Black & Blue Bowl always fun

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At Pocatello, players like to say the Black and Blue Bowl is the equivalent of a state championship game.

At Highland, you'll never hear anyone within the athletic department deny that it's the most important regular season game of the year.

Even though the teams are now in different size classifications and different districts, the game still means more than any other in this region. An argument could be made that it's still the biggest high school football game in the state.

Every year, you can count on both teams being ranked, both fan bases wanting to win more than anything and the largest crowd of the year showing up at Holt Arena. Even seldom seen Ram Man attends the game.

This year, Pocatello comes in as the No. 1-ranked 4A team in Idaho with an undefeated record of 6-0. Highland comes in as the No. 3-ranked 5A team in Idaho and has yet to lose to an in-state opponent.

Once again, it looks like the Black and Blue Bowl will live up to the hype.

And let me say, Friday's 8:45 p.m. kickoff inside Holt Arena can't come soon enough.

So far, the Gate City hasn't had all that much exciting sports action. Idaho State's fall teams -- volleyball, soccer and football -- are currently carrying a combined record of 5-28-4, and only a handful of high school football games have been memorable this year.

We've had nothing close to what the Black and Blue Bowl can offer.

Even after a bad game, people talk about it for the next week. After a good game, people talk about it until January.

Last season, the game was so good I didn't think this community would ever stop talking about.

For those who don't recall, Pocatello and Highland dazzled us all with one of the finest games you would ever hope to see. In front of a nearly sold-out mini-dome, the Rams prevailed as 41-35 winners, but not until Taylor Tingey made an improbable interception late in the fourth quarter and set Highland up for an easy game-winning score.

To this day, it is still the most exciting high school game I've ever covered.

The teams combined for almost 900 yards of offense, and they did it on their own terms. Poky erupted for 448 yards, with 329 of them coming on the ground.

Highland answered back with 440 yards of offense and moved the ball mostly through the air.

Neither team could stop the other. The Indians' offensive line dominated the battle up front, and the Rams' receivers got open almost on command.

With Highland's offensive line looking much improved from a year ago and Pocatello developing an efficient passing game of its own, the game may look a little different this year. But it should still entertaining.

No matter what else is going on around Pocatello, you can always count on the Black and Blue Bowl for that much.

Kellis Robinett's column appears on Sundays. Call him at 239-3136 or e-mail krobinett@journalnet.com with comments or story ideas.

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