Hudson players and coaches gather during a game earlier this spring.
By Chris Wilson, Contributing Writer
MARLBOROUGH – The Marlborough and Hudson football teams reignited their Thanksgiving rivalries April 22.
The two teams could not play in November due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But both their schools worked together to make “Thanksgiving in April” a reality this year.
“It allowed the seniors to have more of an experience like they would have had in the fall,” Marlborough Head Coach Sean Mahoney said of the game’s importance.
Hudson Athletic Director Jessica Winders and Marlborough AD Jeff Rudzinsky indeed said they tried to make this game feel as close to the Thanksgiving atmosphere as they could. Mother Nature even cooperated with the 40-degree temperature and brief snow flurries scattered throughout the afternoon.
“When a rivalry has been in place for as long as this one, it has a life of its own,” Winders said of the tradition as a whole. “This is great for the players, the coaches, both schools and for both towns.”
In terms of planning this game, Winders said she and Rudzinski spoke early in the season about “wanting to make this happen.”
The two schools kept Week Six open on their schedules in case they needed to make up games within their pod.
But, when they realized they likely wouldn’t need that makeup slot following Week Four, they opted to move forward with rivalry plans.
“The stars aligned,” Winders told the Community Advocate.
In the game itself, Marlborough went on to defeat Hudson 28-0.
Throughout the matchup, Marlborough ran a triple option on offense, which netted them more than 180+ rushing yards on the day. Mahoney went on to credit the triple option with part of his team’s success.
“Because [Hudson] was loading up to stop the run, we had a few big plays in the passing game,” he said.
Marlborough quarterback Jason Short completed one 46-yard pass to wide receiver Jake Jones in the second quarter. Short then later found tight end Cam Ginetti for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The win boosted Marlborough’s final win-loss record for the season to 3-3. Hudson fell to 1-5.
