Amesbury and Newburyport.
Two long-standing friends on the football field, right?
Yeah, hell no.
The two archrivals and border communities are getting ready to play their 100th annual Thanksgiving Day game in a few weeks at Landry Memorial Stadium, and you can bet that the intensity and emotions will be high on that fateful holiday morning.
But something different has happened at the youth level this year.
The Amesbury Jets C-Team, comprised of 5th and 6th-graders, has welcomed in five Newburyport players to its roster this year, and together the team is thriving. After a couple of down years, the Jets are an undefeated 9-0 this fall, and just recently won the Kitchin Division championship.
And this Sunday, the Jets will play Walsh Division champion Danvers in the Cape Ann Super Bowl. The game will kick off at 10 a.m. from Lynnfield High School, and all are welcome to come out and support the local future stars of tomorrow.
Plus, a familiar face is coaching the team.
“This year has been exciting for the kids,” said coach Mike Smolski, the former Newburyport High football coach from 2004-12 and brother of current head man Ben Smolksi.
“It’s a really good group of kids and they’ve worked hard all year. We’ve had a lot of close games, tight games, and they’ve really played well to get to this point. And I think the fact that we have Amesbury kids and Newburyport kids on the same team together is a pretty cool little story.”
AMESBURY JETS C-TEAM ROSTER
Name, Number
Hunter Smolski,15
Fionntan Broderick, 31
Renato Elias, 26
James Jurata, 49
Wyatt Mitchell, 5
William Burrell, 46
Samuel Kimmons, 17
Luke Babcock, 38
Colin Cook, 28
Antonio Wolff, 37
Roen Todd, 1
Dominic Ducott, 88
Richard Boyer, 66
Winston Brown, 13
Mason Vinciguerra, 3
Finnian Lennon, 47
Jackson Gadsby, 87
Jayziah Calderon, 68
Shea Kalil, 2
Luke Edic, 16
Jacoby Wilson, 33
Isaac Jabour, 10
Jack Johnson, 20
Moises Pinto, 12
Patrick Arcand, 40
Leonardo Cantone, 32
Benjamin Grelle, 25
Matt Sheehan, 44
Brian Davis, 18
Anthony Bossi, 27
Jackson Bosselli, 9
Mason Fuller, None