By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Globe Correspondent

Boston Public School students attended the Annual Football Clinic at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday where they learned how to play the game the right way from Patriots legend Tedy Bruschi.

Zion Simmons, Jahmeel Mack, Khalil Lofton, D’Jon Marc and Wilmar Villar were the five city scholar-athletes out of the 60 boys and girls at the mini-camp. The students were selected to attend the camp based off essays they submitted.

Current Patriots Zoltan Mesko, Jerod Mayo, Stephen Gostkowski, and Julian Edelman, as well as 49ers safety Ray Ventrone, joined Bruschi in leading the drills.

The students received a personalized locker, an official Bruschi Patriots jersey, and a proper stadium announcement while running through the team's inflatable helmet.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at kannoyoungs.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @KannoYoungs.

Boston College first-year head football coach Steve Addazio spoke at Burke High School Tuesday morning as part of the Boston Scholar Athletes Speaker Series. (Justin A. Rice / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

In addition to being Boston College’s first-year head football coach this fall, Steve Addazio will be a de facto assistant coach at Burke High without even realizing it.

After Addazio spoke to 30 Burke athletes Tuesday morning as part of the Boston Scholar Athlete’s Speaker Series — telling the student-athletes to stay away from marijuana, to respect women, and to just be a “good dude” — Burke football coach Byron Beaman said he recorded the speech so he can show it to his players anytime he feels they need to hear the message from a higher authority.

“What coach Addazio is saying is the same things we preach every day, all day,” Beaman said. “It definitely helps to have a guy that’s the head coach of a Division 1 program really echo what you’ve told your team. And it’s not like we met in the hallway prior to this, saying, 'This is what they need to hear.'

“It’s just a constant coaching message: In order to be successful, you can’t be selfish, you have to work hard, you have to make sacrifices. And he’s coached some of the best; Heisman Trophy winners, things like that. Coming from him, I’m hoping that the message resonates and these guys get it and take it to heart.”

At the same time, Addazio said during his talk that the message works best when it comes from a trusted mentor or coach.

The former University of Florida assistant coach talked about a group of high-profile former Florida players, including brothers Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, who are now the starting centers for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins, respectively.

He talked about how they used to skip over bricks in the sidewalk outside Florida’s stadium that were designated for the names of future All-Americans.

“They were pretty headstrong guys, and I told them, ‘If you keep going to that club, you’re not going to be an All-American,’ ” said Addazio, who was Temple's head coach last year and an assistant at Florida for five years before that.

The Pounceys were involved in some incidents, said Addazio, including a shooting and a stabbing.

"I said, ‘You guys have to get away from the ring of fire or it’s going to pull you down,' " said Addazio. " 'You guys have worked too hard. You guys are going to put your future in the hands of some guy in some club who is pissed off and going to get in a fight and something happens, they take out a knife and they are going stab you or shoot you. Is that what you are going to do? Get away from the ring of fire, get out of there.’

“The problem was, those guys didn’t trust me. I developed a relationship with them and I loved them and they loved me. They gave me their heart on the practice field and off the practice field. And they trusted me enough to listen to me. And I got them to get away from the ring of fire. And I got them to go to class and I got them to get their degree.”

Addazio said while those players used to talk about tattoos, gold chains, and making money, now that they are in the NFL, their priorities have shifted and they drive modest cars.

“You know what they talk about now, ‘Coach, I miss college, I miss the camaraderie, the relationships,’ ” he said. "The money doesn’t mean much to them anymore.

"It’s interesting when you talk to guys and their perspective from when they are 18 years old to when they are 23 years old.

“It’s amazing the things that used to mean something to them and now what means something to them. Now you know what they want to do? They want to buy their mother a house, they want to put money aside for their kids’ educations.”

Addazio also told a cautionary tale of a high-profile player at Florida who liked to smoke marijuana. He said the player went from being a top-three draft pick to being picked in the bottom of the first round, leaving about $20 million on the table.

