JERSEY SHORE, Pa. -- The Jersey Shore football team spent part of their Thanksgiving on the practice field. The Bulldogs are set to play in the Class 4 AAAA state semifinals on Friday evening.
The Bulldogs held a light practice Thursday to prepare for their state semifinal matchup against Dallas.
"Thanksgiving morning practice was kind of a goal of ours for the last couple years, trying to be here like some other teams in northeast Pennsylvania, and we are fortunate to be here. We had a great practice, had a lot of fun," head coach Tom Gravish said.
"Practices like this need to be taken and taken seriously, and we are just grateful to be practicing on Thanksgiving," said junior Lee Springman.
Players and coaches told Newswatch 16 how thankful they are to have each other and to be with their football family.
"Every one of them is a special young man, and you know we wouldn't be here without any one of them. They are all important. They all have a role, and they all bought into the role, and hopefully, we can get a victory on Friday," Gravish said.
"Just thankful for all the friends and family I have got through this sport and all the community pulling together for everything," said senior Tanner Lorson.
After practice, Jersey Shore football players were treated to breakfast by the Jersey Shore Booster Club.
"We had planned to have maybe a little pancake breakfast. You know we thought maybe turkey and turkey might be too much on the same day," the coach added.
As soon as practice was over, some of the players were already picturing their Thanksgiving Day feast.
"Got to have the mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey all that, corn, and you got to load everything with gravy," Lorson said.
The game between Jersey Shore and Dallas will kick off at 6 p.m. Friday at Danville.