On the outside looking in, 2024 looks like a lost season for Belmont High School Football. Sitting at 2-8 in what was already expected to be a rebuilding season, the Marauders’ final game against Watertown (3-7) should be nothing more than a footnote.
Except this game is on Thanksgiving Day, against a century-old rival on home turf for the first time in four years. That’s a recipe for the biggest game of the season.
The Belmont-Watertown Football rivalry will return to Harris Field on Nov. 28. Despite both programs struggling with results this season, the game won’t be lacking intensity.
“It’s not hard to get them up for it,” Belmont coach Francois Joseph said. “I always use the term ‘slow boil’: We don’t want to get too hot, but we can’t stay cold. … Just knowing when we got to put the foot on the gas and go. They’re excited about it.”
Last year, Belmont capped off its magical Middlesex League Liberty title season with a 47-0 romp over Watertown, its first win against the Raiders since 2019. Without the momentum of a winning season carrying them this time, the Marauders are fueled by the history and bragging rights that come with the territory.
“From freshman year, you don’t really feel the motivation to play Watertown because they’re just like another team,” said senior running back/linebacker Michael Farah. “But as you progress through the years, you start to realize all the hype about playing Watertown and the rivalry, so you just start feeling that motivation.”
This year’s senior class is 1-2 against Watertown, so they’re looking to even the score for their careers on Thanksgiving. After the Class of 2025 Marauders played at Watertown in their freshman and junior seasons, sandwiching a centennial matchup at Fenway Park in 2022 as sophomores, this year will be the first time they play the Raiders with home-field advantage.
“It’s gonna feel good ending football, like our high school careers, being on our home turf and being able to take it all in one last time,” senior offensive/defensive lineman Teddy Kamberi said. “It would be a big deal [to win]. I’d love to end high school and look back at it and remember the last time I played football, I won, and won that big of a game on Thanksgiving.”
The rivalry holds a great deal of weight with the players, but the connections between both head coaches will add another wrinkle: Joseph coached Watertown’s Joey Carroll when he played for Waltham High School from 2012 to 2015.
Carroll went on to play football at the University of New Hampshire, then joined Joseph on Waltham’s coaching staff after graduating in 2019, where he stayed before taking the Watertown position this offseason.
Come Thursday, the two first-year head coaches will square off for the first time, adding higher stakes to the season finale.
“The atmosphere’s going to be great,” Joseph said. “I’m selling the kids on that, not only the rivalry Belmont-Watertown, but also Waltham because we’re so close next door. Both head coaches’ friends will be here and families will be here, and that’s what we’re playing for.”
For the Marauders to walk away victorious on Thanksgiving, Joseph believes they will have to execute on the simple parts of their game: stances, getting off the line, and finishing plays.
To end a down year with a rivalry win would do wonders for the morale of the team, which expects to welcome 25 to 30 freshmen next year as it moves into the next phase of rebuilding the program.
“We’ve definitely had a rough year, but the thing that keeps us driving, keeps us going is playing Watertown,” said senior captain Thomas Dolan, who plays linebacker and wide receiver. “These past few weeks have been a little rough. I feel like the team morale is a little bit down, but now that Watertown is coming closer, it’s like you can feel the energy just rise and it’s like a really good feeling because we’ve had a tough year and we want to come out and get this W.”
The first game between the two teams was played in 1921. It has been canceled twice, in 1940 due to snow and in 2021 due to COVID. Overall, Watertown leads 50-46-5.
