The last time Chris Lambert attended an Aquinas football practice early on Thanksgiving Day was in 2013 when the Fightin’ Irish went undefeated and won the state championship.
“It was at 6 o’clock then,” said Lambert, who was among the Aquinas alumni at the 8:30 a.m. practice Thursday for the team on the new field which opened earlier this season. The Irish head to Dacula, Georgia, on Friday to take on Hebron Christian Academy in the third round of the high school playoffs.
Chris Lambert along with his brothers, JP and Michael, wanted to support their school as well as their younger brother, Joseph, who is a sophomore on the team.
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On Wednesday, Coach James Leonard sent out a text and posted on social media a call for all former Aquinas and Boys Catholic High School football players to join the team on the field.
“It’s been a while since we’ve made it this far. We figure the first new year in the new stadium a lot of people who are home for Thanksgiving may not have seen it yet,” he said. “We’re just hoping to do this every year from here on out.”
Aquinas football and Thanksgiving went hand-in-hand during Russ Gambill’s childhood. Boys Catholic High School and then Aquinas (which was formed in 1957 after the merger of Boys Catholic High School and the all girls’ Mount St. Joseph Academy) played Richmond Academy on Thanksgiving Day for several years.
“I remember participating in parades down to the (Richmond Academy) stadium. Back in those days, there wasn’t anything on Thanksgiving. There wasn’t professional football,” said Gambill, who graduated in 1970. By the time he was playing for the Irish, though, the two teams weren’t playing on Thanksgiving Day.
Gambill’s teams didn’t have any aspirations of state titles like the current team.
“We had the first non-losing season,” he said. “We were 5-5.”
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And they didn’t even have their own field to play on. They used the ARC stadium and practiced on a dirt field, he said.
The team had its first stadium in 1977. Patrick Rachels of the Class of 1979 was on the first team to have a home of its own. He ignored the rain on Thursday to support his alma mater.
“This is good for the whole Irish nation period,” he said. “I’m excited for them. If you get this far, you’ve got a good chance. They’ve got a good team this year.”
Leonard said he’s confident heading into Friday’s game.
“The boys have had a good week. We’re healthy which is very unusual this time of year,” he said.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
