The perennial football power Dunbar Crimson Tide beat the upstart Coolidge Colts 35-21 Thursday in the 54th annual D.C. Turkey Bowl to repeat as champions of the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association.
It was Coolidge’s first appearance in the game, D.C.’s public high school football championship, in more than a decade. Dunbar won 2023’s Turkey Bowl over Ballou High School by a score of 28-7.
Even if the teams might change every year, you’re also bound to see many of the same fans over and over again each season. It’s as big a Thanksgiving tradition as any other in D.C.
Shawn Duffy, a Coolidge alum, called it an Uptown versus Downtown battle.
“This is prime time. This is like the Super Bowl for high school,” Duffy said. “It makes everything worthwhile and lets them get the experience the pros do and what the colleges do.”
While he was decked out in Coolidge orange, other people wore jackets and apparel for other schools not even playing. That included Robby Preston.
“It’s almost like a reunion,” Preston said. “Every time you come, you’re going to see schools and jackets from all over the city. People that you haven’t seen since graduating high school. So it’s kind of like a yearly event. I come with my boys every year.”
The word used the most throughout the day was “camaraderie” among city residents and football fans.
“I come to D.C. every year for the Turkey Bowl, the camaraderie and to support the kids,” said Leon Rivers, who lives in Maryland but makes it a point to come to the game.
“It’s just an event. You get a chance to laugh and talk about the old times and talk about the future, which is the kids,” he said. “You don’t even need any connection to your team’s playing. I have no connection to either team.”
He said most years it’s the biggest deal for the city, period, at least on Thanksgiving.
“Next to the Washington Commanders playing on Thanksgiving Day, this probably is number one on Thanksgiving Day for people to be at,” Rivers said, “going to the Turkey Bowl.”
And while a lot of the local private schools have started luring away kids that would have starred in this game in years past, Timothy Abele said there’s still a lot of bragging rights on the line.
“It does matter,” Abele said. “And it brings people that you haven’t seen together back together as one.”
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