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Blue Devils hope for home
cooked meal on Turkey Day
By
Robert Burgess
September
10th 2005
LEOMINSTER -- Jonathan Penning
grew up listening to his
father's football stories of the
high school rivalry between
Fitchburg and Leominster.
This year marks the 100th
meeting of the two cities in the
annual Thanksgiving Day game.
Penning wants Leominster to have
its turn to host the game on his
home turf at Doyle Field.
"I always dreamed of the day
when I could play in my senior
Thanksgiving game at home,"
Penning said after a practice
last week. "It's history. It has
a lifetime effect."
But construction plans at Doyle
Field may mean Penning and the
other seniors will play the
Thanksgiving game at Crocker
Field in Fitchburg.
Greg Charpentier, a senior and a
captain along with Penning, said
regardless of the outcome, his
team will give its best effort
this year.
"It's always tough on the road,"
Charpentier said. "But you've
still got to go out and win."
Many of the players, including
Charpentier and Penning, have
fathers or uncles who wore blue
and white for Leominster High
School's football team. The
current players have heard the
stories of the Thanksgiving Day
game grow and get embellished
over time among the aging former
players.
"Hopefully, we'll get our chance
to do the same thing," Penning
said.
The Thanksgiving Day game is the
culmination of years of Pop
Warner football and high school
games, starting freshman year.
"By far it would be the best
moment of my life," Charpentier
said. "You won't ever play in a
bigger game."
Jonathan Penning's father, Bill
Penning, went before the School
Committee last week to stress
the importance of playing home
games this year.
Jonathan Penning said his father
and his uncles all played
football for Leominster High
School.
"He loves it just as much as I
do," Penning said of his father.
"He wants me to succeed. He gets
into the games as much as we
do."
Several players also urged the
School Committee and Mayor Dean
Mazzarella to support home games
this year.
"This season is a milestone in
my life," Ross Cordio told the
committee.
Members of the Doyle Field
Commission -- which first
suggested all games be on the
road this season to make way for
the bleachers reconstruction
project -- agreed Friday to
allow home games at Doyle Field
this year.
Which of the five scheduled home
games will be played at Doyle
will be left up to Chris Young,
the high school's athletic
director.
Young said he will decide at a
later date whether to host the
Thanksgiving Day game against
Fitchburg at Doyle.
The game is now slated to take
place at Crocker Field in
Fitchburg even though it is
Leominster's turn to host the
event.
Young said Friday there are
safety concerns with inviting
hundreds of fans to the Nov. 24
game at Doyle, which will be
partially under construction
during the fall months.
Jon Rodriguez told the board
that playing the Thanksgiving
game at home is something he has
dreamed of for years.
"Since freshman year I've been
planning to play Thanksgiving
senior year at home," he said.
"We don't have an easy schedule
and we have a lot to prove.
Playing on the road adds to the
pressure."
John Dubzinski, the football
coach, said after practice last
week that Leominster football
has a long tradition and pride
in the city.
A long tradition
"If you go back and look at the
rosters from the '70s, you'll
see a lot of the same last
names," Dubzinski said. "It has
been a long and proud program in
the city. There's a history of
fathers and uncles and
grandfathers who have played."
Dubzinski said the team will
make the best out of wherever it
has to play games.
"If it doesn't work out, we're
still going to do the best we
can at every game," Dubzinski
said. "It's not the end of our
season. We're never going to use
it as an excuse."
Dubzinski said while there are a
lot of young players on the
squad, upperclassmen will lead
the team well this year.
"They're good kids in the class
and on the field," he said.
"They represent Leominster well.
We have the hardest working
group we've had in a long time.
We're going to improve every
game and play to the best of our
ability."
Charpentier said football has
taught him valuable life
lessons, including hard work,
dedication and leadership
skills.
Penning, who hopes to play
college football next year, said
the sport has instilled him with
mental and physical toughness.
"I'd like to end my football
career at home," Charpentier
said.
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