(NECN: Alison King) - After 53 years on the sidelines, a high school football coach is hanging up his whistle. Lexington High School football coach Bill Tighe is 86 years old and Thanksgiving Day was his last game.
At 86, Tighe is the oldest high school football coach in the country. He may be retiring, but Tighe has more energy and enthusiasm than many half his age.
His competitive spirit is as hot as when he played at Boston University, a football and baseball stand out in the late 1940s.
After college, Tighe served in the Pacific with the Army air corps during World War II before taking his first coaching job at Wakefield High School - becoming head coach in 1957.
In 1962, when Wakefield went undefeated, the town sent Tighe and the team to Washington D.C. where they got a White House tour and the thrill of a lifetime.
Four Middlesex League Championships later, Tighe went to Malden High School in 1964.
Then, in 1975, Tighe's long career with Lexington began.
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Tighe's one liners and sense of humor are legendary. Though there were tough times as well - two of his six children died of cystic fibrosis - his wife died a few years ago. But at this game - his last game, only happy memories from the dozens and dozens of former players who turned out to honor coach Tighe at half time.
Coach Tighe is looking forward to spending more time with his grand children and great grandchildren, though he's not closing the door on anything yet.
Best of all, coach Tighe is going out with a win:
Lexington 14, Burlington nothing.
