This Bridge Bowl is going to be special. For the first time in the history of the Thomas More/Mount St. Joseph rivalry, both teams are entering the game unbeaten and ranked in the top 25. This week, I am going to look at some storylines involved with this game.
Today: A little history of the Bridge Bowl
Wednesday: Senior prospective entering final BB
Thursday: Twins Jeff (TMC TE) and Jeremy (MSJ WR) Brinck
Friday: Game Preview
Saturday: THE GAME!!!
It’s been almost 20 years since the two teams started their respective football teams in 1990 and Saturday’s game marks the 14th time they will meet on the gridiron with Thomas More holding a 10-3 lead in the series.
Bridge Bowl XIV is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Schueler Field on the campus of Mount St. Joseph. The Lions have claimed the last two games at home against the Saints, 31-7 in 2005 and 35-14 in 2007. Thomas More reclaimed the Bridge Bowl last season as Cordario Collier ran for a Thomas More Bridge Bowl record 165 yards in the Saints’ 19-0 victory.
“It’s a neat rivalry,” said Thomas More athletic director Terry Connor. “It’s truly a backyard rivalry. Some of the young men are friends and will probably hang out after the game. It’s an intense rivalry.”
“It’s a great opportunity for both institutions to show off their football programs,” added Mount St. Joseph Athletic Director Steve Radcliffe. “It’s a great rivalry.”
The game will feature 134 players that played high school in the area, including 52 who crossed the river to do so. Thomas More features 42 players from the Ohio side of the Greater Cincinnati area, including 10 from MSJ’s backyard of Elder High School. Meanwhile, 10 Mount St. Joseph players prepped on the Kentucky side of the river. Seven of those 10 are either freshmen or sophomores.
“High school football is so good in this area and its showing,” said Connor. “It’s a neat aspect and it shows how good the players are. The University of Cincinnati, Thomas More and the Mount are all undefeated.”
The rivalry was dominated in the early years by Thomas More as the Saints won the first six, the last four by astounding margins. Thomas More scored 203 points in those four games, an average of almost 51 points, while the Mount scored 68 points total. So, after the latest of the 60-27 dismantling in 1995, the series was brought to an halt.
“It made a lot of sense,” said Radcliffe of ending the series in 1995. “It wasn’t a difficult decision. We were clearly different programs headed in different directions.”
It was merely a brief hiatus and the game was brought back in 2002 with the Saints marking the occasion with a 30-7 victory. But it wouldn’t take long for the tables to get turned as starting with a 32-0 rout in 2004, the Lions won three of the next four match-ups.
Following Thomas More’s lone victory over that stretch, a 21-17 victory in 2006, the rivalry picked up another notch. The Saints hired MSJ’s defensive coordinator Jim Hilvert as the program’s fourth head coach in school history.
Comments
I think this will be a game that is talked about for year's to come. Right up their with TMC's 21-17 win with Kyle James at quarterback.
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