With the start of another school year, comes another exciting football season. Students of all grades will come together to support the Scituate High School Varsity football team. This year the first game – which serves as a social highlight of the weekends- will be Friday, September 12 with kickoff at 7:00 pm on the Scituate turf. Adding to the anticipation of the game is the fact that SHS will be facing its long time rival, Cohasset High School. The Cohassett team has had eight consecutive winning records, two league championships, and an appearance in the Super Bowl last season – leaving the Scituate Varsity team with both a challenging and exciting game ahead of them.

Senior Hayes Keniley,who plays defensive end on the Cohasset High School football team, expects Friday’s football game to be “intense”, based on Cohasset’s previous history against Scituate. Because they trained together through the SciCoh program – a collaboration of the Scituate and Cohasset youth football teams – Keniley describes the rivalry between Scituate and Cohasset as “one enacted from a young age”. Keniley said that their rivalry is very deeply rooted because “[we] play with Scituate one day knowing [we] will play against them”.

“I think there is a bit of rivalry between the towns, mainly because of the Sci-Coh youth program; many of the high school players from both towns know each other, and have played with each other growing up,” said head football coach at Cohasset, Pete Afanasiw. While both teams are anxiously awaiting the upcoming match, it will be interesting to see how players react on both sides, seeing as they will be competing with their former teammates.

Going into his ninth year as head football coach, Afanasiw hopes to win their division (division 6) and qualify for the Massachusetts High School Football Playoffs this year. Claiming that Cohasset has a great senior class that has been “setting a wonderful example regarding school spirit,” Coach Afanasiw is eager to get the season rolling.

In addition, according to Meghan Rosano, a junior at Cohasset high school, “it’s exciting because [Cohasset] hasn’t played Scituate in the regular season” since the playoff format changed last year.

Not only is the team ready for the big game, but students at Cohasset High School also seem eager to challenge those at Scituate. Cohasset High School Senior Ben Buckley said “all the football kids are super pumped, and everyone has the mentality that ‘we have to beat Scituate’. I feel like we consider Scituate our rivals”.

In addition to the large anticipated turnout from Scituate High School students, others, including the high school faculty and members of the Scituate community, expect to see a large amount of fans in the opposing bleachers. Buckley said “a good amount of [Cohasset] kids will go to the game.”

The stage is definitely set for an exciting game on Friday night, with former teammates turned into competitive rivals.