NHS vs. Belleville Thanksgiving Day football game moved to start the season

The Nutley vs. Belleville high school varsity football game has long been a Thanksgiving Day tradition, drawing huge crowds from both communities.
But last week, a decision was made to move the game from Thanksgiving to the season opener.
With Nutley moving to the Super Essex Conference-American Division, the change benefits both the Nutley and Belleville programs  “to play that game when it counts, which is at the beginning of the season,” NHS athletic director Joe Piro said.
With the game serving as the season opener, both teams will be able to accumulate playoff power-points and “put our programs in a better position to qualify for the state playoffs,” said Piro, a 1989 NHS graduate who played football for the Raiders.
The decision was jointly made by both administrations, Piro said.
“We feel it was in the best interests of the student-athletes, the programs and the football teams,” Piro said. “We understand and respect the Thanksgiving Day traditions. However, this gives us an opportunity to start new traditions, move forward and making it into a gridiron kickoff event, rather than a season-ending event.”
The game has been played on or around Thanksgiving since 1984. Since then, Nutley leads the series, 4-22-2.
Piro said there are no plans at this time to move the game back to Thanksgiving in future seasons.
Though he enjoyed the Thanksgiving Day tradition, Piro cited his responsibility to put the student-athletes in the best possible position to succeed and to win a state championship.
“The decision, in my opinion, is an educationally-sound decision,” Piro said. “I played the game myself in 1988. However, in the issue of progress and making the programs better, this is the best move.”