'Unlikely' Winnacunnet football family reunion on Thanksgiving at Lowell's Cawley Stadium
HAMPTON – Jack Hogan, just two days after his 18th birthday, will walk alongside his fellow senior captains on the Winnacunnet High School football team and head to midfield of Cawley Memorial Stadium in Lowell, Massachusetts ahead of Thanksgiving morning’s game against Lowell High School.
For Hogan, a two-stay starting lineman for Winnacunnet, standing at midfield for the pre-game coin toss against the Lowell Red Raiders at Cawley Stadium will be an extra special moment not only for him, but for his family.
Edward Cawley, who the stadium is named after, is Hogan’s great-great-grand uncle on his mother’s side. Cawley was a three-sport standout at Lowell High School from 1909 to 1912, starring in football, track and baseball. He passed away in 1965 at the age of 71.
“I am pretty excited,” said Hogan, who didn’t know the history of the stadium until his grandmother shared the family lineage with him after it was announced last Friday afternoon that Winnacunnet would step in for Haverhill (Mass.) High School and play Lowell on Thanksgiving morning. “All my family is excited.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m.
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“This is just another bonus to an unexpected good thing for us,” Winnacunnet head football coach Ryan Francoeur said. “Jack is a great kid for us, and a great captain. I am happy this will make the day a little bit more special for everybody, especially his family.”
“Normally, Jack and his dad would go to Newburyport, Amesbury or Triton to see a game on Thanksgiving,” said Katie Hogan, Jack’s mom. “So when this game developed, and then it was against Lowell at Cawley Stadium, it just became a thing. The family is all excited. We’re all going to the game together.”
Stadium dedicated in Cawley's name in 1966
The stadium was dedicated in Cawley’s honor and was named Edward D., Cawley Memorial Stadium in a ceremony on Oct. 30, 1966 prior to Lowell’s annual game against Keith Academy. Cawley captained the Lowell football and baseball teams in 1912, and later went on to play football at Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
Late in that 1966 season, Peabody High School played Lowell High School. Two of Cawley’s great nephews were in the game: Kenny Green was the captain for Lowell, and Stephen Begley, Hogan’s great uncle, was a captain for Peabody. Begley, who now lives in Middleton, Massachusetts, will be at Thursday’s game.
“(This Thursday) will be historic,” said Begley, a 1967 graduate of Peabody High School who was a guard and linebacker for the school’s football team. “I think it will be a great honor for (Jack) and the whole family. The family will be well represented. I am really looking forward to seeing Jack play.”
Steven’s younger brother, Eddie Begley, also was a captain for Peabody High School during his playing days. He, like Jack will 53 years later, played his final high school game at Cawley Stadium in 1969. Eddie, a 1970 graduate of Peabody, attended all of Winnacunnet’s 10 games this season, and drove to his winter home in Florida after Winnacunnet’s last game, a 20-14 win at Manchester Central.
Once he learned Winnacunnet had one more game, against Lowell at Cawley Stadium, Eddie immediately booked a flight to Boston. He will return to Florida on Friday.
“You can't make this stuff up, you know what I mean,” a jubilant Eddie said from his Florida home Monday morning ahead of his Wednesday afternoon flight. “It’s unbelievable, this is a big deal for our family. Our family’s roots go back to Lowell, and now Jack gets to play on a field that is named after one of his great uncles, and where two of his other great uncles played; it’s unbelievable.”
Katie Hogan, a niece of Stephen and Eddie Begley, said this turn of events has the immediate and extended family excited for an unexpected final high school football game for Jack at a stadium that is special to the entire family.
"The circumstances how this came together is so unlikely,” Katie said. “We’re so excited and people are moving mountains to get here and make sure we’re all together to watch the game and enjoy watching Jack play at Cawley Stadium.”
Katie expects anywhere from 15 to 20 family members to arrive for the game.
“Anybody who knows the Cawleys, and who has heard about this game has contacted us to make sure Jack knows he's related to (Edward Cawley),” Katie said. “Everybody's just so excited.”
Eddie texted his brother once news of the game came about.
“Uncle Eddie has been at every single game, and every practice, this season for Jack,” Katie said. “He wasn't going to miss this game. He texted (Stephen), and said this is ‘Legendary, we have to go.’”
Jack’s maternal grandfather, Gerry Burrell, is also flying from his Florida home after watching the entire Winnacunnet regular season, and driving to Florida after the Central game.
“When everything started to break (about this game), I was getting emails and texts from everyone, and I am like ‘What the heck’s going on here?’” Burrell said. “This is a big deal, football was always part of our family’s Thanksgiving. This is pretty cool.”
For Jack, it’s one more game to put on the pads and play a game he, and his family, loves. He said all the attention he’s getting, and knowing that so many relatives are changing holiday travel plans at the last minute to come up for the game makes him happy.
“It makes me feel like people care,” Hogan said. “I think this is a crazy coincidence; it doesn't make me too nervous. I thought I was definitely done with football after our last game. We're just going to go out and have fun with this game on Thursday. I think it's crazy, it’s absolutely cool.”
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Winnacunnet football family reunion at Cawley Stadium in Lowell
