As a former player and longtime coach of the South River High School football team, Rich Marchesi has been associated with many different rivalry games. But none have been played on Thanksgiving.
Marchesi, who has coached the Rams since 1987, was an assistant for five seasons before that and wore the maroon and gray for four years. Still, he is actually too young to have participated in the oldest and longest rivalry series in South River history: the Thanksgiving game with New Brunswick High School at Rutgers Stadium, which ended in the early 1970s. It was in 1966 that some 20,000 people — one of the largest crowds to witness a high school football game — watched South River’s Joe Theismann play his final game for the Rams at Rutgers Stadium. When Spotswood High School opened its doors in 1977, a natural rivalry was born because Spotswood (and Helmetta) had previously sent their high school students to South River. Since 1978, the Chargers and Rams have met 39 consecutive times, including twice in 1980, when the teams played for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I title that was won by South River, 24-13, after Spotswood shut out the Rams, 20-0, during the regular season. But the game has never been nor will it be played on Thanksgiving.
The maroon and gray hold a decisive 31- 8 margin in victories, although it should be noted Spotswood has captured the last two games — the first time in school history the Chargers have beaten their rivals in successive years. With so many rivalry games played against Spotswood, Marchesi was asked to recall the most memorable contest. He set the scene for what was a wild ending to a classic game.
“It was 1995 at our place (William Denny Stadium), and we were up, 14-7, with under a minute left, but Spotswood was on our 1- yard line looking to tie the game,” he said.
“The quarterback wanted to stop the clock after a play, so he spiked the ball. But he did it behind himself so it was ruled a fumble. One of our players stormed in and scoped up the live ball and ran to midfield before being tackled. We took a knee on the next play, and the game was over. That was a crazy finish. “Because of that, we always practice our kill play.” Current Spotswood coach Andy Cammarano (not the coach of that game) said he has never coached a team on Thanksgiving and frankly doesn’t entertain any thoughts of doing so.
“I played and coached at Shore [Regional High School] from 1992-2006 and [Thanksgiving games] can make or break your holiday and how you play if you’re still involved in the playoffs.
“I tell parents, I understand how it’s fun to put on a fleece and hang on the fence with a thermos of coffee watching a game. But for everybody on the field, it’s like any other game. In my mind, Thanksgiving Day games are outdated like leather helmets. Let’s move on.”