Tonight's Idaho Falls vs. Skyline game is called the Emotion Bowl for a reason – the passion of its athletes and fans. As the biggest rivalry game in Idaho, the city of Idaho Falls will gather at Ravsten Stadium to support their favorite team for the 44th year.
When the Emotion Bowl started in 1968, Idaho Falls and Skyline shared the same building. Now they just share the same stadium. As a tradition, the winning team will paint the goalposts in their school colors. For the past two years, those goalposts were painted orange for the Tigers, but based on the Grizzlies' 5-0 2009 season so far, that could change.
In its 44-year history, Skyline has had the most wins, 25-19. They are undefeated this year, making them the favorite to win. However, Skyline coach Scott Berger does not want to count his chickens before they hatch.
“It doesn't matter what the record is,” he said. “It comes down to those 48 minutes out there.”
Despite a 2-3 record so far, Idaho Falls coach Chuck Johnson is not too worried about this game. The Tigers beat the Grizzlies last year, 28-21, and 28-0 in 2007.
“Obviously there's a lot of hype for this game, but this is our first conference game and so that's how we're treating it,” Johnson told the Post Register. “We're not going to treat this weekend any differently. Our main point of emphasis is the playoffs.”
Coach Berger agrees.
“Everything we want is still in front of us,” he said. “It's not the who we're playing, it's the how.”
Berger said the Grizzlies will primarily rely on their strong offense to stay spread out across the field. Leading that offense will be quarterback Michael Berger and wide receivers Tanner Bodily and Max Asay. In their 56-39 victory against Pocatello on September 25, Berger rushed for 167 yards and scored four touchdowns. Asay rushed 183 yards and scored two more touchdowns for the Grizzlies.
“I've been very impressed with [Skyline] and what they're doing offensively,” Johnson said. “Nobody's stopped them yet.”
Idaho Falls senior defensive lineman Christian Denny will try. The six-foot, 225-pound lineman leads the Tigers' defense with 55 tackles this season, including the 16 he had in their 49-13 win against Rigby on September 18. Denny will have help from fellow senior defensive lineman Jesse Paulson, who had 10 tackles in the Rigby game.
Do not count Idaho Falls' offense out either, especially now that star quarterback Devan Munk is healthy enough to play. Munk was injured with a deep bone bruise in his shin during last Thursday's game against Bonneville, but was cleared to play on Tuesday.
“He's cleared to go,” Johnson said. “Nobody wants to play in this more than he does.”
Munk is an asset for Idaho Falls. He has completed 61 out of 104 passes for 837 yards, and has scored nine touchdowns in the five games played so far this season. Before last week's loss to Bonneville, Munk completed 13 passes and scored three touchdowns for the Tigers in their win against Rigby. He is ready for tonight's game.
“I wouldn't miss this,” Munk told the Post Register. “My senior year, there's no way I would miss this. No way.”
Munk will depend on wide receivers Drew Tingey, Marcus Poling and Jackson Walker, as well as running back Jackson Walker, to help the Tigers score tonight. That is, if they can get past Skyline.
The game starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Ravsten Stadium in Idaho Falls. It will be broadcast live online at eisnlive.com. Be sure to come back and check CoachesAid.com for scores and additional coverage.
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