Ridley alumni make sure mystique of Thanksgiving game isn’t lost on players

RIDLEY TOWNSHIP — Jason Vosheski never rejected a play call from a Ridley High coach, not as one of an impressive string of Green Raiders quarterbacks, not 20 years after his last high school football season.

So when Ridley head coach Dave Wood called with an idea – a little unusual as it was under at least one circumstance – there was Vosheski, ready and willing to run it, and to run it right.

The play: Be among a handful of alums to return to Phil Marion Field to talk to the current Green Raiders about the importance of program history and, in particular, defeating Interboro on Thanksgiving.

Even if he is the head coach at another program – Academy Park, in Interboro’s Del Val League – Vosheski would be there.

“This is where I went,” Vosheski was saying Monday evening, after a Raiders practice. “I still live in Ridley. So if we’re not playing, this is where I want to be.”

Vosheski has been the Knights’ head coach since 2005, borrowing many of the basics that has made Ridley a generations-deep high school football power to build a powerful program of his own. One of those concepts is to ever reinforce pride in a program. That’s why, in the days leading up to the Interboro game, Wood didn’t just run his players through practices. He also ran them through history, arranging a parade of Ridley football legends to address his players.

“Shine your light,” Vosheski would advise in his pep talk. “This game is so much bigger than you might imagine. There’s going to be old heads at this game who played 50 or 60 years ago and they are going to be watching. And you might not realize it, but for some of you, this might be the last meaningful game you ever play. Leave it all on the field. Don’t save it for next year. Don’t save it for college. Leave it on the field.”

So it began, Vosheski providing the keynote speech. Later, former Raider Michael Capozzoli, the current school board president who played in the first game of the Thanksgiving series in 1965, offered similar encouragement. So did Jim Richardson from the 1985 team, long a valued assistant coach at Williamstown and Hammonton high schools in South Jersey. Due Tuesday were 1990 Green Raider Tom Ennis, along with Mike Iannacci, the broadcast voice of Ridley sports. Alum Jack McGlone was to speak Wednesday, as were Sean O’Doherty of the 2020 team and his father, Sean O’Doherty Sr., of the 1993 Raiders.

While all would attempt to spread Ridley pride, the dual-generation O’Doherty link would resonate in a way that helped hatch the initiative.

“Used to be, you could go into any Ridley huddle, ask how many of the kids had fathers or grandfathers who played here and seven, eight, nine hands would be raised,” said Brian Morris, the 2016 Raider and current linebackers coach. “It’s not like that anymore.”

Sensing that, Wood took a deeper dive and found that only five of his current players were “legacy” Green Raiders. Two-way lineman Billy Bair is the son of former quarterback Billy Bair Sr. Quarterback Ryan Carroll’s father, Steve Carroll, was an All-Delco defensive back, and his uncle, Scott Carroll, was a former quarterback. The father of tight end John Tinney, John Tinney Sr., was a Raiders quarterback. His uncle, Jeff Tinney, was a former defensive back. Mike Farren, the father of current linebacker Hunter Farren, played for the Green Raiders, as did Rick Palladino, the grandfather of sophomore running back Johnny Palladino.

But since that was all that was known to be it, Wood felt it important to reinforce the importance of the Green Mystique and the Interboro game to a newer generation.

“My dad talks about the Green Mystique and how people used to fear Ridley and stuff,” said Carroll, whose grandfather, Chip Carroll, was the Interboro quarterback in the inaugural 1965 game. “He has told me about that, and about the Thanksgiving games. It’s everyone’s last game and it means so much to the community. We’re just trying to keep that tradition.”

It has not been simple in recent years, with both the Raiders and the Bucs often busy in November with state playoff obligations. But for the Raiders, the 10:30 game Thursday morning road game will be big in multiple ways.

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Former Ridley quarterback and current Academy Park coach Jason Vosheski addresses the Green Raiders at a practice earlier this week. (MediaNews Group staff photo)