'Once in a lifetime' Franklin football players elated to face King Philip at Fenway

Luke Trinanes' phone chimed a notification during his AP studio drawing class.

The Franklin senior wide receiver paused from composing a modernized samurai to examine a message from his teammates. Their Thanksgiving rivalry game against King Philip was one of four high school football games that will be played at Fenway Park.

"I was so excited," Trinanes said. "I have a memory from when I was a kid and I was on my dad’s shoulders. That was a big memory for me. That was the last time I was at Fenway. It’s been like 10 years."

Now his dad will watch him in the outfield Tuesday, November 21, at 7:30 p.m.

Franklin's entire team found out once Fenway Park announced the matchups Wednesday. Panthers coach Eian Bain breathed a small sigh of relief. He's had to keep the secret since July.

The Red Sox initially reached out to Franklin athletic director Karrah Ellis, who relayed the opportunity.

"We didn’t apply for anything. I didn’t ask for anything on my end. Somehow we were thought of, they asked us, we said we were interested," Bain said. "They gave us a date and a time, and we rolled with it."

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The Franklin brain trust convened with King Philip's to make sure it was the right opportunity. Both teams have made significant playoff runs in recent seasons. The Warriors played for the Division 2 Super Bowl a season ago, while the Panthers made the Division 1 quarterfinals. King Philip is the back-to-back Division 2 state finalist, and Franklin reached the 2021 state semifinals.

"Fortunately both programs have been in position where we’ve made pretty significant runs in the playoffs in recent memory, them going further than us, but both making good runs, but we both said this was one of those things where it’s a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity," Bain said. "We want to make sure we provide that opportunity to our players. Regardless of what happens in the postseason, playoffs, state championships and all that stuff, if we’re fortunate enough to be in that position, great, but basically KP and us were like let’s do it."

The 2023 edition was supposed to be in Franklin after the Panthers' dramatic win in Wrentham a season ago, but senior linebacker Jermaine Flecha doesn't mind forgoing that venue for the chance to make tackles in the shadow of the Green Monster.

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"This is one of the biggest, best rivalries in Mass. For us to play at a place like that, it’s going to make it even better," Flecha said.

Players from previous graduating classes have reached out to this season's crop of seniors expressing admiration with a hint of jealousy.

"Like wow we're so lucky because they would want to do that, too," Flecha said. "It’s surprising and awesome to know that maybe my last game ever as a franklin panther is going to be at Fenway."

Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk. 

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Franklin football players relish chance to face King Philip at Fenway