100th Toms River South-Lakewood Game: It's All About Family

LAKEWOOD, NJ — Harry Pomeroy was not able to play football when he was in high school.

"I wanted to support the team however I could," Pomeroy said Thursday, as he watched Toms River South and Lakewood battle it out on the football field for the final time on Thanksgiving. So Pomeroy supported them as a fan.

"If I couldn't play, I wanted to be on the sidelines," he said, reminiscing on his 57 years of cheering on the Indians. Back then, in 1962, Toms River had just one high school. He only missed a few games in that time, due to an illness. This year was extra special because his granddaughter, Brianna, is a cheerleader for the Indians.

"Times change," he said, wistfully. "I wish it could go on forever."

For Harry Longo and Richard Chadwick, Thursday's game marked the first time either had been to their alma mater, Lakewood, for a Thanksgiving game in years. The celebration of 100 years of history between the teams brought them to Russell Wright Stadium.

"It's a special occasion," Longo said. "We had to be here."

The alumni were celebrated and the marching bands from both schools combined to play the national anthem, then retreated to their opposite sides of the field for the football teams to go to work. Toms River South won, 34-0, a score that pleased head coach Ron Signorino Jr. and left Lakewood coach L.J. Clark saddened.

But not nearly as saddened as both coaches and most of those in attendance were by the prospect of it being the last time the teams will play on Thanksgiving.

"Growing up, Thanksgiving always meant food, family and football," said Signorino Jr., whose father Ron coached from the time Signorino Jr. was young. "I don't know what I'll do next year. Probably go to a football game."

"When I think of Thanksgiving I think of this game," said Clark, who played at Lakewood. "This game means a lot to me."

At Toms River South, family and football are interwoven, and quick to draw in even those who grew up steeped in other traditions.

Mike Citta, the principal at Toms River South who's son is a wide receiver for the Indians, said he was drawn in and has become a part of the Indians family despite growing up as a Mariner at Toms River North.

"The traditions run so deep," Citta said. They run as deep as Citta's family; part of his ancestry runs back to the 1600s, and his great-uncle scored the first touchdown for Toms River South in the first meeting between the teams in 1919.

The teams ran onto the field from their respective entrance gates, Lakewood through a path lined by cheerleaders and alumni, Toms River South under an American flag flown from the Toms River Fire Company ladder truck.

After the final seconds counted down, the Indians gathered briefly around their coach, then went to the sideline to sing "Old Indian Tom" one last time for the season.

"You don't have many things that are 100 years old consecutively. That in itself is an amazing feat," Signorino Jr. said. "Lakewood did a tremendous job putting this together."

"This was just a fantastic atmosphere, with all the old players and band members coming out for the game," he said. "That's what football on Thanksgiving does. I'm sad to see this go. Thanksgiving and football just go together."

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