By Evan Wills ‘25
Many people envision their Thanksgiving full of eating and relaxing, but that is not the case for a group of boys from Crestwood and Beverly. To this group, Thanksgiving means something different – it means the Turkey Bowl.
Each year, a group of boys from Linder Court in Crestwood, who call themselves the “Linder Legends,” have an annual turkey bowl game between the kids on the block. This year will be different as a group from Beverly who go under the name “Southside Johnnies” proposed a challenge over a game of football. The challenge consists of the winner having a free meal at the losing teams expense.
Both teams have players who are currently in high school, along with boys who graduated and are coming home from college for break. Due to the long distance travel, both programs are highly motivated and determined to win.
Jack McGuffage, Brother Rice Class of ‘23, said, “There is nothing special about this game for us. We don’t see Linder as competition, and we are just going to show up and get the job done.”
As Thanksgiving is right around the corner, tensions are rising between the two teams. Sophomore Coy Workman heard McGuffage’s remarks and responded back, “The Southside Johnnies are soft and can’t compete at a Linder Legend level.”
Senior Matt Surma shared a few game insights on what he believes will help his team, saying, “I think a key coming out of the game would be to start fast and make sure we get off the field defensively. A key player to watch out for the Legends is senior Caden Workman, who has great length and can make plays at will. A player we need to watch out for is Cooper Wainwright, who has a huge catch radius and can haul in any pass.”
Regardless of who wins this year’s Turkey Bowl, it will definitely be a game they remember and the winner will brag about for years to come.
photo source: Matt Surma