“There is a big difference between $6 million and $26 million,” he said of the player's eventual signing bonus. He said, ‘I don’t have a problem,’ but I said, ‘You can’t stop.’ ”

Addazio told the students they need to surround themselves with positive role models and peers. He challenged the players to be positive leaders at school rather than disrupting class and trying to get attention.

“Get yourself around peers that are about the right thing, doing the right thing," he said. "Because, unfortunately, you are who you hang out with. And look to some older guys, gals, some role models that can help you, that you can go to that care about you and listen. That’s really important.

"I've got a little saying and I believe this: Good things happen to good people that work hard.

“It’s not luck, guys, not luck. Just be a good dude. Work hard and good things will happen.”

Burke sophomore fullback and defensive end Brandon Newton said it’s important to keep the message in mind all the time.

“Most people are going to leave it to be a ghost -- nobody knows it anymore until someone comes back and says it again,” he said. “We have to have those few people on the team that keep bringing it up repeatedly. Like when one person feels like they don’t want to go to class, it’s like, ‘You gotta go to class if you want to play football. Keep your GPA up.’ "

The players were also invited to BC’s home opener against Villanova Aug. 31, which Newton said will be another reminder of Addazio’s message.

“A really good reminder,” Newton said.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Madison Park football coach Roosevelt Robinson is spearheading an effort to organize the first Boston City League Senior All-Star football game this spring.

“We’re trying to make this happen, we've kind of been OK'd to do it, but there’s still a lot of work to do,” Robinson announced during Thursday’s Boston City League All-City Football Banquet at Boston College.

The game, which would be similar to the Shriners' Classic, but for the city’s best senior players, has been cleared by the MIAA, according to Robinson.

“Seniors, their eligibility ran out so football is not in the way, that’s why juniors can’t participate,” Robinson said. “You can’t play in five seasons.”

Robinson, who was named one of two Coaches of the Year at Thursday’s banquet, said the biggest hurdle to getting the game off the ground will be getting all the coaches in the City League on board to help him get players and equipment.

“Because we have a field, we can always use a turf field,” he said during an interview. “Just the commitment [from the coaches and] if the players want to play. The coaches, we have to get together and we have to make the decision that we’re going to do it.”

He said the game would likely be played in late May, before the Shriners' game, and probably be held at Madison Park or English High. He said players would be required to practice for two weeks before participating in the game.

“Not White stadium because White Stadium will be reseeded during the spring,” he said. “We have to figure out who wants to go in and whose going to make the commitment to two weeks of coming to practice, so it’s just a lot of stuff.”

Robinson also told the seniors at the banquet to hold onto the black jerseys with white embroidered numbers that they were given for making the All-City team.

“For you seniors, be ready, you got those jerseys and you might be able to wear them one more time,” he said from the lectern in the Murray Function Room. “And what I’m saying is stay ready for that because you deserve it and you’re also showing the juniors behind you what’s possible.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Of the 28 players on the 2012 Boston City League All-City Football Team, Kyle Dance was named Player of the Year on Thursday night during an award ceremony at Boston College. (Justin A. Rice / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Kyle Dance never thought he would be a high school quarterback, let alone be named the city’s top player.

But that was the honor bestowed on Latin Academy's junior quarterback Thursday when he was named the Boston City League’s Player of the Year during the Boston City League All-City Football Banquet.

“It’s indescribable honestly,” Dance said as the evening was wrapping up in the Murray Function Room at the Boston College Yawkey Center. “Going into high school I didn't think I was going to be a quarterback and I ended up the year as a quarterback. It’s a big compliment for me and also a big confidence builder going into next year, so I’m just proud of my team and my coaches.”

Dance was one of 28 players named to the 2012 All-City Football Team during the banquet, which was put on by the Boston Scholar Athletes Program.

Dance, who tossed 28 touchdown passes to nine receivers and ran for another nine touchdowns, was introduced by his coach, Rocco Zizza.

