On Thursday, the customary Thanksgiving Day football drill at Sarasota’s Riverview High School appeared something unusual.
“Just one match. For one game, just try to be like him,” former coach James Ward instructed the team.
Consider following in the footsteps of former head coach John Sprague, who spearheaded the Thanksgiving tradition many years ago. Sprague passed away last week at the age of 74.
“The day before he passed, I talked to him a little bit, and he had just gotten home from the hospital,” James Ward, Sprague’s friend and fellow coach, said. “He told me he had just gotten home about an hour ago. So, I said, ‘okay, well, you go ahead and get settled, and we’ll talk tomorrow,’ and so early that next morning, I got a call from his wife that he had passed.”
The Thanksgiving custom was devised jointly by Sprague and Ward.
“We played on Thanksgiving mornings when I was a player in high school. On Thanksgiving morning, we played Sarasota High. We had opportunity to drill on Thursday mornings once we entered the playoff system since it was known as the Turkey Bowl. Thus, we made a big deal out of it “said Ward.
The regional championship game between the Riverview Rams and Venice is scheduled for Friday. After practice on Thursday, Sprague was remembered by a gathering of coaches, players, and their families.
“He was the hardest working guy I’ve ever met,” Ward told the players and the crowd gathered at the center of the field after practice. “Dedicate your efforts and your hearts to him, and we’re good.
Beginning as the Rams’ head coach in 1981, Sprague brought the team to a national level throughout his nearly thirty years in that role. Sprague spent a portion of his tenure at Riverview High School as the athletic director as well.
