By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
STURGIS — The Swine Bone. The Silver Football. The Tomahawk. The Bullhorn.
There have been a lot of notable trophy games involving St. Joseph County high school football teams over the years. However, there has never been a trophy game in the football rivalry between two of the biggest schools in St. Joseph County, Three Rivers and Sturgis.
Now, both teams have a trophy to play for, thanks to a couple of local radio broadcasters and a collaboration between folks from the two rival cities.
Beginning this year, the Three Rivers and Sturgis football teams will be playing in what will be dubbed the “War for the Oar,” with the victor retaining a brand-new trophy featuring two different-colored rowing oars – one purple, one orange – that they will keep until the next year’s matchup. After 10 years, whoever won the most games during that period will get to keep that version of the trophy forever, and a new version of the trophy will be created.
The idea for creating a trophy for the rivalry came from WRCI-FM football broadcasters Burch Ruesink and Carl Barth, who said the lack of a trophy was brought up as they were getting ready for their broadcast of last year’s Three Rivers-Sturgis contest.
“Carl and I were talking as we were heading into the Sturgis game last year, and he said, you know, the Three Rivers-Sturgis contest in football has always been incredibly important, and as we were getting ready for the broadcast, we were like, we don’t play for anything. There’s nothing big; there’s not a trophy or anything like that,” Ruesink said.
After talking with Three Rivers head coach Jeff Awe, Ruesink said Awe got on board with wanting a trophy game between the two rivals, and gave the duo some “homework” to come up with one. After some brainstorming with what both Awe and Barth said had “zero parameters,” they settled on honoring the county’s waterways with the symbol of the oar.
“We were kind of brainstorming things and thinking about the county, thinking about the area, thinking about the riparian heritage here in St. Joseph County, and we both ended up at river-themed things, and we were like a canoe or copper or Native American history in the area, and we both eventually ended up at an oar,” Ruesink said. “We also love the opportunity to make puns whenever we can. We love the idea of being, Win ‘oar’ Lose, or Battle for the Paddle, or War for the Oar.
“But ultimately, it’s something you can hold, it’s something tangible, it’s something that’s recognizable and relates back to the communities.”
The oars are wooden ones, with the woodwork completed by Steve Hollar, a 1969 Sturgis High School graduate. The paint job was done by Brian Kaiser of K&D Body Shop, who is a 1988 Three Rivers High School graduate, giving the trophy more local connections than the symbols themselves.
Awe said the trophy is important for both the coaches and the players, especially given the history of the rivalry.
“It’s fun for the kids, it gives them something for bragging rights. It’s something tangible,” Awe said. He also reminisced on the importance of the rivalry back during his playing days at Three Rivers, saying, “Back then, Sturgis was our big rival. It was a Saturday game, Labor Day weekend, and everybody came out to see it, I mean, the whole county would show up to see that game. And we had some pretty good ones over the years.”
Chance Stewart, Sturgis’ head coach, said he was “glad it’s finally happening” that they can play for a trophy against Three Rivers.
“Rivalries mean everything in high school. Week 1 for us is a huge rivalry, we play for the Silver Football [against Coldwater], and now in Week 9, the way our conference is set up, we always end with Three Rivers. It’s cool that we start for a trophy game, and we end with a different trophy game,” Stewart said. “It just adds a cool feature to really good football in our area.”
Even the players from both teams have gotten on board.
“I think it’s pretty cool, especially being able to now play for two trophies, being able to start with a trophy and then end with a trophy,” Sturgis player Gavin Lewis said.
“It’d be nice to get another trophy in the trophy case with the Vicksburg Bone, so it’s nice to play for something and to represent the school,” Three Rivers player Zander Barth said.
With the lifetime series between the two teams tied at 27-27, the rivalry has never been more important than it is now, especially since Sturgis’ move to the Wolverine Conference several years ago. But while they’re rivals on the field, Awe says both teams respect each other off it.
“They’ve always been a class act, and I hope they view us the same away. It’s one of those deals where, whenever we come over here, we always know it’s going to be a dogfight, regardless of sport. The fans are going to get excited, it’s a big deal,” Awe said.
In all, Ruesink said he is looking forward to seeing how the first War for the Oar game goes, and said the game has a lot more meaning to it with the addition.
“Football is a sport rooted in tradition, and rivalry games are everything. You throw records out the door, and it’s all about those 22 kids that are on the field at a time, and their striving, their effort and their competition, and this is a symbol of that, and an opportunity for these two communities that have a chance to come out and battle it out on the gridiron,” Ruesink said. “This is what it’s all about, playing for a trophy, playing for your pride, playing for your community.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