“And the scary part, I said the other day somewhat jokingly but seriously, is he had an off year,” Zizza said. “He’s fast, but he had two bad ankles, so he had to throw the ball this year. Congratulations Kyle, come on up.”

Madison Park coach Roosevelt Robinson and Dorchester coach Rich Moran were named Coaches of the Year. Madison Park (8-5) won the City League North Division before losing to Cathedral 22-20 in double overtime in the Division 4A Super Bowl.

“I would like to thank you personally for recognizing me for all the hard work that we all do,” Robinson said. "Because all of the coaches out here we go to battle, but we all teach our young children how to respect, especially their parents.”

Robinson, who attended Dorchester High, alluded to Madison Park’s 16-14 loss to the Bears in the final regular season game of the year that was dubbed the “Unofficial City Championship.”

“This year I had a chance to play against my alma mater and we fought hard," he said. "We had a hard fought game and I was very proud of Dorchester and my fellow recipient of the Coach of the Year and this really feels good.”

After beating Madison Park, Dorchester (10-1), the City League South Division champions, lost to Upper Cape Cod, 22-8, in the Division 5 Super Bowl.

“To be quite honest with you, Rosie touched on everything, it’s really all about you guys, I coach the same every year,” Moran said. “I don’t know why I’m Coach of the Year. I guess I was a lousy coach last year, I don’t know.”

The evening’s keynote address was given by former Boston College player Ralph Parent, who spoke to the players about not only setting goals but developing a plan to achieve those goals.

“For you young football players, you have achieved many, many things,” he said. “You have more to do. You just scratched the surface with your accomplishments.”

Last year was the first time the BSA put on the All-City Football Banquet, when East Boston lineman Leo Parnell and South Boston running back James Toles were named Players of the Year.

Burke coach Byron Beaman said the banquet is an example of what city football can be.

“Tonight’s banquet definitely sets the standard for where we’re trying to go with football in the city,” Beaman said. “ We've been down for some time but with two teams from the city making it to the Super Bowl and to have this kind of piggy back off that … It’s a great venue. Boston College, it’s always great to be on a college campus, because we always aspire for our football players and our student athletes to attain a degree, so what better place to be than a school like Boston College.”

The following are the members of the 2012 All-City team:

Latin Academy: Brendan Harriette, Alex Guerrier, Kyle Dance; Brighton: Princewill Unaegbu, Ricardo Edwards, Jean Fanfan; Burke: Demetrius Richards, Sedeeq Rheddick; Charlestown: Ibrahima Diallo; Dorchester: Jeffrey Burton-Rhodes, Darrius Patterson, Robinson Cyprien; East Boston: Marcellus Etienne, Juan Elias Bonilla; Boston English: Jordan Carter; Madison Park: Michael Alexander, Kelvin Jones, Alexis Santiago, David Stewart; New Mission: Steven Thomas, Darien Amado; O'Bryant: Joseph Farrell, Tobi Fashemi, Christian Ransom; South Boston: Sean Hunter, Pannel Davis, Kingsley O'koye; West Roxbury: Michael Obianigwe.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Sean Guthrie closed a preseason workout this past August at Moakley Field in South Boston. Guthrie was recently released from his duties as South Boston's head football coach after six seasons. (Justin A. Rice / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

After six seasons with Sean Guthrie at the helm of its football program, South Boston High is going in a new direction.

The school’s administration notified Guthrie that he would not be asked back to coach the team just before Christmas vacation, and the school is currently searching for his replacement.

“We just had different philosophies on how the team should run in terms of different policies, conduct policies and things like that,” Guthrie said of the school’s headmaster, Stephanie Sibley. “It was just something we weren’t seeing eye-to-eye on; some of the policies I had in place and what she wanted and that’s what it came down to.”

Guthrie, who will continue to teach math at the school, said he enrolled in a Master’s in education program geared to urban teachers at Boston College, where he played football as an undergraduate until the 2001-02 season.

