The series began with both teams' formation in 1887. Prior to 1887, English and Latin had fielded a unified team.[6]
Until the late 1960s, the rivalry was fairly even. Since that time, Latin has dominated the series, leading all time 83–39–13, and winning 52 of the last 58 contests (1964-2022). Latin's dominance could be considered at its zenith in the 1970s when they held English to only 28 points for the entire decade.
Ten of the games ended in scoreless ties, a rare feat in modern football at any level, although the last instance of this came in 1945. The implementation of overtime has dramatically reduced the number of tie games throughout the game of football.
Much of the series has been decided in blowout victories by one side or the other, with 63 of the 134 games being decided by shutouts and 39 of the contests ending in 20-point or more victories.
^"Boston Latin School". Encyclopædia Britannica. February 18, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2014. oldest existing school in the United States
^"English High School". Boston Public Schools. Retrieved January 9, 2014. The oldest public high school in the United States
^Mark Tennis; Doug Huff (August 23, 2005). "High school football's top 10 rivalries". Rivals.com from Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 9, 2014. Boston Latin also happens to be the oldest high school in the U.S. (founded in 1635) while Boston English is the oldest public high school in the U.S. (founded 1821)
^Mark Tennis; Doug Huff (August 23, 2005). "High school football's top 10 rivalries". Rivals.com from Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved January 9, 2014. nation's longest, continuous high school sports rivalry game is held in Boston each Thanksgiving
^* Emily Werchadlo (November 24, 2005). "It's still defined by Latin and English". Boston.com. Boston Globe Media. Retrieved January 9, 2015. It still has all the features of a great rivalry. Two of the oldest schools in the country, sharing the same city name, playing on Thanksgiving Day for 119 consecutive years.
^Bob Holmes (November 21, 2012). "What Oneida club reveals about high school football history". Boston.com. Boston Globe Media. Retrieved January 9, 2014. The first Thanksgiving game between Boston Latin and Boston English was 1887. Prior to that, the two schools played against other Boston area schools as a united team called High & Latin School, or H.L.S. But by 1887, the two schools had grown enough to form their own teams, according to research done by Boston English trustee Peter Powilatis.