By Michael Letendre

It’s always fun to look back at past Thanksgiving Day battles between Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern as a ton of talented individuals have stormed Muzzy Field over the holiday break.

And starting in 1996, the contest started to feature the Thomas R. Monahan Player of The Game Awards.

And from Reinaldo Soto, Tim Washington, and D.J. and Aaron Hernandez, the list of Offensive and Defensive players of the game represents a who’s who list of Bristol’s finest athletes.

Here’s a look at every Battle for the Bell Offensive and Defensive Player of The Game award winners, starting in 1996:  

THOMAS R. MONAHAN
PLAYER OF THE GAME AWARDS

1996

BE Offensive Player of the Game: Reinaldo Soto

BE Defense Player of the Game: Rob Houle

BC Offense Player of the Game: Nick Richardson

BC Defense Player of the Game: Garth Camp

1997 

BE Offense: Pat Brookman

BE Defense: Ryan Forcier

BC Offense: Craig Capurso

BC Defense: Brian Kozikowski

1998

BE Offense: Pat Brookman and Reinaldo Soto

BE Defense: Ryan Bauder

BC Offense: Craig Capurso

BC Defense: Jim Piotrowski

1999 

BE Offense: Ed Stanton

BE Defense: Eric Carbone

BC Offense: Tim Washington

BC Defense: Mike Egan

2000

BE Offense: Eric Carbone

BE Defense: Adam Zadrozny

BC Offense: Tim Washington

BC Defense: Mike Drury

2001

BE Offense: Brian Walker

BE Defense: Adam Zadrozny

BC Offense: Tim Washington

BC Defense: Jason Kasparian

2002

BE Offense: Brian Walker

BE Defense: Nick Consonni

BC Offense: Breyone Evans

BC Defense: Mike Correa 

2003 

BE Offense: Greg Jenkins

BE Defense: Kyle Curtis

BC Offense: D.J. Hernandez

BC Defense: Josh Whistnant

2004 

BE Offense: Lorenzo Brown

BE Defense: Jeff Laroche

BC Offense: Cory Brown, Sean Ware and Steve Ziogas

BC Defense: Mike Fiorini

2005

BE Offense: Kyle Mullaney

BE Defense: Greg Grochowski

BC Offense: Dustin Tucker

BC Defense: Jeremy Raducha

2006 

BE Offense: Todd Krolikowski

BE Defense: Joe Langer

BC Offense: Aaron Hernandez

BC Defense: Dennis Sansoucie

2007 

BE Offense: David Casanova

BE Defense: Tom Tarantino

BC Offense: Matt Coyne

BC Defense: Nolan Galipo

2008 

BE Offense: Dean Connelly

BE Defense: Tyrell Holmes

BC Offense: Dymetric Maisonet

BC Defense: Dan Belfi

2009 

BE Offense: Raymond Ortiz

BE Defense: Dylan Oakes

BC Offense: Jared Lincoln

BC Defense: Kyle Pecevich

2010 

BE Offense: Dylon Ouellette

BE Defense: Tyrell Holmes

BC Offense: Tim White

BC Defense: John Simpson

2011 

BE Offense: Jahmil Effend

BE Defense: Mitch Wheelock

BC Offense: Mike Benites

BC Offense: Dylan Stanco

2012 

BE Offense: Nick Crowley

BE Defense: Harrison Sacharko

BC Offense: Jake Martel

BC Defense: Jarrett Michaels

2013 

BE Offense: Gerry Ouellette

BE Defense: Kyle Porter

BC Offense: Tyler Burrow

BC Defense: Christian Hildebrand

2014 

BE Offense: Gerry Ouellette

BE Defense: Allen Arbuckle

BC Offense: D’Andre Conaway

BC Defense: Tommy Nelligan
2015 

BE Offense: Josh Sampson

BE Defense: Zac Thompson

BC Offense: Noah Cruz

BC Defense: Tyler Boi

2016 

BE Offense: Connor Trowbridge

BE Defense: Tyler Mason

BC Offense: Luis Medina

BC Defense: Mike Guzman

2017 

BE Offense: Ariza Kolloverja

BE Defense: Elijah Gagliardo

BC Offense: Dathan Hickey

BC Defense: Devon Dawson

2018 

BE Offense: Justin Marshall

BE Defense: Matt D’Amato

BC Offense: Justus Fitzpatrick

BC Defense: Ryan Rodriguez

2019 

BE Offense: Alex Marshall

BE Defense: Bobby Mosback

BC Offense: Victor Rosa

BC Defense: Jakob Salinas

And while we’re here, let’s look at all the scores from past Central/Eastern battles: a historic rivalry that first took place in 1959 when Bristol high school broke off into two individual institutions.

Currently, the Rams lead the all-time series by 13 games:

Here’s all the scores from past showdowns:

All-Time Records: Bristol Central leads the series, 36-23-2

1959 — Bristol Central, 14-0

1960 — Bristol Central, 20-0

1961 — Bristol Central, 20-0

1962 — Tie, 6-6

1963 — Bristol Eastern, 16-0

1964 — Bristol Eastern, 21-0

1965 — Bristol Eastern, 14-0

1966 — Bristol Eastern, 20-13

1967 — Bristol Central, 8-0

1968 — Bristol Eastern, 20-13

1969 — Bristol Eastern, 27-6

1970 — Bristol Eastern, 32-22

1971 — Bristol Central, 34-0

1972 — Bristol Central, 16-12

1973 — Bristol Eastern, 7-0

1974 — Bristol Eastern, 7-6

1975 — Bristol Central, 19-0

1976 — Bristol Central, 20-6

1977 — Bristol Central, 24-21

1978 — Bristol Central, 22-6

1979 — Bristol Central, 8-6

1980 — Bristol Central, 12-0

1981 — Bristol Central, 13-8

1982 — Bristol Central, 18-13

1983 — Bristol Central, 6-0

1984 — Bristol Central, 33-8

1985 — Bristol Eastern, 14-8

1986 — Bristol Central, 31-0

1987 — Bristol Central, 22-0

1988 — Bristol Eastern, 14-12

1989 — Bristol Central, 20-13

1990 — Bristol Central, 34-14

1991 — Bristol Central, 20-14

1992 — Bristol Central, 24-0

1993 — Bristol Central, 18-0

1994 — Bristol Eastern, 22-6

1995 — Bristol Central, 12-0

1996 — Bristol Eastern, 29-14

1997 — Bristol Eastern, 33-7

1998 — Bristol Eastern, 35-7

1999 — Bristol Central, 28-6

2000 — Bristol Central, 39-0

2001 — Bristol Central, 36-12

2002 — Bristol Central, 38-0

2003 — Bristol Central, 20-0

2004 — Bristol Central, 20-0

2005 — Bristol Central, 20-7

2006 — Tie, 14-14

2007 — Bristol Eastern, 42-14

2008 — Bristol Eastern, 34-28

2009 — Bristol Eastern, 46-13

2010 — Bristol Eastern, 35-0

2011 — Bristol Eastern, 21-14

2012 — Bristol Eastern 17-6

2013 ­— Bristol Eastern, 21-18

2014 ­— Bristol Eastern, 20-18

2015 — Bristol Central, 12-4

2016 — Bristol Central, 30-12

2017 — Bristol Central, 33-27

2018 — Bristol Central 24-19

2019 — Bristol Central 34-32 (OT)