Braintree-Milton Game Moved Back To Thanksgiving

BRAINTREE, MA — A day after Braintree High School rescheduled its annual Thanksgiving football game, the school decided to go back on its decision Tuesday.

Pressure from players and residents influenced Athletic Director Mike Denise to move the game back to Thanksgiving morning, Braintree Coach Brian Chamberlain told Wicked Local. The coach said:

“As of this morning our AD Mike Denise has informed me that they were back to playing Thursday at 10 a.m.. It was a very delicate situation, I fully understood the administration and towns concerns with the weather, but I also understood my players wanting to keep the tradition of playing on Thanksgiving. It was not an easy decision to be made, and I have confidence in our administration they are always looking to do what was best for the players and fans, but being a traditionalist and having played on thanksgiving I know how special that day is. Hopefully we can all get back to focusing on preparing for the game.”

Braintree Athletic Director Michael Denise did not immediately return a request for comment.

Junior Guard James Daly created a petition on change.org.

"Besides not getting the large crowd from the game being on a Wednesday, our team is looking forward to playing with each other one more time, Daly wrote. "Personally, I have played with so many of the great seniors, and they earned the opportunity to play this game."

The petition said that after 1,887 signatures, it was announced that the decision was reversed.