After college he played for the New York Giants for one season before moving to NFL Europe.

“I was kind of really disappointed at first,” Guthrie said of being released from his coaching position. “But I’ve been involved in playing and coaching football every season since I was 6 years old. It’s almost welcoming.”

Guthrie’s assistant, Jim de Mello, who is also the school’s athletic coordinator, said he will not return as an assistant and that the school will be interviewing not only for the head coaching position but also the assistant coach job as well.

He said anyone interested in the jobs should send a resume to the school at 95 G. St South Boston, or email him at jdemello@boston.k12.ma.us before Feb. 14.

Three candidates for both jobs will be interviewed at the end of February and de Mello said they hope to have a coach in place in early March.

“We’re looking for somebody with a minimal of three years of experience for the head coaching experiencing of high school coaching or a combination of high school and college coaching,” he said. “We’re looking for somebody who can show they can get the paperwork done and they can be organized in having their house in order in terms of getting paperwork done on time and making sure that they have a good system of completing all that in a timely fashion as well as their coaching attributes.

“We don’t necessarily need somebody who is the most winningest coach out there. We need somebody who is going to be able to work day in and day out, have a commitment to the students outside the season, which means offseason workouts as far as conditioning and weight room, and if he doesn’t work in the school, will be there more hours than just practice hours to work with the administration and have meetings.”

For de Mello, it’s hard to go through the process of hiring a new coach after he worked so closely with Guthrie the last six years.

“It is hard because we kind of learned a system together, we went to all the coaching clinics, we did everything we could,” he said. “We did a lot of work together and tried to rise up our program and tried to make it better than it was.

“I thought Sean had some really good things going on with our program.”

However, de Mello said Guthrie’s communication with the administration and paperwork — a common Achilles' heel among BPS coaches — left a lot to be desired.

“It was a lot to handle, doing all the administrative work and coaching and teaching,” Guthrie said.

After coaching one season as an assistant in 2006, Guthrie took over the program shortly after the death of head coach Bob Lerro in 2007. Guthrie compiled a 33-28 record at South Boston, including the Boston City League North division title in 2008.

Guthrie said he watched the Super Bowl with some members of that 2008 team and what he will miss most is developing relationships with the players.

“Just seeing guys go on and have children and get jobs and graduate from college, that’s what I’ll miss most is the relationships,” he said, “Watching them grow from kids to men and being a part of that.”

Guthrie also tried to build rapport with his players by getting them to identify with what it means to be a South Boston Knight since most of his players don’t live in South Boston.

“Definitely getting through to the kid who was getting kicked out of class and pulling him in and trying to build a new identity with the Knights and building a group, I’ll definitely miss that,” he said.

But what he’ll miss most is being on the field with his players.

“Especially teaching a subject like math, people aren’t always enthusiastic about math,” he joked. “I’ll miss that, being able to cut loose with guys and not have restrictions you do in a classroom.”

Guthrie said he’s still working out with some of the players after school.

“I’ll always be a part of the team; I’ll help as much as I can,” he said, “just for the kids who still want it, I’ll still be there.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Brian Vaughan was hired as Boston English's new football coach on Tuesday. He spent the last four seasons coaching Pope John in Everett. (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

One of Brian Vaughan’s first orders of business as the new head football coach at Boston English High will be to print up T-shirts that read “Beat Latin.”

“I think small things like that just build pride in kids,” Vaughan said of the T-shirts, a reference to English's Thanksgiving rival.

The coach at Pope John in Everett for the last four coach, who was hired at Boston English on Tuesday, was speaking shortly after meeting with his new players for the first time.

“When kids think they are going to achieve some sort of goal they take more pride in it,” he added.

Named the Boston Globe’s Division 3 Player of the Year in 1990, the former Lynn English running back went on to play for Northeastern University. One of his assistant coaches at Northeastern was Tom Lamb, the legendary coach of Doug Flutie at Natick High who has been an assistant at Boston English for the last two seasons.

