My City June 2021

MYHISTORY

FLINT NORTHERN HIGH SCHOOL Home of the State Champions BY PETER HINTERMAN

had the chance for glory and bragging rights over his former friends.The crowd hushed as Supak started his cadence. On “three!” the ball was snapped. Supak took the ball and leapt forward under the protection of his linemen, extending the ball forward as far as he could reach. When the play was over, the ball had crossed the goal line and after a perfect extra-point kick, Northern led 7-0. After holding off a frantic comeback attempt by Central, Northern left for Thanks giving dinner as winners.The rivalry holiday game would last for nearly 50 years with the final game played in 1976 and won by the Central Indians 7-6. When the Flint High School year ended in 1927, the students didn’t know what to expect when they returned. A

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T he crowd was going crazy at Dort Memorial Field. The inaugural Thanksgiving Game between the Central Red-blacks and Northern Eskimos was scoreless midway through the fourth quarter and Central had just made the first mistake.The Red-blacks were pegged back against the goal line when the run ning back fumbled the ball while fighting

for more yardage. A scrum ensued and when the pile was finally sorted out, the ball was in the hands of an Eskimo on the one-yard line. Now, with all the momentum on his side, Northern’s quar terback, Joe Supak, needed to capitalize. Just a year before, he and all of his current teammates were lining up alongside their Central adversaries and joining them in classes and rallies. At this moment, Supak

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