English–Latin rivalry

Since 1887, two of the oldest public schools^[1][2][3] in the United States, the Boston Latin School and English High School of Boston, have faced off in an annual football rivalry which now takes place on Thanksgiving day at Harvard Stadium. The rivalry is the oldest continuous high school football rivalry in the U.S,^[4][5] and fifth longest all time behind Phillips Academy versus Phillips Exeter Academy, Wellesley, Massachusetts versus Needham, Massachusetts, New London, Connecticut versus Norwich Free Academy in Norwich, Connecticut, and Lawrenceville School vs. The Hill School.

Stats

The series began with both teams' formation in 1887. Prior to 1887, English and Latin had fielded a unified team.^[6]

Until the late 1960s, the rivalry was fairly even. Since that time, Latin has dominated the series, leading all time 80–36–13, and winning 49 of the last 52 contests as of July 2016.

Latin's dominance could be considered at its zenith in the 1970s when they held English to only 28 points for the entire decade.

Ten of the games ended in scoreless ties, a rare feat in modern Football at any level, although the last instance of this came in 1945. The implementation of overtime has dramatically reduced the number of tie games throughout the game of football.

Much of the series has been decided in blowout victories by one side or the other, with 63 of the 127 games being decided by shutouts and 38 of the contests ending in 20 point or more victories.

Game results

See also

• List of High School Football Rivalries

References