Published: October 03, 2009 01:36 am      

Iaeger-Big Creek series ends in a shootout

IAEGER — No longer will Big Creek and Iaeger line up on opposite sides of a football field.

From now on, the Owls and Cubs will be one.

The Iaeger Cubs went out with final bragging rights, defeating Big Creek 46-26 on Friday night at Fanning Field, the 55th and final game in a series that began in 1937.

While Big Creek finished with a 37-17-1 advantage in the series, the Cubs won 15 of the last 20, including this night when Iaeger scored 24 second-quarter points to pull away for the 20-point win.

Still, the winner was secondary on this night. As the two teams met at he center of the field after the game, the players put helmets together and let out one big “Raiders,” which will be the nickname when the Owls and Cubs are combined into Riverview High School in Bradshaw effective next fall.

“I’m glad tonight as far as football, there is no more rivalry,” said Mitch Estep, in his 30th season as the Iaeger head coach. “Tonight we’re going to be be purple, black and silver.

“Tomorrow we’ve got to back and finish the season as blue and gold, they’ve got to finish green and white, but in our hearts we will still be one.”

Jonathan Blankenship and Bradley Kelly scored two touchdowns each for Iaeger, which finished with 228 yards on the ground. Big Creek went the other direction, with Cody Underwood and Chad Franklin combining to throw for 226 yards and three touchdowns.

The 72 points the teams combined for was the third highest total series history.

While Big Creek — who took a big hit before the season when four players transferred to Richlands — dropped to 0-5, while Iaeger improved to 5-1, and find themselves in playoff contention.

“We thought thought last week was the game that gave us the initiative to start looking playoffs, and tonight just keeps you building toward that,” said Estep, of the Cubs’ win last Friday over Gilbert. “Next week we come in with a Double A school (Wyoming East) and we haven’t beat them in a while so we’ve got our hands full.”

Big Creek, which travels to Gilbert next Friday, answered a 4-yard run by Blankenship in the first quarter with a one-yard score by Joel Thomas, knotting the score at 6-6. Iaeger then scored three straight touchdowns to take a 30-6 advantage, and still led 30-12 at the break.

A long halftime show followed with “October Sky” star Natalie Canerday making an appearance, speaking to the overflow crowd, and told both sides to prepare for a bunch of firsts.

“You will miss things too, but now instead of lasts you’re going to have a whole bunch of first,” Canerday said. “The first time to play together as teammates united, the first time to really get to meet each other and hang out and make new friends.

“I remember the first time I set foot on a set for a movie called “October Sky” and it changed my life. So goodbye to the lasts tonight and look forward to the firsts ahead.”

Once the game resumed, the teams traded a pair of touchdowns apiece. The Cubs, whose biggest win in the series had been 29 points, looked poised to pass that at 48-18, but the Owls drove down field for one final score.

Big Creek head coach Mike Vallo is also anticipating a new start for both schools next season as Raiders.

“I think cooperation, trying to work together, the Cubs have a good tradition, the Owls have a good tradition, you’ve got to cherish what you accomplish and now it’s a new beginning and it’s a new start,” Vallo said.

“It’s kind of like a little phoenix, you’ve got to start all over, and do the best you can.

“I don’t like to see this school close, but what is nice is these kids deserve a new facility and that facility down there looks like it’s going to be real nice.”

Trey Bailey led Iaeger with 77 yards and a touchdown, while Kelly dashed for 74 and two scores. Underwood caught touchdown passes of 65 and 12 yards from Chad Franklin, and Underwood connected with Richard Hale for a final score with 5.8 seconds left in the game.

Neither team and the fans were no hurry to leave after the game. The party continued well into the night, with fans and players from both sides staying to enjoy what has history at Fanning Field, a facility, that ironically, opened in 1937, the first time the Cubs and Owls met on the gridiron.

Seventy-two years and 55 games later, the rivalry is over. A new partnership has begun. Call them the Riverview Raiders.

“Now we become one,” Iaeger public address announcer Wilbert Marcum said after the horn sounded for the final time on the Owls and Cubs. “There is no more Big Creek and Iaeger football series. It is over.”



at Fanning Field

Big Creek................................6 6 0 14 — 26

Iaeger.......................................6 24 8 8 — 46

Scoring

First Quarter

IG—Jonathan Blankenship 4 run (pass failed) 8:40

BC—Joel Thomas 1 run (run failed) 3:09

Second Quarter

IG—Cody Jackson 1 run (Bradley Kelly run) 11:26

IG—Trey Bailey 11 run (Jeremy Marushia run) 7:07

IG—J.Blankenship 11 run (Kelly pass from Jackson) 4:19

BC—Cody Underwood 65 pass from Chad Franklin (pass failed) 3:00

Third Quarter

IG—Kelly 8 run (Marushia run) 7:33

Fourth Quarter

BC—Underwood 12 pass from Franklin (run failed) 9:45

IG—Kelly 1 run (J.Blankenship run) 4:42

BC—Richard 28 pass from Underwood (Franklin run) 5.9

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TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: BC 15; IG 16. Rush-Yards: BC 38-80; IG 43-228. Pass Yards: BC 226; IG 48. Comp-Att-Int: BC13-21-0; IG 2-3-0. Fumbles-Lost: BC 1-0; IG 1-0. Penalty-Yards: BC 5-43; IG 5-60. Punts-Avg: BC 3-17.0; IG 2-44.5.

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: BC John Bailey 12-43, Joel Thomas 11-22, Justin Kidwell 5-17, Chad Franklin 6-3, Cody Underwood 4-(-6). IG Trey Bailey 9-77, Bradley Kelly 11-74, Jonathan Blankenship 11-54, Landon Hurley 5-21, Cody Jackson 7-3.

Passing: BC Cody Underwood 16-8-0-142-1; Chad Franklin 5-2-0-84-2; IG Cody Jackson 3-2-0-48-0.

Receiving: BC Cody Underwood 2-77, Brandon Thomas 5-52, Richard Hale 1-28, John Bailey 2-26, Kevin Bradley 1-27, Chad Franklin 1-9, Leshon Benton 1-7; IG Jeremy Marushia 1-35, Trey Bailey 1-13.