Thanksgiving Day Asbury Park-Neptune Game Now Off For Season

By Carol Williams/Patch Staff

ASBURY PARK, N.J. - The nearly century old Thanksgiving Day football rivalry between Asbury Park and Neptune will not be played this year, after safety concerns initially postponed the match and then finally killed it after both sides could not agree on a new date and related potential safety concerns. The postponement initially was enacted because of "credible, live threats," that were never specified.

"Despite many efforts to reschedule the Asbury Park-Neptune football game, we were unable to reach a mutually agreeable date that would have allowed the game to be played," said Asbury Park Schools Superintendent Lamont Repollet in a statement. "As a result, Neptune has decided to forfeit. Although I know players, alumni and fans are disappointed, be assured that we will work together with the Neptune Township School District to ensure the safety of all involved in the future and to allow this long-standing Shore tradition to continue."

Thanksgiving generally marks the end of the scholastic football season in New Jersey.

The game was to have been played this season in Asbury Park. Neptune leads the series 48-37-4. The teams were scheduled to meet for the 90th time Thursday and police had already issued traffic advisories when the announcement came that the game was temporarily off. On Thursday, the districts made the decision not to cancel the match outright. The series got its start on Thanksgiving Day 1908 although it has not been played every year, for various reasons. Neptune's record is 0-9 and Asbury Park is 5-4.

Neptune Schools Superintendent Tami Crader said in a statement that Asbury Park police told Repollet about a "confirmed concern over security." A threat was not made directly to either school or through the schools, she said. On Nov. 10, three people, including one who had talked about a plot to kill an Asbury Park police officer, were arrested on drug and weapons charges. On Wednesday night, a man was killed in his car in Asbury Park. Asbury Park police responded to the area along Prospect Avenue to find Denzel Morgan-Hicks dead and seated in the driver’s seat of a 2017 Ford Expedition. That investigation is continuing.

"Although a threat was not made directly to either school or through the school, we superintendents carefully considered the information provided by the police department and made the decision to postpone the game," Crader said. "At this point, given the timing of any possible rescheduling and its impact on
our ability to properly prepare or evaluate a plan for increased security, I
have advised our staff and Asbury Park that we cannot reschedule. Although we are all extremely disappointed that we could not hold this traditional, beloved event, the decision has been made with student, staff and community safety in mind."

The Asbury Park-Neptune Thankgiving football game will not be played this season. Photography by Associated Press.

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