Intramural sports will reclaim the campus spotlight tomorrow night when the Alpha Theta Pi Razorbacks take the field against the annual favorites, the Beta Gamma Patriots, in the 64th annual Turkey Bowl.Alpha is looking to steal the Patriots’ claim on the Thanksgiving classic after outlasting the Pi Kappa Cobras on Tuesday night in a marathon of an ALC game. If Beta can continue its dominance tomorrow night, the team will conclude its fifth consecutive undefeated season.
“We’re not going into this game concerned about whether Beta has had five undefeated seasons or not,” said Razorbacks coach Marc Pagliuca. “We’ve played a strong series of games this season, and if we focus on doing everything well that we’ve done all season, there’s absolutely no reason we can’t compete [tomorrow night].”
The Razorbacks have won two Turkey Bowl victories in their history, the most recent being a 2007 victory over the Alpha Omega Lions.
The Turkey Bowl will also revamp a classic university tradition this year: the society parade. The SLC has worked hard to bring this festive procession of societal spirit back and hopes it will spark a revival in society pride.
“We are hoping this event will give a sense of security to people who like their society and want to be involved but are finding it hard to generate society spirit right now,” said SLC representative and parade organizer David Freeman. “We are basically trying to generate positive spirit within the student body while contributing to a great BJU tradition.”
Each society will circle around the track in whatever manner they deem best, showing off floats, sports cars and outlandish costumes while raising intramural morale in every way possible. The parade will commence at 6:30 p.m. and lead into the 7 p.m. kickoff.
The road to the Turkey Bowl
In Tuesday night’s American League semifinal, the Alpha Theta Razorbacks secured their first return to the Turkey Bowl since 2007 by defeating the Pi Kappa Cobras 1-1 (6-5). The game ended with the scores tied 1-1, and Alpha won in sudden death penalty kicks. Alpha took the lead when captain Aaron Iles ran onto a through ball and ripped a shot into the goal from 20 yards out. The Cobras fought back to force the game into overtime after Andrew Paquette scored late in the second half. Neither team scored in overtime, and the game progressed to penalty kicks. Alpha goalie Spencer Pagliuca saved two penalty shots to earn Alpha the win.
Later that evening, the Beta Gamma Patriots scored three second half goals to overcome the Alpha Omega Lions 3-0 in the National League semifinal. The game was deadlocked 0-0 at half, and Drew Peterson almost put Omega in front, but his powerful shot was saved by Beta goalie Joseph Wooster. Beta forward Eric Dickinson scored on a breakaway, and Nathan Innes later found the net twice as Beta finished the game comfortably. Beta will now play in its fifth straight Turkey Bowl.