Rivalry still important for Basic, Boulder City

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 | 2:15 a.m.

The football teams at Basic and Boulder City High couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.

The schools will continue one of Southern Nevada’s oldest rivalries when Basic travels to Boulder City for the annual Jug Game at 7 p.m. Friday.

While the rivalry has lost some of its luster from years past, it’s still a game with significance for both teams. The rivalry started in the 1940s.

“It’s always a great way to open the season,” Basic coach Jeff Cahill said. “Anytime you get some hardware involved, the kids will be excited.”

The excitement, however, won’t equal the hype of decades ago.

That’s when Boulder City players would cruise in their convertibles on Water Street in downtown Henderson to provoke Basic players or when friendly pranks helped fuel the rivalry’s fire. Now, with the teams competing in different leagues for the past two decades, the rivalry hasn’t been as important.

Still, you will find athletes on both teams focused of winning the Jug — a milk jug that was introduced to the rivalry in the 1970s and is painted the winning school’s colors. Basic has won the last three meetings, in 1999, 2007 and last year with a score of 48-20.

“For some of the kids in our program, this is their third year with the rivalry and they know what it is about,” Boulder City coach Alex Kazel said. “It’s a nice rivalry. I’m glad we kept it going.”

Initially, the game was left off the schedule as part of budget cuts — each sport saw a reduction of games. But the upstart United Football League donated $25,000 to the Clark County School District to pay for the first week of games for most schools.

“Our kids were real excited when they found out they would be playing for the Jug again,” Cahill said.

The game will also serve as a measuring stick for both programs.

Basic, which won the Southeast Division title last year, will be replacing several key contributors from the championship team. Boulder City expects to be much improved in Kazel’s second year.

“Anytime you get to speed a year with the kids you can learn more about them and how they compete,” Kazel said. “My job as the coach is to put the kids in the best spot to succeed. This year, I know more about them to do that.”

The teams have a lot in common.

Kazel is a Basic graduate and coached at the school for more than a decade before coming to Boulder City last year. Basic assistant coach Dan Cahill, Jeff Cahill’s dad, spent four years as Boulder City’s coach.

“I still know a lot of kids over there,” Kazel said.

Both teams run a version of the spread offense and will have new quarterbacks — Basic will start Tyler Dobbins, last year’s backup, and Boulder City is going with Ross LaMarca. Boulder City will focus more on the run this fall with tailbacks Steven Kaposta and Devin Combs.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected].