When the Weaver and Hartford Public high school football teams combined to form a co-operative team, along with Classical Magnet, there was plenty of skepticism from all sides of the fierce city rivalry, from both alumni and players.
Hartford Public graduate and unofficial sports historian Mike Forrest, the president of the Hartford Public High Athletic Hall of Fame, called the decision “disappointing.”
Hartford Public wide receiver/defensive back Jaiden Booth, bound for Central Connecticut, admitted he had reservations as well.
“Being in Hartford, I’ve heard a lot,” Booth said Wednesday before practice at Weaver High School. “People didn’t like our co-op at first. I didn’t like the co-op at first. I’m a Pub kid. I can’t be near all this (Weaver) green.
“But we’ve been so successful this season, now it doesn’t matter. Now we’re in the playoffs.”
The Weaver/Hartford Public/Classical co-op team is 7-2. Last year, the two teams didn’t combine to win that many games (Weaver won two, Hartford Public, three). And the Hartford co-op is currently ranked fourth in the Class L rankings, unofficially clinching a spot in the playoffs.
But first the two rivals will play together for the first time on Thanksgiving Day, this year against Capital Prep/Achievement First, at 10 a.m. at Weaver High.
“The community is absorbing it and accepting it,” Weaver/Hartford Public/Classical coach Theo Harrison said. “It took a while.”
Weaver/Hartford Public/Classical’s Jyiere Perry (2) celebrates his touchdown with (1) Jaiden Booth against Haddam-Killingworth during the first half at Weaver High School on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (Aaron Flaum/Hartford Courant)
Indeed, Forrest is one of many who have accepted the change.
“I’m a Hartford person, so I’m happy they’re doing well,” Forrest said. “It’s a really good example of there’s still a lot of talent in Hartford and they’re demonstrating it, which is great. I’m coming around. I’ll probably go Thanksgiving morning and to the playoff game for sure.
“I mean, I’m old school – (Hartford Public) had a football team for 140 years and now they’re a co-op, so that was hard to swallow – but people are happy they’re doing well.”
Over the years, the proliferation of magnet schools in Hartford has drawn students and athletes away from the three main public schools and the school sizes have shrunk.
The merger was suggested as the rivals had declining numbers. Hartford Public was not going to be able to field a varsity team by itself this season.
Over time, the players have meshed on the field. Booth said the chemistry has developed as the season has progressed. The Hartford Public coach, Courtenay Jackson, is an assistant in the program and he and Harrison have known each other for years.
“The kids have embraced it – you wouldn’t be able to tell a Hartford High kid from a Weaver kid from a Classical kid, if you didn’t know we was a co-op,” Harrison said. “There are no differences; they’re from the same community. They just go to different schools.”
Hartford Public is the second-oldest public high school in the U.S. and began playing football in 1881. The teams started playing each other in 1924, after Weaver opened during the 1922-23 school year. Hartford Public won the first game, 13-0
The two teams played regularly on or around Thanksgiving until the 2019 season and the next season, football was canceled due to the pandemic. With its school undergoing renovations, Weaver fielded a junior varsity team in 2021 so the two teams didn’t play. The rivalry resumed in 2022 and Hartford Public, which advanced to the Class M playoffs with a 6-4 record, won 44-8. The last time the two teams played in 2023, for the 98th time, Weaver won 6-0. It was the Beavers’ first win over Hartford Public since 2008. Hartford Public holds a 49-40-4 advantage.
They did not play last year because Weaver was in the Pequot Conference and the Beavers had to play 10 conference games and that did not allow a game against Hartford Public, Harrison said.
So the history is long and storied. Harrison, who grew up in Hartford but went to Manchester High, remembered going to Turkey Day games when he was young.
“I used to go to the game at Dillon Stadium,” said Harrison, who coached at Weaver two years before becoming the head co-op coach. “My family went here; I graduated from Manchester. We wake up on Thursday morning and go to Dillon Stadium and watch the game. I grew up watching it.
“Family comes from out of town and it’s tradition.”
Harrison expects a good crowd at Thursday’s game.
“They can cheer for one common goal,” he said. “Here we are together – we have an opportunity to continue to make history with the Hartford co-op.”
