Thanksgiving Rivals Monomoy, JPII Join Together To Form Co-op Football Team

HARWICH – When Monomoy and St. John Paul II faced off on Thanksgiving last year, there were perhaps barely more than 40 players combined between both football teams.

This year, there won’t even be a Thanksgiving game, short numbers or not — for good reason. The two high schools have coalesced to field a co-op team in 2025. With 20 players from Monomoy and 15 from JPII, the joining together of Thanksgiving opponents — Sharks and Lions — no doubt creates a more robust football program.

“I was definitely a little worried how Thanksgiving Day rivals were going to come together and make one team, but the kids have really brought it together,” Head Coach Rob Sliney said. “They look really good. It brought our numbers up.”

Sliney was talking with Monomoy athletic director Karen Guillemette in the latter weeks of last season about the need to do something about the football program. Guillemette brought up the idea of a co-op, Sliney said. They bounced around teams. JPII made the most sense, and a Monomoy-JPII football team stuck.

The high schools have played against each other as Thanksgiving rivals since 2018. No holiday game is scheduled for the co-op team this year. Sliney looked for a game, he said, but the closest match-ups he could find were four-hour trips.

“That was tough,” he said. “We're hoping to find something in the future.”

In the early goings, the co-op has seen good results and positive reactions. With the increased numbers, the team can run live reps — practicing in game-like conditions — and Sliney can get players off the field for breaks during games. That contrasts with years past where depth has been hard to get.

“It's good for us, because we both had a really short roster, and it's really working out really well for both of us,” Monomoy sophomore Izaiah Freeman said.

Monomoy went 5-6 while JPII went 4-5 in 2024. A scrimmage against Martha’s Vineyard at Monomoy last Thursday acted as something of a measuring stick for the new combined squad. Last year, Monomoy lost 33-14 and JPII lost 27-6 to Martha’s Vineyard. The joint Monomoy-JPII team, in comparison, lost 21-14 in the scrimmage. 

For uniforms, the Shark-Lions — or Lion-Sharks — will mix and match throughout the season, wearing JPII jerseys some games and Monomoy for others, according to Sliney. The team wore JPII practice jerseys during scrimmages during the preseason. 

The situation can be odd in ways for the players — JPII players arriving to practice by bus, everyone feeling like they’re playing with a whole bunch of new guys — and yet there’s excitement, a sense that the team played well and made strides through the preseason, that the Shark-Lions have a good roster with good players and potential.

“We felt like a family, like already, and I feel like that's a really good bond, and we're going to have a really good future as a team,” Freeman said. 

Freeman competed with fellow Monomoy sophomore Dylan Smith for the first-string quarterback role through the preseason, each taking reps against Martha’s Vineyard. Neither have played quarterback before, according to Sliney, who said that a decision on the starter would be made after Labor Day. 

The cornerstone of the defense is Monomoy senior linebacker Sean Needham. “He’s that guy,” Sliney said.

“He knows every call,” Sliney said. “He sees everything on the field. He calls it all out. He’s a genius out there.”

On offense, Needham had played as a lineman for years but has been moved to running back. Also set to take carries at running back is Monomoy sophomore Jakob Conlon. 

“He's been working his tail off, starting last offseason,” Sliney said.

Sliney changed the whole offense up from what he’s run in the past. Monomoy-JPII this year will try to play more West Coast-style, putting the emphasis on short passes.

“Get our quarterback out of the pocket, get some quick dink and dunk passes going back and forth and just kind of move the ball down the field,” Sliney said. “I want to be fast and efficient.”

The team is also sophomore-heavy, so there will be some longevity on the roster moving forward, according to Sliney. The goal, other than winning, is to build a positive program.

“I'm hoping that we kind of really buy into this and make it last for the next couple seasons, really build the numbers, so if we do decide to split back, at least both teams would be sustainable programs,” Sliney said.