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Game fact: Whittier, Xaverian, Gloucester, Natick, Franklin, Reading, Cohasset and Holliston are the only remaining unbeaten teams among the 193 teams in Eastern Mass.

Whittier leaders

Beverly High sophomore linebacker Nick Kozlowski lets his performance do the talking on the football field.

Otherwise, his silence is deafening.

"Yeah, Nick is a man of few words," Beverly head coach Dan Bauer says with obvious amusement. "We had him out there with our younger group taking every snap in 90-degree heat against Wakefield in the preseason | and he didn't say 'boo'."

Roy Norden never planned to be part of two of the greatest Thanksgiving Day football rivalries in the state of Massachusetts.

He grew up in the Roslindale section of Boston and enrolled at Boston English High School | but not with playing football in mind. He knew it was a 10- to 12-mile trolley ride to school, but was totally unaware of the school's rich football tradition. He admits he was "rather naive, but soon learned."

Whether you're a regular bleacher creature or this is your first time back in the stands in years, looking cute for the big Thanksgiving Day football game is important.

Why? Because all eyes certainly won't be on the field.

Jeannie Dabbs of Beverly designed a knitting pattern for a Harry Potter scarf that she's been sharing with knitters at Abbott Yarn Shoppe in Beverly, where she works.

With Thanksgiving football games coming up, though, she said this scarf can easily be adapted from Harry Potter's gold and maroon Gryffindor colors to the colors of your local team. For example, if Dabbs were to make a team scarf this year she might choose red and white because she's rooting for Newburyport High, where her nephew plays.

The players on the field aren't the only ones looking to bulk up before the big game. Many hungry fans also need a good breakfast before heading to their seats in the bleachers.

Those at home who would like to dine in the spirit of tailgating before the 10 a.m. kickoff can try the following recipes from "Fan Fare: A Playbook of Great Recipes for Tailgating or Watching the Game at Home" (Harvard Common Press, 2007).

Cooking disasters on Thanksgiving Day are as traditional as turkey and pumpkin pie, especially when the host or hostess is juggling the cooking schedule with the annual family outing to the local Thanksgiving Day football game.

In the Pike Family, the Thanksgiving day meal has always been scheduled around the big Haverhill High football game. Sandy (Pike) Faraci, who hosts dinner for 30 to 35 family members, is the daughter of the late Bill Pike, who announced the Haverhill football games for many years.

Looking to avoid cooking altogether this Thanksgiving? Be thankful for turkey to go.

Thanksgiving is a notoriously labor-intensive day for chefs, experienced or not, and many locals are hanging up their aprons and picking up the phone. In fact, 53 percent of Americans buy prepared foods for all or part of their Thanksgiving meals, according to a survey by the National Restaurant Association.

OK, so maybe you know the game is played with an egg-shaped ball on a green field emblazoned with a bunch of numbers, but how much do you really know about football?

Here's a primer for football game rookies and even some longtime fans who never really understood what the announcer was shouting about.

The scene is idyllic: Several generations of family gathered around a linen-draped dining room table set with the good china and silver after a day of football, cooking and laughter.

The patriarch, dressed in a jacket and tie, stands at the head of the table as his wife, her neatly pressed dress protected by an equally neatly pressed white apron, presents a perfectly browned turkey on a platter. The balance of guests sit politely | even the children, all smiles, oogling the bird.

So your son, the quarterback, has sulked in his room, in the kitchen, and in the living room for nearly three hours because his team got trounced on the field in front of his hometown, Thanksgiving Day crowd.

If you're going to your Thanksgiving football game, chances are you're going to run into somebody you knew in high school.

Whether you're reuniting with an old school pal in the stands or you have a formal high school reunion this fall, professional etiquette consultant Jodi R.R. Smith of Mannersmith in Marblehead, Mass., has taken a few minutes to answer some pressing questions about how to make sure it goes well.

Austin Prep at Bishop Fenwick
Andover at Central Catholic
Methuen at Dracut
Manchester Essex at Georgetown
Danvers at Gloucester
Lawrence at Greater Lawrence Tech
Hamilton-Wenham at Ipswich
Lowell at Haverhill
Peabody at Malden Catholic
Swampscott at Marblehead
North Andover at Masconomet
Amesbury at Newburyport
North Shore Tech at Northeast Regional
Lynnfield at North Reading
Beverly at Salem
Xaverian at St. John's Prep
Pentucket at Triton
Cathedral at Whittier