English–Latin football rivalry

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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.

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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.

EnglishLatin
Games Played135
Highest Win Streak4 (1925-1928)15 (1982-1996, 1998-2012)
Current StreakL1W1
Most Points Scored in a Winning Game66 (2021)54 (2010)
Most Points Scored in a Losing Game25 (1953)44 (2022)
Fewest Points Scored in a Winning Game4 (1895)4 (1894)
Shutout Victories1933
Most Points Scored in a Shutout39 (1961)44 (2004)
Largest Margin of Victory39 (1961)44 (2004)
Smallest Margin of Victory1 (1920, 1930)1 (1901, 1912, 1915, 1934, 1993)

Game results

Latin victoriesEnglish victoriesTie games

See also

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
    • 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.
  5. 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.