The State Of The Foxborough-Mansfield Thanksgiving Game

There was a time when watching Foxborough play Mansfield on Thanksgiving meant that you were potentially watching to see which team was going to compete for a state title. With staggering differences in the enrollment numbers and a divisional split in the Hockomock League, the argument can be made that the rivalry has taken a hit.

“Probably less meaning that it’s cross division but I don’t think it makes a difference. Still Mansfield-Foxborough,” said Foxborough quarterback and senior captain Nick Sestito.

When the Warriors play the Hornets from this year forward, the game will be only about pride. Not to say that pride is meaningless. Just pride alone can motivate a team to play their hardest against a rival. What will be missing is a sense of urgency that this is a must win game that existed in the past.

“A lot of years it determined who was going on to the next level," said Foxborough coach Jack Martinelli in an interview earlier this year.

There have been very few years when the Hornets and Warriors were not in the mix to play for the state title. With Foxborough being one of the few teams in the state to win a state title in the ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s and Mansfield’s 6 titles since 1992, the game has traditionally been a showcase of two of the best teams in the state.

With the Hockomock League divisional breakup, divisional records take precedent over league records with both divisions’ winners playing in the playoffs. Since Foxborough plays in the Davenport Division and Mansfield plays in the Kelley-Rex Division, neither team is reliant on this game to advance to the postseason.

From 2004-2006 both teams marched on to the field Thanksgiving morning with excitement. In each of these years, the winner of the game had the potential to move on to the postseason. The only year that this was not the case was in 2005 when Foxborough lost on Thanksgiving but advanced on a 3-way tiebreaker between Mansfield and North Attleboro. From 2003-2006, the Division II Super Bowl featured either the Hornets or Warriors with 2 championships for the Hornets and 1 title in 2 appearances for Foxboro.

5 years after Foxborough won their last state title, it appears that the low enrollment numbers that the Warriors have used as a means to overachieve have finally caught up to them. The Hornets have won the game with comfortable margins since 2007 and are the favorites to win this year. Based on the recent enrollment numbers, Mansfield High School currently has 31% more students than Foxborough High School. For those who say that the numbers don't matter, the Hockomock League's move to a big school/small school split says otherwise. 

Even then, maybe this all does not matter. At halftime of a recent Mansfield game against Franklin, a group of parents were discussing the rest of the season. When it came to Foxborough a parent noted that records do no matter for this game and the group agreed. Foxborough was still a threat in their eyes for simply being Foxborough. Sometimes all you need is pride to be the main source of motivation.