Lamb headed up the search for English’s new coach after the school’s former coach Chris Boswell was released from the position last month. Lamb said 35 coaches applied for the position and about eight or 9 were interviewed for the job.

“He’s a great kid, very special kid, very determined,” Lamb said of Vaughan. “He was also a very good player, but very special kid. So when he was interested in the job we talked to Pope John and talked to some different people and they all had glowing things to say about him. He’s a great person and also a great coach. And he runs an exciting offense and defense too so that’s another plus that the kids are excited about. We’re all excited.”

The 39-year-old, who served seven seasons as an assistant coach at Lynn English from 2000 to 2008, said his relationship with Lamb will help ease his transition into the new job.

“That’s huge, coach lamb gave me an opportunity to play college football,” he said. “If you look at me, I’m not that big of a guy, so a lot of college recruiters, even though I was successful in high school, with my height, people backed off a little bit. I’m 5-5, what can I say. Coach Lamb and Coach Barry Gallup at Northeastern gave me the opportunity to play college football and I’ll always owe him for that.

“Having him on the staff is excellent because everybody knows Coach Lamb is a legend. He’s going to make me a better coach, make my coaching staff a better coaching staff. He’s definitely going to make the kids better football players, actually better student athletes. I think it’s huge because he’s already given me information on kids he’s build relationships with. That’s a huge attribute and that gives me one leg up in that area.”
Vaughan, who teaches history and physical education at Pope John, is also familiar with Boston English because he worked in the schools special education department about three years ago. He said it’s been his dream to coach in a Boston public school.

“I did four years there, I loved Pope John, I loved the community there, I loved the staff there,” he said. “It was just one of those things, watching a lot of high school football, I always said I would love the opportunity to coach in Boston public. I just think there’s so much talent here and if you could try to do the things that you wanted to do and implement them in one of the schools, I think you could do something.

“I know it’s going to be challenging. I know it’s going to be hard but it’s worth it. I think it’s worth it if you can come here and some type of success, even if that success is changing the attitude of the kids.”

English finished this past season 3-7 but the team did record its first non-forfeit victory since 2009, a 14-6 win against New Mission.

After starting the season with 24 players, the injury plague squad only had 17 players on Thanksgiving Day against Latin, a game English lost 44-15.

About 16 students attended Friday afternoon’s meeting with Vaughan, who said a few more kids told him they couldn’t make it.

“He’s a good coach, I can tell he’s a good coach and he’s going to help to make us better,” junior wide receiver Gabriel Pacheco said after the meeting. “I can’t wait to start practicing with him.”

Pacheco was particularly close with Boswell and often helped the old coach scout games.

“For me it’s hard, I have to move on, life is never fair,” Pacheco said of Boswell, who coached three seasons at English. “It was hard for me when I heard the news.”
While 16 players might seem like a small amount of players to attend a first meeting with a new coach, Vaughan said only six players showed up for his first meeting at Pope John four years ago.

That team ended up winning 9 games but had to forfeit three or four of those games because they used an ineligible player.

The next two seasons they went 8-3 and made the playoffs. Last season Pope John finished 5-6.

Despite having success at Pope John with his no-huddle spread offense, Vaughan ultimately couldn’t pass up the opportunity to coach the first public high school in the United States. He’s also looking forward to coaching against the first public school in the country in the nation’s longest consecutive high school football rivalry.

But beating Latin on Thanksgiving Day will take more than just printing up a bunch of T-shirts. English has only beat Latin once since 1981 and has lost the last 14 meetings between the two schools.

“It’s going to be tough,” he said. “I’ll tell you right now it’s going to be an uphill battle. They do a good job over there. We got our hands full. That’s the challenge of coaching. I don’t want an easy coaching job. I want to be in a place where it’s going to be challenging. It will make you a better coach.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

After spending three seasons at Boston English High, Chris Boswell will not return for a fourth as head football coach. (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Boston English High is searching for just its third head football coach in 38 years after Chris Boswell was released from the position last month.

