Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

133rd CONY-GARDINER GAME

Cause even greater than rivalry

By Gary Hawkins ghawkins@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

GARDINER -- It wasn't playoff football, but it wasn't just another preseason game, either.

The 133rd meeting between rivals Cony and Gardiner brought fans from both communities out in force to watch Rams and Tigers go at it again. The parking lot at the high school was full an hour before game time. By the time the opening whistle blew, cars parked along West Hill Road in front of the school stretched nearly to Cobbossse Ave.

The game itself is enough to bring fans to the field, but this one was played for a greater cause. Billed as the Drive Out Cancer Challenge, it's part of a four-game series between Cony and Gardiner to raise money and support for the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care in Augusta. Two soccer games will be played in Gardiner on Monday night followed by a field hockey game between the rivals Tuesday, also in Gardiner.

Former Cony field hockey coach Krista Chase came up with the idea last year and Gardiner coaches Moe McNally and Sharon Gallant jumped on board. The game raised $5,000 for the cancer center, but this year's proceeds promises to be much, much bigger.

"Every family we know is affected by cancer in one way of another," Gallant said. "Last year, when we knew it was going to be our turn, Moe and I said 'we've got to have it bigger and better.' "

Nearly 200 athletes from the two schools have helped in getting donations from various businesses and the business community has responded with generosity.

"People have just been amazing," Gallant said. "You saw tonight we had 30 items to raffle."

In addition to individual donations, all gate and concession proceeds from all the game will go to the fund. An oversized blank check with an estimate of the donation will be displayed at the field hockey game. Although an official count was unavailable, Friday night's crowd looked to be in the neighborhood of 4,000.

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The atmosphere at the game was heightened by the presence of The Great American Rivalry Series, a company headquartered in Kentucky that spotlights high school rivalries around the country in conjunction with U.S. Air Force.

A giant inflated football at one end of the field advertised the company which presented $500 academic based scholarships to a player on each team -- Dalton Eldridge for Gardiner and Keenan Tilsley for Cony.

"This year we've got about 40 games around the country of the biggest and best high school rivalries," company representative John Ford said. "And also the longest standing."

The Cony-Gardiner series was chosen after a review of nomination forms and is based on the length and intensity of the rivalry, Ford said. The company also presented the winning school with a trophy and donated $1,000 to the home school. That money also went to the cancer center.

The game was streamed live on the company's website to armed forces around the world.

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The game not only brought together former players but also a number of Gardiner cheerleaders. Current coach Jeanne Moody organized a reunion of former cheerleaders and 54 showed up Friday night, many of whom cheered along with current squad members at halftime.

"I started in June and went on the Internet and through word of mouth," Moody said. "I set out 110 flyers. There's still over 200 I can't find."

Moody, who cheered at Gardiner, was joined by four sisters who also cheered for the Tigers. She also set up a large display near the field of photos and newspaper clippings that she had collected the last 30 years.

Cheerleading alumni went from the recent past all the way back to Sheila Lamarre in 1963. Moody said the idea developed from conversations she had with former cheerleaders.

"They'd say I wish I could go back, I wish I could do it again," she said.

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Monmouth softball coach Rachel Bernier donated her services for cancer fund T-shirts which were on sale at the game. She contributed money for the lavendar cancer shirts and donated proceeds from the sale back to the cancer center.

Between shirts that went to teams and fans, Bernier made up about 700 in addition to 100 hats. They sold for $10 apiece.

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John Burgess, who was on hand to broadcast the game along with Rob Munzing for Time Warner Channel 9, has seen the annual rivalry from both sides. He coached for four years at Cony in the early '70s, then came over to Gardiner where he served as a defensive coach for both John Wolfgram and Munzing.

"No matter what the game was for, whether it was in the beginning of the season or the end of the season, whether we were in the same league or not, the feeling of the kids was the same," Burgess said.

"It was a great feeling. It was a feeling you should have in a rivalry. It was always wonderful. Anybody that's been on that field in the last (118) years knows that it is a big deal," he said.

The game will be shown on Channel 9 on Tuesday night at 8.

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Honorary captains who have been directly affected by cancer will be introduced before each game. Friday night, Tom Weiblen of Windsor represented Cony while Albert Truman of Gardiner represented the Tigers.

Weiblen graduated from Cony in 1960 and his son Shawn in 1993. He's currently undergoing to last of 36 treatments for prostrate cancer.

Truman was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is undergoing treatment at the Alfond Center.

A longtime supporter of Gardiner athletics, he's the father of former Gardiner football player Barry Truman and the grandfather of youth football player Jacob Albert Truman.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com