State of Fitchburg-Leominster Rivalry

Courtesy of Sean sweeney Facebook page
LEOMINSTER — It shouldn’t be breaking news, but since the turn of the century—holy moly, next year will be a quarter of a century since the turn of the century!—the final scores in the North County Classic have demonstratively tilted toward the Pioneer Plastics City and the Leominster Blue Devils.
COMMENTARY
Take a look at the last 10 scores from their Turkey Day meetings for the truth, as tough as it is for the Fitchburg Faithful to read.
2014 Leominster, 23-8
2015 Leominster, 32-0
2016 Leominster, 49-12
2017 Fitchburg, 34-21
2018 Leominster, 36-0
2019 Leominster, 7-0
2020 Covid — No game
2021 Leominster, 32-0
2022 Leominster, 40-8
2023 Leominster, 59-6
2024 Leominster, 46-7
Add in the 2022 Week One tilt between the two schools at Historic Crocker Field—a return to the 1910s that only myself, my opposite number in Leominster historian Mark Bodanza, former FHS AD Craig Antocci, current FHS AD Todd Robbins, and LHS AD David Palazzi seemed to want and drool over—and that’s lots of wins for Big Blue since Fitchburg won the Division 2 title at Historic Doyle Field in November 2014. In that time, FHS has won twice, including the 2021 Thursday night season opener.
Streaks like this aren’t only limited to LHS—and fair play to Devin Gates and his staff for winning their fifth straight game against the ‘Burg, and fifth straight Thanksgiving game dating back to 2019 Thursday morning; I will always applaud Devin, my Fitchburg High contemporary, for a job well done… and if someone in Leominster doesn’t think Devin’s a good coach by now, then I’ll be able to show you an idiot—as Fitchburg has had its share of consecutive triumphs in this style. The Red Raiders of Clarence Amiott, from 1913 to 1924, did not lose to Leominster until 1925, when Phil Tarpey took over for the first of three seasons. LHS didn’t have sustained success until Charlie Broderick came around.
The 1970s and 80s were a great time for Leominster fans, as the Blue Devils only lost twice—1972 and 1984—on Thanksgiving, before FHS Hall of Famer Ray Cosenza arrived on Academy Street. Cosenza’s tenure sparked a resurgence in Fitchburg High Football, and showed that a slumbering giant can wake up and shake the foundations of the earth.
Since FHS’ undefeated 12-0 team in 2000, though, the balance of power has shifted toward the blue half of Twin City Mall. There are a few reasons for this, and some of it may be tough to read.
First, Leominster has had more stability at the head coach position than Fitchburg. Since Messrs. John Dubzinski and Cosenza stepped away from football at Leominster and Fitchburg in 2010 and 2011, respectively, the Blue Devils have had two head coaches in Palazzi and Gates. Fitchburg has had four, and outside of Dan Walker’s five-season tenure, no one has lasted long: that means FHS is changing systems every few seasons. Tom DiGeronimo, who owns the lone Fitchburg Thanksgiving win of the last decade? Gone during the Covid year following three seasons. His successor, Greg Graham? Three seasons, two Turkey Day games (remember, they didn’t meet in the 2021 Fall II season). Paul DiGeronimo has been in charge the past two seasons, and there are some in the community who think it’s time for a new person to stalk the Crocker sidelines.
That should not happen, and those dissenting voices need to be silent. This is the grown-ups table. Paul DiGeronimo is holding the players accountable, and things the Faithful saw in the past decade—excessive personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct and other stupid penalties—have gone away. I personally think this is a good thing, and I want this injected into my veins. Let Paul have the opportunity to re-build the program, with an extremely long leash. That being said…
Paul Dige and his staff also have a rather difficult task in this era of Fitchburg High Football, and that’s teaching the game practically from scratch to a bunch of kids who, and I’m italicizing this for dramatic effect, had never watched American gridiron football before coming to Fitchburg. Repeat that sentence over and over until it sinks in. These are kids who are fresh off the boat, so to speak, who didn’t grow up with their parents signing them up for Pop Warner or AYF football at Nikitas Field, or spent Saturdays and Sundays with their fathers and uncles watching college and pro football from morning to night. They watched soccer most of their young lives. Give these kids and coaches a break.
And that’s another thing: how is Fitchburg’s youth football system these days? A high school program is only as good as its feeder system, but we also have to realize and acknowledge that some youngsters will elect to go to Monty Tech for a trade, or school choice out of Fitchburg; that second one should tick every true Red Raider off, because the education one receives at FHS is challenging. Leominster doesn’t seem to have this problem, and fair play to the Blue Devils for their player retention. Back in the day, the Fitchburg Pop Warner coaches were given a number of plays that each player needed to know so that when they got to Academy Street, they were well-versed in the FHS offense and defense. Where is that cohesiveness and seamless transition?
Furthermore, Fitchburg hasn’t had the once-in-a-generation stars or Division 1-caliber players like Leominster has had in quite some time. Does the name Noah Gray ring a bell? Current Leominster quarterback Osiris Lopez will play on Saturdays somewhere, and may play on Sundays. Recent Fitchburg running back Anthony Oquendo was good, sure. Sal Figueroa from the Class of 2018 only had that one year (I saw him after the Chicken Bowl on Saturday; he told me he will play for Fitchburg State in 2025) in Fitchburg Red, and Quinton Perkins—exceptional though he was—he took Leominster to double OT in 2011, but didn’t capture the Turkey Day dub. Before that, it was Ricky Morales and Zack McCall—and that’s back in the 1990s, and remember that McCall was a transplant from Akron, Ohio! The 1990s are ancient history to the current bunch of FHS players, who don’t know who they are because the kids aren’t originally from here, and no one’s telling them about them.
Finally, Fitchburg High today is also not the Fitchburg High that myself and my contemporaries and those older than us—the ones we looked up to—attended, and I’m not talking about location. Again, a lot of these kids came to Fitchburg from elsewhere, and FHS’ demographics are changing. When I was a senior in 1995-96, our Hispanic population at 98 Academy Street was 25 percent. As of last school year—the 2024-25 numbers are not posted yet—the Hispanic population was 58.6 percent. This is not a bad thing: the FHS Boys’ Soccer program went 12-3-3 this season, and that is one of the best seasons ever for a program that is just getting better because the demographics have changed to Hispanic majority. That’s something that should be celebrated, not ignored by those who call themselves Fitchburg fans.
Another question I want answered: Are these kids getting the caloric intake—proper calories, mind you, not junk—they need to play football and perform at the varsity level? I doubt that. Fitchburg serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner to students who want it, and that’s wonderful, but I’m highly doubting that it’s enough for a growing, athletic teenager who needs 2,000 calories to play interscholastic athletics and succeed.
All that being said, people need to realize that even if some things change for the better, the Fitchburg High Football program may come back some day, but it may not be in the form that the Faithful expect and want to happen. It may just be an average team and five or six wins a season, if that. That’s better than what we’re seeing now. This won’t be a program that’s going to Gillette or capture multiple Turkey Day games in a row — unless a big swoop in luck and fortunate circumstances hit Arn-How Farm Road like they did to Academy Street in the 1990s.
If that happens, great. If it doesn’t… the Leominster domination streak will continue chugging toward the 2030s. That’s a given, and I doubt the people in charge in Leominster will allow what has happened to Fitchburg to occur.
They are controlling what they can control, and everything is looking up for the Blue and White Express.
(Sean Sweeney is a former regular correspondent for the Sentinel & Enterprise, and is the Fitchburg High School Athletics Historian.)