Former Natick High coach Tom Lamb, an assistant at English the past few seasons, is leading the search. Lamb, a member of the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame, said he is trying to keep the players in the weight room and in study hall until a new coach is hired.

“I’m hoping to stay a part of the program,” Lamb said during a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. “I’m trying to be that consistent piece right now to hold them into football, keep them involved. … I wish I was younger because I have the spirit but I’m in a situation where I enjoy helping a lot but we’re looking for a younger coach for the future.

“Bos did a nice job and the kids loved him. We made some progress but it didn’t work out.”

Boswell, who went 4-27 over three seasons after replacing the retired Keith Parker, said he was released from his duties Dec. 17.

“It is what it is, I’m not vengeful or upset,” Boswell said. “It was a great opportunity and a lot of fun. I wanted to stay.”

English finished this past season 3-7 after a 44-15 loss to rival Boston Latin on
Thanksgiving Day at Harvard Stadium.

The program seemed to be on the mend earlier in the year. There was a 14-6 victory over New Mission, a first-year program. The following week, English shut out South Boston, 14-0, followed by a spirited 22-14 overtime loss to O’Bryant. English bounced back to beat Charlestown, 38-8, before losing, 6-0, to Madison Park — a team that lost in the Super Bowl.

Boswell, who has taught physical education the last four years at the Edison K-8 School, was a longtime assistant coach at Thayer Academy before taking his first head coaching job at English. He said he might land an assistant job in the fall or take a season off from coaching.

Lamb said anyone interested in applying for the Boston English job should e-mail a cover letter and resume to Lamb621@yahoo.com and to the school’s athletic coordinator, Barry Robinson, at blr263@gmail.com.

“We made a small step [last season] and we’ll see if we can make another major step,” Lamb said. “So we’re trying not to be too specific. We’re looking for a real good coach to take us to the next level. You don’t want to get too specific in details because good coaches come from all kinds of backgrounds.”

Robinson said he's looking for a coach who can improve the program's lackluster headcount over the last few seasons.

"I would like to see whoever comes in, to be honest with you, show me 30 to 40 boys," Robinson said. "Can it happen? Sure, it can happen but it's going to take a tremendous amount of work. We need someone who is energetic and can beat the bush, roll up their sleeves and recruit within the building.

"We have to have someone who can build the program, someone who is innovative and just willing to get down in the trenches and build a program. It doesn't matter if they have city experience, suburban experience, or country experience. A football coach is a football coach."

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

On a night in which Madison Park and Bristol-Plymouth, combined to fumble the ball 10 times, Madison Park's Alexis Santiago recovered two key fumbles. He also scored a touchdown in the second quarter. (Barry Chin / Globe Staff)

By Mary Pavlu, Globe Correspondent

WEYMOUTH — On a snowy and wet night with a combined 10 fumbles, no one was more surehanded than Madison Park's Alexis Santiago.

“We had to bring out the heart, it’s all about heart and pride,” the senior said after recovering two key fumbles in an 18-6 victory against Bristol-Plymouth that sent the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl since 1998.

The tone of the Division 4A semifinal game at Weymouth High was set from the first play when Santiago recovered a B-P fumble.

Each team fumbled five times. B-P (5-7) lost two fumbles and Madison Park (8-4) lost only one.

With 7:15 left in the half, Santiago recovered the Craftsmen’s second lost fumble before going on to rush for a 5-yard touchdown run eight plays later. Despite an unsuccessful pass attempt on the 2-point conversion, the Cardinals still took a 12-0 lead at the half.

“We just had to get used to the way the ball was,” Santiago said. “It was really wet, so it took us time to get used to it.”

The victory came after Madison Park lost to Dorchester and then to O’Bryant on Thanksgiving. After B-P upset Blue Hills on Thanksgiving, it seemed that it would be the team to move on to the Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium at 9 a.m. Saturday. But the Cardinals had surprises in store.

