For the first time since 1999, the Bristol/Morrisville Thanksgiving morning football game won’t be played due to the Bulldogs not having enough players.
The Morrisville School District posted the announcement on the school’s Facebook page Monday afternoon which said:
“Out of concern for student safety and lack of available/eligible players, the Thanksgiving football game vs. Bristol Borough has been cancelled.”
According to Morrisville head football coach Mitch Cohen, the Bulldogs only had 14 players available.
“The administration made the decision,” Cohen said. “We had some ineligible kids and some kids that were going away on vacation and going into a game with 13 or 14 kids is dangerous.
“We were trying, and we were practicing all the way up until today (Monday), and it’s just really disheartening.”
The game, which would have been the 95th meeting between the two teams and dates back to 1928, was scheduled to be played at Bristol at 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning. It will go down as a forfeit victory for the Warriors.
Bristol was also scheduled to hold its Senior Recognition and Hall of Fame ceremonies at the game.
“We were in the middle of practice today (Monday) when we got the news of it,” Bristol head coach Mike Ciotti said.
“At first, I thought it was a joke, but then it was confirmed. I just feel awful for our seniors who were looking to play their final high school football game. I’m just extremely upset and frustrated.”
Bristol had won the last 24 straight matchups against their arch-rival and, with the forfeit, will take a 60-33-2 lead in the series.
When the two teams faced each other in the final week of the regular season, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-0 lead and led 14-13 early in the fourth quarter before Bristol rallied with a pair of touchdowns to win 25-14.
The Bulldogs finish their season with a 9-4 mark while the Warriors close at 9-2.
“This would have been our 11th game, and I had some kids trying to reach some statistical markers that won’t get that chance,” Ciotti said.
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“And the game aside, we had families coming in from out of state to watch their nephews play and now they won’t get the chance. In the whole grand scheme of things, this effects a lot of things that surround the game for both communities.”
For Morrisville, senior running back Raymond Holman, the school’s all-time leading rusher and holder of every school rushing mark, needed 107 yards against the Warriors to reach 2,000 for the season.
“It’s just a shame for all of the kids,” Cohen said. “I was hoping Raymond could get to 2,000 yards and all of our seniors would get to play their final game.”
Drew Markol covers local sports forPhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
