East Meets West in Return of Football Rivalry

In a game being billed as the Battle of the Tosas, East and West high schools will meet Aug. 20 on the gridiron for the first time since 1996, and organizers hope to make it as much a community celebration as it is a budding football rivalry.

Representatives of the booster clubs of both schools have joined forces to plan a big tailgate party before the game at Hart Park and a fireworks show afterward.

The tailgate party will begin at 4 p.m. in the open area of the park east of the football stadium; game time is 7 p.m.

"We want to get families to come back to Hart Park for Friday night football," said Linda Cupertino of the Red Raider Touchdown Club. "For years, (East) didn't even have its cheerleaders — they just came back last year. We haven't had a pep band in years.

"Somewhere along the way we lost our oomph, and we need to get our oomph back."

With that in mind, boosters at East and West are lobbying their schools to turn out not just their football squads but also their cheerleaders, poms, pep bands, drum lines and any other group that wants to engage in some friendly crosstown competition.

"They'll compete in different challenges during the tailgate, maybe an egg toss, sack races, a tug of war," Cupertino said.

Boosters and students have launched a Facebook page dedicated to the rivalry game.

To up the ante, there's a prize at stake in the game itself. Just as the Wisconsin Badgers and Minnesota Gophers play to take possession of Paul Bunyan's Ax, the East Red Raiders and the West Trojans will vie for a trophy.

"We decided on a sword," Cupertino said. "That much we know, but it hasn't got a name yet."

Just this week the boosters landed a sponsor for the post-game fireworks show: Waterstone Bank.

Cupertino's counterpart, Jerry Lahmann of the Tosa West Athletic Booster Club, said that the game and festivities were something that had been talked about for several years, but it just didn't get off the ground.

"There was never much success," Lahmann said. "The people over at East talked to our previous booster club president about doing some promotion for a special event for the city, but the game just didn't get scheduled."

Wauwatosa presents a rare case in that it's a city with two high schools that play in different sports conferences, East in the Greater Metro and West in the Woodland. Coaches and athletic directors at the two schools stayed focused on their conference schedules, Lahmann said.

West coach Matt Goode said that the meeting of the minds came when Jake Wolter, himself an East graduate, took over the Raiders program last year and wholeheartedly endorsed a revival of the rivalry.

"We play each other in every other major sport," Goode said. "We both thought, 'What a great way to get some excitement going, some momentum.'

"The plan is to continue it as an annual event. Next year is going to be a little dicey because we already have eight conference games scheduled, but we hope to work it out.

"I think there's already a natural rivalry, and this will be fuel to the fire, so to speak."

The outcome of the Aug. 20 matchup will go on the record as a regular season, non-conference game, Goode said.

"We're trying to get back that pride and spirit," Cupertino said. "It's spirit with the schools, it's spirit with the community, it's spirit with the businesses.

"I grew up in Germantown, and the Friday night football game — that was the place to be. That's what we want to bring back."

Name that sword!

A game trophy is only as good as the mystique that grows up around it, and a large part of that is the name and story of the vaunted prize.

What to call the mighty sword the titans of East and West will grapple for year after year?

Tell us in the comments what you think the sword should be called, and we'll forward your ideas to the schools' booster clubs. Who knows, there could be a prize in it for the winning name.