“The last two games we didn’t play with any desire,” Santiago said. “We came out at this game and we knew what we had to do individually and as a team.”

Santiago said that the difference between their last two losses and Tuesday night was that they committed a lot of penalties against Dorchester and O’Bryant.

“We knew coming into this game what we had to do. We couldn’t have too many miscues or too many penalties.

“I think last game we had 135 yards in penalties – we can’t have that.”

Madison Park will play Cathedral, which beat North Shore Tech, 30-14.

“It will be amazing, it will be a new experience, said Santiago. "I’ve never been there. Personally, it’s going to be my first time.”

Santiago is confident that the Cardinals will pull together for Madison Park’s first Super Bowl win to cap off his senior year.

“It will be historic, something to hang my hat on,” he said. “They’ve never had one before, so it will be something really awesome to have our first Super Bowl.”

Mary Pavlu covers Boston Public School athletics. She can be reached at Mary.Pavlu@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryPavlu

East Boston senior defensive back Leroy McPherson breaks up a pass to South Boston junior wide receiver Pannel Davis.(Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)

By Mary Pavlu, Globe Correspondent

There was a lot on the line for the South Boston and East Boston football teams at their 95th Thanksgiving Day game Thursday at White Stadium. The rivalry was as intense as ever because East Boston recently gave up the Boston North title to Madison Park, while South Boston was seeking its first Thanksgiving win since 2008.

East Boston emerged with a 22-14 victory.

“It’s been going on for practically 100 years, so it feels really good to win with past players watching,” East Boston senior running back Matthew Robinson said. “It’s my senior year and we’ve won the past 4 years I’ve been in school, so it means a lot.”

East Boston (4-5) junior quarterback Vincent Lepore scored on a quarterback sneak at the goal line to give the Jets a 6-0 lead.

East Boston continued to dominate using its running game. Two minutes into the second quarter, senior running back Matthew Robinson scored on a 2-yard run to make it 14-0.

South Boston (3-7) made it onto the scoreboard with 15 seconds left before halftime.

After three incomplete passes in row, quarterback Hakine Walcott completed a 22-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Demario Taylor on fourth down.

Walcott then sent a 7-yard pass to junior running back Pannell Davis for a touchdown to cut East Boston's lead to 14-8.

“In the beginning we thought we had the game,” Robinson said. “When they got that pass it messed with us, but we just stayed focused and kept doing what we were doing.”

East Boston responded on its first drive in the third quarter. Robinson scored again on a 38-yard run up the middle to give East Boston a 22-8 lead.

Then South Boston's Sean Hunter decided to take some action. The Knights marched down the field, led by running backs Davis and Hunter. Hunter ran it in at the goal line for a touchdown to cut East Boston's lead to 22-14.

South Boston got the ball back with about a minute left, but couldn’t manage to get past the Jets’ defense.

“Eastie came out strong and moved the ball pretty easily,” South Boston coach Sean Guthrie said. “I’m proud of the overall effort, but mistakes hurt us in the end.”

East Boston coach John Parziale knew his team had its work cut out.

“They fought back and we had a lapse of coverage,” East Boston coach John Parziale said. “South Boston is tough and we throw records out the window on Thanksgiving.”

It was East Boston's fourth Thanksgiving win in a row.

“For a lot of years South Boston was on top, but now we are," Parziale said. “We want to keep it like that.”

Mary Pavlu covers Boston Public School athletics. She can be reached at Mary.Pavlu@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryPavlu

By Zuri Berry, Boston.com Staff

The South Boston and East Boston Thanksgiving Day game will be televised live in the city, according to the mayor's office.

The traditional Thanksgiving rivalry will be taking place at 9:30 a.m. at White Stadium and will be broadcast on Boston City TV (Comcast Ch. 24, RCN Ch. 13) as Mayor Thomas M. Menino's "Game of the Week."

The game will also be streamed on the City of Boston's website, http://www.cityofboston.gov/cable/live.asp.