This is the 1929 West Springfield High School football team — the first West Side team to beat Agawam. It was also the first WSHS football team to have an undefeated season that year.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
AGAWAM — The Agawam Brownies and the West Side Terriers will compete in their annual Thanksgiving Day game this year in Agawam. Although the 2024 game will mark the 100th time the gridiron rivals have battled it out, not all games have been on Thanksgiving.
In fact, between 1924 and 1955, they were usually played the first week in November — and that wasn’t their last games of the season it is now. But it’s the only game that has been on each team’s schedule since 1924.
“In my day, the 1964 game wasn’t played on Thanksgiving. The tradition of the two teams facing off against each other likely began in the 1970s or ‘80s,” said Lawrence Scherpa, an Agawam native and AHS graduate (class 1965), who is compiling a historical booklet, “100 Years of Agawam-West Springfield Football, Volume I, The Leatherhead Era: 1924-1955.”
Scherpa, who has produced several booklets about the history of Agawam schools, most recently a booklet profiling AHS football teams from 1924 to 1999 for the program’s 100th anniversary, The new booklet will complement the one on the teams.
“Focusing on one game rather than an entire season makes my job as a researcher easier,” he said. “I’m also concentrating on some of the positive traditions that have evolved surrounding the game over the years — pep rallies, cheerleader visitations, bonfires, that sort of thing. Every day I learn something new.”
Scherpa was inspired by his memories of The Game. “My first memory was when I was eight years old and went to the 1956 game. I enjoyed it and — at the time — the larger-than-life players in their helmets and uniforms. Helmets and uniforms are a big deal when you are eight,” he said.
Scherpa also enjoyed the pageantry of the game — the band, the color guard, the majorettes and, of course, the cheerleaders.
“The 25-cent hot dogs were good, too. I can still hear the band playing the ‘Joyous and Ever Loyal’ AHS theme song after touchdowns were scored. I remember players running onto the field at the start of the game as a team, but leaving the field at the end of the game as individuals — the lucky ones joined by their cheerleader girlfriends,” he said.
Doing most of his research on his home computer, Scherpa subscribes to a powerful newspaper search engine. It allows access to feature stories that preceded each game and news stories of “The Game.” He also consulted AHS yearbooks online as needed through the Agawam Public Library’s (APL) website. The West Springfield Public Library had physical yearbooks that he reviewed.
Scherpa’s biggest challenge: the scope of the project — 100 games. To make it more manageable he’s breaking it down into eras. “The first volume is the era when players wore leather helmets, no faceguards, metal cleats and uniforms that offered little protection,” he said.
Although the booklet is by an AHS grad with an Agawam perspective, Scherpa is making every effort to include information about West Springfield’s teams — coaches, captains, lineups, game preparation, etc.
Scherpa has newspaper photos of West Springfield players and teams, including a team photo from a 1930 WSHS yearbook of the 1929 team that was the first to defeat Agawam. “I’m keeping a statistics sheet on all of those who scored points for Agawam, and a separate one for those who scored for West Side. When completed, there will be enough information about West Springfield to make the booklet interesting and informative for West Side fans.”
He’s spent countless hours on the project, often getting absorbed in the topic and details of each game. “It becomes a bit of an obsession, especially when trying to meet a deadline — self-imposed or otherwise. But it’s not work if you enjoy what you are doing — and I’m really enjoying ‘The Game’ project.”
Some interesting facts Scherpa has uncovered in his research
- In the 1920s and early 1930s, Agawam players were referred to as the Smithmen, the Rivermen, the River School or the Orange and Brown. In 1933, one sportswriter referred to the team as the Agawam “Bears” — but it didn’t stick. The word Brownie wasn’t used until 1934.
- The first reference to West Side teams as Terriers was in a 1935.
- Deadlines could be confusing since the term “West-Siders” was used in reference to both teams that were West of the Connecticut River.
- The ball used until 1934 was similar to a rugby ball. After 1934, it resembled a modern football with points on both ends.
- Creighton Abrams recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass in the 1931 game with West Side.
- Some of the early games were played at the Eastern States Exposition.
Although he loved the game, Scherpa didn’t play AHS football like his father. Coach Harmon Smith told him when he was a ninth grader that he was too small. Sill, Scherpa got in involved in the Agawam-West Springfield rivalry while growing up.
Scherpa remembers the rivalry was “quite intense” when he was in high school. “You dared not go to the West Side Friendly’s the week prior to ‘The Game’ at risk of bodily harm. It took great courage for anyone from West Springfield to drive through the Agawam Friendly’s parking lot – the few who did, regretted it.”
Winning or losing, “The Game” defined the season for both teams, Scherpa said. “For many AHS graduates an Agawam-West Side game is a must attend event. Perhaps it’s because of the intensity of the rivalry we all felt when we were younger. Most AHS grads have positive memories of the game because Agawam usually won.”
Scherpa hopes to have the first volume posted on the APL website by the end of November or early December. For more information, email Scherpa: lscherpa@comcast.net.
