Turkey Day Bragging Rights on Line

Mt. Hope High School will host Barrington’s Eagles on Thursday morning in the traditional Thanksgiving Day high school football game. The kickoff is scheduled for 10 am. 

For most of the seniors, it will be their final game of organized football. So, expect the players on both teams to play for pride and East Bay bragging rights.

The matchup will be the 20th meeting between the two schools since the inaugural game in 1993 after the former Warren High School merged with the former Bristol High School to form Mt. Hope.

Barrington has won 11 of the last 12 games, including five in a row. The Eagles defeated Mt. Hope last year, 20-6, at Victory Field.

Overall, Barrington holds a 31-22-1 record in the Thanksgiving Day game, including games played against the former Bristol High School before 1993, with Barrington holding a 30-22-1 edge in the Thanksgiving Day rivalry.

In the 19 meetings since the merger, Barrington holds a 12-7 record against Mt. Hope.

Barrington is probably considered the favorite because it plays in the much tougher Division I and it fared better against two common opponents: Tolman and Westerly. The Eages dropped both games, but by much closer scores than Mt. Hope, which also dropped games to Tolman and Westerly — by wider margins.

But Mt. Hope has the better record and made the Division II playoffs before losing in the quarterfinal round to a tough West Warwick team, 35-26.

Mt. Hope has a 5-4 overall record this year — 5-2 in Division II games. The squad finished second in the II-A division.

The Eagles, who have a 4-7 overall record and a 3-5 slate in Division I, did not make the playoffs again this year.

Here are the results since the series began in 1993:

1993- Mt. Hope (1) 14-0
1994- Barrington (1) 7-6
1995- Mt. Hope (2) 18-6
1996- Mt. Hope (3) 7-6
1997- Mt. Hope (4) 7-0
1998- Mt. Hope (5) 20-0
1999- Mt. Hope (6) 21-20 OT
2000- Barrington (2) 20-14
2001- Barrington (3) 33-0
2002- Barrington (4) 7-0
2003- Barrington (5) 26-25
2004- Barrington (6) 28-0
2005- Barrington (7) 30-6
2006- Mt. Hope (7) 22-6
2007- Barrington (8) 26-22
2008- Barrington (9) 37-7
2009- Barrington (10) 43-6
2010- Barrington (11) 27-8
2011- Barrington (12) 20-6