Rivalry week set to draw record crowds

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008 | 2:25 p.m.

Ray Brewer

Marty Redmond couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The Foothill football coach, then an assistant for the Falcons, was coaching in the press box at Basic's Don Taylor Stadium during the annual Battle for Boulder Highway game between Basic and Foothill.

Exiting the box at halftime, Redmond was surprised to see long lines of fans still waiting to get in.

The schools are located two miles apart, separated by Boulder Highway. On this cold fall evening in 2003, it seemed like all the residents of Henderson were in the stands.

When the bleachers became too crowded, fans gathered around the fence bordering the field.

"That might have been the biggest attendance for a high school football game in the state of Nevada," Redmond said. "There was just a ton of people there that night."

A similar crowd, which was estimated at 4,000 to 4,500 fans, is expected at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 when the Battle of Boulder Highway kicks off at Foothill.

In a night with two other long-standing rivalries — Las Vegas High travels to Rancho for the annual Bone Game and Chaparral hosts Eldorado in the Cleat Game — it's this match-up of Henderson schools that is guaranteed to draw the most fans.

Las Vegas and Rancho have played since the 1930s, and in 1957, a large cow bone was introduced to the rivalry. The bone, now bronzed, is awarded to the winning team — which has been Las Vegas the past 12 years.

Chaparral and Eldorado, which have met since the 1970s, play for a bronzed cleat from former Los Angeles Rams lineman Merlin Olson.

The only thing awarded to the winner of the Basic-Foothill showdown is pride.

The schools have played every year since Foothill opened in 1999 and split allegiance in Henderson by taking most of its students from Basic. That includes part of downtown Henderson, a territory where children had been zoned to attend Basic since the 1940s when the school was located at the current site of Lyal Burkholder Middle School on West Van Wagenen Street.

"You'll see a lot of Henderson residents with no direct interest in the game (in attendance)," Redmond said. "There will be a lot of people who grew up in old Henderson and our loyal to Basic."

Boulder Highway is the zoning cutoff used by the Clark County School District. Children who live east of the road attend Basic, while those to the west attend Foothill.

However, the players have more than likely attended the same school at least once because the school district boundaries are different for middle and elementary schools. And they've often been teammates as youth football leagues usually form one squad from east Henderson's 89015 zip code.

"All that adds to the rivalry," Redmond said.

Foothill holds a 6-3 lead in the series, but Basic's victory in 2005 is the most notable. Foothill entered the contest 8-0 and had one of the state's top players in running back D'Angelo Jones.

Jones, who as a freshman rushed for more than 300 yards and five touchdowns in the highly-attended 2003 contest, was ineffective two years later in Basic's 40-21 victory. Former Basic coach Cliff Frazier, who retired last year after 14 years, called the victory the biggest in his tenure.

Foothill returned the favor last year with a 26-21 victory. Basic entered undefeated and Foothill hadn't won a game, but the Falcons proved anything can happen in the Battle for Boulder Highway.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@hbcpub.com.