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Opinion: Jim Riley | |||||||||||
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Once a fierce rivalry, Kennewick vs. Kamiakin now just another game Let's take a stroll down memory lane, if for no other reason than to realize how quickly and profoundly things can change when it comes to prep sports. It was a cold October night several years ago, 1986 to be exact, and Craig Beverlin, the loquacious football coach at Kamiakin, was holding a pregame meeting with his coaches. Kamiakin was about to face the then-mighty Kennewick Lions and no matter what scenario Beverlin played in his mind, no matter what fiery speech he thought about spewing, no matter what brilliant combination of X's and O's he might devise, he could see no way in which his team could win. "I was so worried," Beverlin remembers, "that we were going to get totally embarrassed." So Beverlin got up in front of his coaching staff, swallowed hard and could think of nothing to say - an odd occurrence that may have never happened to Beverlin before and surely hasn't happened since. That season, Kennewick featured a running back tandem of Bob Wilkinson and Billy Templeton, both bigger and stronger, not to mention much faster, than anyone on Kamiakin's offensive or defensive lines. Kennewick won that game 25-7 and when it was over, it was Kamiakin that was celebrating. "We were thrilled because we really thought it was going to be ugly," Beverlin said. Back in those days, before KHS Stadium was renovated into Neil F. Lampson Stadium, the stands would fill quickly and people would sit, festival style, just outside the end zone on the west end of the field. Crowds were estimated at 8,000. "Probably the most horrible thing in those days," Beverlin said, "was to follow Ed Troxel at a Kiwanis luncheon. We were both supposed to have 20 minutes to speak and by the time Ed got done talking about his team there was only five minutes left." Kennewick leads the all-time series 16-15, but Kamiakin has won the last six. At one point, Beverlin was 3-9 against his crosstown rival. Now, he's 9-9. Templeton, now a first-year head coach at Kennewick, gets his first taste of the rivalry as the coach of the Lions (1-4, 1-3 Big Nine). Kamiakin is 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big Nine. Rivalry games can always be unpredictable, but not this one. Kamiakin has a lot of injured players, but Kennewick, despite its big win over Eastmont, has no chance. Besides, the rivalry was severely diluted several years ago when Southridge was added as the third high school in Kennewick. "Expanding the playoffs changed the dynamics, too, because our focus every year is to get to the playoffs and that's the way it's been for a long, long time," Beverlin said. "The games just don't have the meaning they once did." Like that game back in 1986, this one could get ugly as well. Kamiakin is predominately a running team so its offense is just as effective after it gets way ahead as it is during a close game. "We always take a knee and try to do the right thing," Beverlin said. "The dilemma we've had is that we can't play our JV kids hardly at all because they can only play 40 quarters in a season. There are a lot of teams who have to keep their first string in the game until at least the fourth quarter. People don't understand that." Add in the fact that Templeton is Beverlin's son-in-law and the veteran coach could be in a tough position tonight. "I'm dreading it," Beverlin said. "If we do get ahead, we may work on our passing game because they play the identical defense that they do at Pasco. The thing I've noticed about the Kennewick kids is that there is pride there. You always have a chance if you've got pride." | ||||||||||
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