From 1967 through 2019, Latin dominated the series, winning 50 of the 53 contests in that span, leading all time 83–39–13. Latin's dominance could be considered at its zenith in the 1970s when they held English to only 28 points for the entire decade amid a 14-game winning streak; two fifteen-game streaks followed. Much of the series has been decided in blowout victories by one side or the other, with 63 of the 134 games being decided by shutouts and 39 of the contests ending in 20-point or more victories. The last such blowout was in 2015. English has since regained competitiveness; the late 2010s contests were narrower losses, and since resuming play after the pandemic, they have won three of the most recent four contests (including its first consecuive victories in the series since 1963).

Ten of the games ended in scoreless ties, a rare feat in modern football at any level, although the last instance of this came in 1945. The implementation of overtime has dramatically reduced the number of tie games throughout the game of football.

	English	Latin
Games Played	135
Highest Win Streak	4 (1925-1928)	15 (1982-1996, 1998-2012)
Current Streak	L1	W1
Most Points Scored in a Winning Game	66 (2021)	54 (2010)
Most Points Scored in a Losing Game	25 (1953)	44 (2022)
Fewest Points Scored in a Winning Game	4 (1895)	4 (1894)
Shutout Victories	19	33
Most Points Scored in a Shutout	39 (1961)	44 (2004)
Largest Margin of Victory	39 (1961)	44 (2004)
Smallest Margin of Victory	1 (1920, 1930)	1 (1901, 1912, 1915, 1934, 1993)

Game results

Latin victories

English victories

Tie games

No. Date Winner Score 1 1887 Latin 16–0 2 1888 Latin 38–0 3 1889 English 10–4 4 1890 English 22–0 5 1891 Latin 14–10 6 1892 English 12–10 7 1893 English 6–0 8 1894 Latin 4–0 9 1895 English 4–0 10 1896 English 6–0 11 1897 English 44–6 12 1898 Latin 5–0 13 1899 English 23–0 14 1900 Latin 12–0 15 1901 Latin 6–5 16 1902 Latin 25–0 17 1903 Latin 5–0 18 1904 Tie 5–5 19 1905 Tie 0–0 20 1906 English 10–0 21 1907 English 5–0 22 1908 Tie 6–6 23 1909 Tie 0–0 24 1910 Latin 9–0 25 1911 Tie 0–0 26 1912 Latin 7–6 27 1913 English 21–0 28 1914 Tie 3–3 29 1915 Latin 14–13 30 1916 English 13–0 31 1917 English 13–0 32 1918 Latin 28–0 33 1919 Tie 0–0 34 1920 English 7–6 35 1921 Tie 0–0 36 1922 Latin 20–6 37 1923 Tie 0–0 38 1924 Latin 7–0 39 1925 English 7–0 40 1926 English 6–0 41 1927 English 20–13 42 1928 English 18–0 43 1929 Latin 13–6 44 1930 English 14–13 45 1931 Latin 6–0 46 1932 Latin 18–7 No. Date Winner Score 47 1933 English 20–7 48 1934 Latin 13–12 49 1935 English 14–0 50 1936 Latin 13–0 51 1937 Tie 0–0 52 1938 English 6–0 53 1939 Tie 0–0 54 1940 Latin 19–12 55 1941 Latin 19–0 56 1942 English 10–0 57 1943 Tie 0–0 58 1944 English 13–6 59 1945 Tie 0–0 60 1946 English 19–0 61 1947 English 26–13 62 1948 Latin 19–0 63 1949 Latin 19–0 64 1950 English 41–30 65 1951 English 30–0 66 1952 Latin 30–12 67 1953 Latin 31–25 68 1954 Latin 20–6 69 1955 English 20–14 70 1956 Latin 19–12 71 1957 English 26–20 72 1958 Latin 26–24 73 1959 Latin 22–6 74 1960 Latin 20–16 75 1961 English 39–0 76 1962 English 32–6 77 1963 English 18–12 78 1964 Latin 24–22 79 1965 Latin 24–12 80 1966 English 20–18 81 1967 Latin 14–0 82 1968 Latin 33–12 83 1969 Latin 40–0 84 1970 Latin 12–8 85 1971 Latin 6–0 86 1972 Latin 40–0 87 1973 Latin 35–8 88 1974 Latin 42–0 89 1975 Latin 24–6 90 1976 Latin 11–6 91 1977 Latin 23–0 92 1978 Latin 34–0 No. Date Winner Score 93 1979 Latin 22–0 94 1980 Latin 20–0 95 1981 English 14–2 96 1982 Latin 15–6 97 1983 Latin 21–6 98 1984 Latin 43–0 99 1985 Latin 10–6 100 1986 Latin 40–6 101 1987 Latin 14–6 102 1988 Latin 20–13 103 1989 Latin 22–6 104 1990 Latin 14–6 105 1991 Latin 19–0 106 1992 Latin 41–0 107 1993 Latin 7–6 108 1994 Latin 41–0 109 1995 Latin 36–12 110 1996 Latin 31–6 111 1997 English 8–6 112 1998 Latin 34–6 113 1999 Latin 42–20 114 2000 Latin 14–0 115 2001 Latin 46–6 116 2002 Latin 38–7 117 2003 Latin 36–7 118 2004 Latin 44–0 119 2005 Latin 36–12 120 2006 Latin 14–0 121 2007 Latin 33–6 122 2008 Latin 36–0 123 2009 Latin 27–16 124 2010 Latin 54–12 125 2011 Latin 50–0 126 2012 Latin 44–15 127 2013 English 14–12 128 2014 Latin 25–8 129 2015 Latin 28–6 130 2016 Latin 34–20 131 2017 Latin 22–14 132 2018 Latin 20–16 133 2019 Latin 16–6 134 2021 English 66–42 135 2022 English 52–44 136 2023 Latin 19–6 137 2024 English 28–12 Series: Latin leads 84–40–13

See also

• Lists of high school football rivalries

References

1. "Boston Latin School". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 18, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014. oldest existing school in the United States
2. "English High School". Boston Public Schools. Retrieved January 9, 2014. The oldest public high school in the United States
3. Mark Tennis; Doug Huff (August 23, 2005). "High school football's top 10 rivalries". Rivals.com from Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 9, 2014. Boston Latin also happens to be the oldest high school in the U.S. (founded in 1635) while Boston English is the oldest public high school in the U.S. (founded 1821)
4. Mark Tennis; Doug Huff (August 23, 2005). "High school football's top 10 rivalries". Rivals.com from Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 9, 2014. nation's longest, continuous high school sports rivalry game is held in Boston each Thanksgiving
5. • Emily Werchadlo (November 24, 2005). "It's still defined by Latin and English". Boston.com. Boston Globe Media. Retrieved January 9, 2015. It still has all the features of a great rivalry. Two of the oldest schools in the country, sharing the same city name, playing on Thanksgiving Day for 119 consecutive years.
6. Bob Holmes (November 21, 2012). "What Oneida club reveals about high school football history". Boston.com. Boston Globe Media. Retrieved January 9, 2014. The first Thanksgiving game between Boston Latin and Boston English was 1887. Prior to that, the two schools played against other Boston area schools as a united team called High & Latin School, or H.L.S. But by 1887, the two schools had grown enough to form their own teams, according to research done by Boston English trustee Peter Powilatis.