THE BULL
Friday night, as I stood on the out-of-bounds barriers of Sutton’s football field, covering the annual Sandy Creek/Sutton football game, I thought to myself how each day of my past 16 and a half years in Clay County I’ve witnessed a lot, and I do mean a lot!
Sandy Creek took down the Mustangs 55-14, earning their fourth straight win over Sutton. I did my due diligence of research, this game each year, except for the two years that the two county schools didn’t play each other in 2012 and 2013, this game has been pretty lopsided. The first year I was here, Sandy Creek won 23-0. I wasn’t sure what this rivalry meant that first year, or even the second year.
Sutton won the next season (2010) 42-12, with Sandy Creek gaining a 35-28 win in 2011. Then came the two year break, followed by an eight game winning streak by the Mustangs, winning by an average of just under 49 points per game for Sutton to just over six points per game for the Cougars. Sutton outscored the Cougars 390-51 in the eight year stretch from 2014 to 2021.
In the most recent years, 2022 through this past Friday night, Sandy Creek has reigned supreme, outscoring Sutton 224-67, an average of 56 to just under 17 points per game.
When I thought about that after my exploration late Friday night I totally understood the rivalry better, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get the rivalry fully, because I’ve only been a part of it for 17 years.
I’ve been in this business for the better part of 40ish years, and I’ve seen rivalries come and go.
Gibbon vs. Shelton back in my day was THEE rivalry. Ravenna vs. Shelton, Wisner-Pilger vs. West Point, Seward vs. York, and even though I was only at the Wisner paper for four years, and the Seward County Independent for a couple of years, outside of maybe the Gibbon/ Shelton rivalry, again, back in the day, as that rivalry has simmered as far as I can tell, the Sutton/Sandy Creek rivalry has never simmered, it has never faded, despite the two year hiatus in 2012 and 2013.
I recalled a conversation I had with Mike Thompson one afternoon after we purchased Printing MD from Mike and Diane. As we often did on any given afternoon, and I remember this conversation well, in 2022, the day of the annual battle, Mike sat down with me and broke down the game with the Cougars and Mustangs, which was eventually a 46-33 win by the Cougars, that started their current four game winning streak over Sutton. “I’m not sure what to expect, Tory,” and I paraphrase Mike’s comments, but as I remember it, he said “Those kids at Sandy Creek had a vibe about them, and something is brewing with them.”
You see, Mike was a fan of students, whether they were from Sutton, Sandy Creek, Harvard, Aurora or Timbuktu. He loved high school sports, the kids that took part in activities, not just sports.I remember thinking Friday night, no matter it being a big rivalry game, or a once in a while game, kids competing on a field, court, mat or a track, I’ve been blessed with capturing what Mike already felt, it’s amazing to be a very small part of high school activities, no matter if its an eight game winning streak over your rival, or a four game streak.
As I get older, and look more and more into the future, slowing down and changing my own pace at which I go. I Iook back at the past 40 some odd years, and the rivalry games that I’ve covered, or the state tournament/ playoff games that I’ve cover, spanning from Chappell, to Cody, to Arapahoe, Osmond, Coleridge, Ord, O’Neill, or Bancroft.
I walked off the field Friday night in Sutton, despite the lopsided Sandy Creek win, appreciating the steps I’ve been able to take, the sidelines I’ve been able to roam, and the gyms and track meets that I’ve been able to go to.
I know that I’ve been able to take in some of the biggest and best games, matches and events to take in, but most of all, for the past 17 years, well almost 17 years, I’ve been able to be a part of history, and rivalry games throughout the state of Nebraska.
I’ve been on a heck of a ride since I went full-time in this business back in 1980 or so, even writing sports for my parents when I was still playing and active in high school events!!
