Thankful for Football

LEOMINSTER – A chilly-bitter cold wind swirled around Doyle Field on Tuesday evening. The Blue Devils just finished a tough, frigid football practice as they prepared for their annual Thanksgiving Day game against longtime rival Fitchburg. But as practice wrapped up, the entire Leominster High School football team huddled around their coach, Devin Gates, whose warm sentiments of togetherness radiated through his loyal squad.

“Start visualizing what you’re gonna do Thursday,” Gates told his team. “Visualize doing something positive. Do you understand?”

In unison, the team shouts, “YES COACH!”

Gates continued, “Take everything you have. Take every last ounce of will, of energy, of power, of stamina, mental toughness to get this thing done. Be prepared to be that warrior … Good practice tonight!”

The players then squeezed closer together, placing their hands in the circle. One player said, “great job guys”, and then another said, “I love you guys!”

Leominster head football coach Devin Gates instructs one of his players this week. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

“Family on three!” Gates announced. “One, two, three!”

“FAMILY! WOO!”

The Blue Devils will renew their Thanksgiving Day rivalry when they travel to Fitchburg to play the Red Raiders at Crocker Field on Thursday at 10 a.m. Leominster and Fitchburg have met for their annual holiday football game 114 times and 159 times overall since 1894. Leominster has had the advantage since 2016 by winning two-of-the-last-three “Turkey Bowl” games between the two schools. The Blue Devils also hold the edge in the all-time series, 68-61-10.

Gates has a unique perspective of the upcoming game. He played in four Thanksgiving Day games as a player for Fitchburg from 1993-97. Since taking the job as Leominster’s head football coach in the Spring of 2019, his old teammates have shown some support for their former Red Raiders standout quarterback.

“I got some ribbing, but not so much anymore,” Gates said. “Yeah, all my friends, you know and everybody on the other side there said they’ll root for us every game except for one. That makes complete sense, but not everybody gets it.”

Although he has fond memories of his high school days playing for Fitchburg, his home now is in Leominster where he lives with his wife Sarah, and their children.

“You know my family lives in Leominster,” he said. “I married a Leominster girl and my kids are in Leominster schools. This is my home and, besides, I was never going to coach against my son when he decides to play, if he decides to play.”

Gates said his job is to get his team ready for the big Thanksgiving Day game.

“I’m just coaching here, trying to get these kids to experience what I experienced as a player. That’s my goal.”

Gates said he experienced a lot of pride growing up as a Red Raider and representing the Town of Fitchburg. He hopes to instill that same pride in his players as they don their blue and white uniforms to represent Leominster. “There’s a bunch of nervousness going into this game,” he said. “You sense the gravity of the moment. I think it’s a sense of tradition. You know the community is invested and everyone is excited about it. So, there’s definitely a lot of excitement. A lot of adrenaline, more so than normal. There’s a lot of pride in the uniform that you’re wearing.

“It’s always been special to be a part of it regardless of the team,” he said. “I enjoyed my days playing. I enjoy it now as a coach. It’s a different role. I’m all about our team and our kids and getting them prepared so they can go out there and have a great opportunity and a great experience, like I had.”

Although Leominster has had a disappointing 3-8 season, the players still have a lot of pride in their team, especially the senior captains, who are playing in their final game for the Blue Devils. To them, the Turkey Day game is special.

“It means a lot,” said senior captain Tony Palmariello, who plays on both the offensive and defensive line. “I mean, in the past few years, we haven’t had that much success during the regular season. Winning this game is a way to change the whole season around. The rivalry is deep. It’s deep. Even walking around school, you can feel this tension during the week.

“I mean, it feels special,” he said. “You look in the crowd and you see just old dudes that’ve been here in Leominster. All these guys come up to you after and it’s like a whole atmosphere and you feel enriched in Leominster.”

Senior quarterback Caeden Constant looks at the rivalry as fun tension. “It’s a special game for me because I grew up playing against the kids from Fitchburg and

Leominster senior quarterback Caeden Constant at practice this week. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

some of the kids have been on our team,” he said. “It’s just like roots, you know? It takes you back to your childhood days where you just can remember the plays that you made in AYF … I think of it as fun. I mean, obviously the rivalry is there and the tension between the two cities, but I like to think of the game as fun.”

Senior linebacker and fullback Miguel Cabrera said he wants to make the most of his last ever high school football game. “It’s going to be special to me because this is going to be the last time I get to play with my brothers on the field,” he said. “I grew up playing with a lot of these boys and it’s going to be very emotional. I just want to play ball with them.”

Senior linebacker and running back Nico Martinez also said the game is going to be emotional. “This is the last time we will touch the field,” he said. “The last time having our pads on. The last time coming out with our brothers on the field. It’s going to be really emotional, but we hope to come out on top and have our last ride come out special.”

Even the underclassmen want to win it for the seniors. Junior captain Ma’kai Newton said, “this game is really special because I’m a junior. My time is already going by quickly and I just gotta give one more effort for the seniors on this team. The season hasn’t gone as good as we wanted it to, but this is where it can all change. It can just disappear like magic.”

The last time both these teams played was in the first game of the year when Fitchburg beat Leominster, 27-12. However, the score of the game was 14-12 until the Red Raiders pulled away late in the fourth quarter at Doyle Field with two touchdowns. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak in the series for the Blue Devils.

Leominster senior captain and lineman Tony Palmariello. Photo by Kevin Paul Saleeba

“There’s some things that we’ve learned,” Gates said. “We’re a better team now. They’re a better team. We’ve both undergone some transformations in terms of our personnel and our schemes. We’ll look a lot different this time around than we did a couple months ago. We’ll be better in our overall intensity, in our execution. It’s just better since the first part of the year … That’s all been fixed and we got a lot more confidence in what we’re doing right now.”

This time around, the Blue Devils players have high expectations for the game. “I just hope to make a statement,” Palmariello said. “That’s all we want, to make a statement.”

Newton said they plan to play “our version of football … We are really the underdogs in this situation. It’s going to take our will to get the job done no matter what.”

Cabrera said he expects a victory. “We’re gonna ball out and we expect to win.”

Gates will make sure his team is prepared for the game. “It’s tough ‘cause you don’t wanna place too much emphasis on the moment,” he said. “You want the kids to be in the moment and to be able to execute. But you don’t want them to be too scared or nervous or thinking too much. So, we want to do what we think we do best as a team. We drill it and we have kids that are confident in it. So, we’ll go out there and execute the best that we can come Thursday.”