IHStangFan
08-30-2005, 02:50 PM
is in my back yard....i may have to look into this.
By Chris Davis, Arizona Daily Star
Azstarnet.com
Tucson, AZ - DOUGLAS - Raul Torrez is reminded of the nation's second-oldest high school football rivalry each time he walks into his office.
On the wall facing his desk is a portrait-size black-and-white photograph of him involved in a turnover as a member of the 1964 Bisbee High School team.
The opponent that night was Douglas High School, the Pumas' heated foe since 1906.
Tonight, his son Michael - a sophomore at Bisbee - will get the chance to follow in his father's footsteps.
The rivalry renews for the 137th time. Only the series between Connecticut's Norwich Free Academy and New London is older, with the first game being played in 1875.
Though the Douglas-Bisbee matchup has become one-sided in recent years, the history between the two schools is too rich to ignore.
The game was played Thanksgiving Day from 1911 to 1965, when it was moved to the start of the season.
From 1911 to 1966, even one game wasn't enough to air the bitterness between the two schools, so they played twice a season.
The rivalry "was really intense," said Torrez, the vice principal at the Center for Academic Success in Douglas. "You could always guarantee fights after the (game) or before, between the fans."
Douglas Mayor Ray Borane, a former Douglas High football player, agreed.
"It was a very bitter rivalry and anything associated with Bisbee was distasteful to anyone from Douglas," he said. "We didn't want to see them win at anything."
Borane said it was not surprising to see a "B" burned into the Douglas field prior to a football game, or as Torrez recounted, graffiti written on the walls of his school.
The men said many of the pranks were the result of the generations of families that grew up in each town.
"They're the ones who perpetuated things over the years and made sure their families and their families' families knew how important the game was, and how important Thanksgiving was," Borane said. "Now, they're gone."
As the families started to move out in the early 1990s, the game took a break from 1991 to 1994.
At the time, lower enrollment dropped Bisbee to Class 2A, and it hadn't beaten Douglas since 1981. In those 10 years, many simply saw the game as a one-sided affair.
"There was no sense in playing Douglas," Torrez said. "They just outnumbered us and were beating us up by 40-some points."
The game was put back on the schedule in 1995, and Bisbee pulled off the upset, beating the Bulldogs with a come-from-behind effort.
Since then, the demographic changes in both communities have altered this once-heated rivalry.
Because Douglas remains in Class 4A and Bisbee has dropped to lower levels, some former players say this matchup has lost part of its luster.
Douglas leads the series 73-55-8.
"The interest and intensity isn't what it once was," Borane said.
Torrez, who suited up for the Pumas from 1963 to 1966, remembered when the games were more competitive.
"We beat (Douglas) my freshman year when a bunch of us were brought up and got to ride the bench," he said. "My sophomore year we lost 26-20. They had a really good team my junior year and beat us. And then we tied my senior season."
Borane played nearly a decade before Torrez but said he became hooked on Douglas football even earlier.
His bait was former Bulldogs great Gib Dawson.
"Dawson was the hero around here," Borane said. "When you played football in the sandlots, everyone wanted to be Gib Dawson.
"I saw him return the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against Tucson High. From that time on, he set the stage in this town for football."
Dawson, who died earlier this year, went on to play for the University of Texas before suiting up for the NFL's Green Bay Packers in 1953.
Living up to the rivalry's past legends is only part of the challenge for tonight's players, some who say the annual matchup is still thriving.
Douglas quarterback Talbott Hudson knows he has much to live up to. If he didn't, a review of past games during history class Thursday reminded him.
The rivalry "still exists," said Hudson, a senior. "It's our most important regular-season game on the schedule. I get more excited over this one than any of the others
By Chris Davis, Arizona Daily Star
Azstarnet.com
Tucson, AZ - DOUGLAS - Raul Torrez is reminded of the nation's second-oldest high school football rivalry each time he walks into his office.
On the wall facing his desk is a portrait-size black-and-white photograph of him involved in a turnover as a member of the 1964 Bisbee High School team.
The opponent that night was Douglas High School, the Pumas' heated foe since 1906.
Tonight, his son Michael - a sophomore at Bisbee - will get the chance to follow in his father's footsteps.
The rivalry renews for the 137th time. Only the series between Connecticut's Norwich Free Academy and New London is older, with the first game being played in 1875.
Though the Douglas-Bisbee matchup has become one-sided in recent years, the history between the two schools is too rich to ignore.
The game was played Thanksgiving Day from 1911 to 1965, when it was moved to the start of the season.
From 1911 to 1966, even one game wasn't enough to air the bitterness between the two schools, so they played twice a season.
The rivalry "was really intense," said Torrez, the vice principal at the Center for Academic Success in Douglas. "You could always guarantee fights after the (game) or before, between the fans."
Douglas Mayor Ray Borane, a former Douglas High football player, agreed.
"It was a very bitter rivalry and anything associated with Bisbee was distasteful to anyone from Douglas," he said. "We didn't want to see them win at anything."
Borane said it was not surprising to see a "B" burned into the Douglas field prior to a football game, or as Torrez recounted, graffiti written on the walls of his school.
The men said many of the pranks were the result of the generations of families that grew up in each town.
"They're the ones who perpetuated things over the years and made sure their families and their families' families knew how important the game was, and how important Thanksgiving was," Borane said. "Now, they're gone."
As the families started to move out in the early 1990s, the game took a break from 1991 to 1994.
At the time, lower enrollment dropped Bisbee to Class 2A, and it hadn't beaten Douglas since 1981. In those 10 years, many simply saw the game as a one-sided affair.
"There was no sense in playing Douglas," Torrez said. "They just outnumbered us and were beating us up by 40-some points."
The game was put back on the schedule in 1995, and Bisbee pulled off the upset, beating the Bulldogs with a come-from-behind effort.
Since then, the demographic changes in both communities have altered this once-heated rivalry.
Because Douglas remains in Class 4A and Bisbee has dropped to lower levels, some former players say this matchup has lost part of its luster.
Douglas leads the series 73-55-8.
"The interest and intensity isn't what it once was," Borane said.
Torrez, who suited up for the Pumas from 1963 to 1966, remembered when the games were more competitive.
"We beat (Douglas) my freshman year when a bunch of us were brought up and got to ride the bench," he said. "My sophomore year we lost 26-20. They had a really good team my junior year and beat us. And then we tied my senior season."
Borane played nearly a decade before Torrez but said he became hooked on Douglas football even earlier.
His bait was former Bulldogs great Gib Dawson.
"Dawson was the hero around here," Borane said. "When you played football in the sandlots, everyone wanted to be Gib Dawson.
"I saw him return the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against Tucson High. From that time on, he set the stage in this town for football."
Dawson, who died earlier this year, went on to play for the University of Texas before suiting up for the NFL's Green Bay Packers in 1953.
Living up to the rivalry's past legends is only part of the challenge for tonight's players, some who say the annual matchup is still thriving.
Douglas quarterback Talbott Hudson knows he has much to live up to. If he didn't, a review of past games during history class Thursday reminded him.
The rivalry "still exists," said Hudson, a senior. "It's our most important regular-season game on the schedule. I get more excited over this one than any of the others