2012 IHSAA Football, Week 7

Earlier this week I attended my sister’s volleyball game at City High. In the foyer between the old and new gyms, on its own pedestal and enclosed in glass, was the Boot. I took a good, long look at it because it will be spending the next year at West High.

Tonight my dad and I opted to stay in for the night instead of bundling up for a high school football game. We thought about going to Dyersville to visit family and see Beckman play but decided to take a Friday off. I am unsure where we would have gone anyway. One place we were not going, I knew, was Trojan Field for the latest edition of the Battle for the Boot between City and West.

I want to correct an error from last week. I wrote, “I think West will recapture the Boot next week for only the second time in 12 years.” Actually, it will be the third time. (J-Rod told me West was throttling City, 37-0, going into the fourth quarter, so I am pretty sure the Trojans will be carrying the Boot off the field tonight.) Since City reclaimed the Boot my senior year, West has beaten City High twice: in 2002 and 2004. According to City High’s fall athletic program, West also beat City in the 2003 playoffs, but the Boot is not at stake in the post-season.

Meh. It sucks when West wins but it is a good thing for the rivalry. The Little Hawks have dominated the series since Reese Morgan left West for the bigger pasture just down Melrose, but it is healthier if the Boot spends time on both sides of the river. As a City High alum, I have no problem if West wins the Boot as much as the Little Hawks do, but I honestly wonder if the power is shifting to the west side given West’s larger student population advantage. We shall see in the coming years.

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