Cashton and Bangor set to renew football rivalry with high stakes on the line

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The Bangor-Cashton football game is one that gets circled on the calendar when each year’s Scenic Bluffs slate is unveiled. That’s as true as ever in 2021 as the two longtime foes renew their rivalry with stakes at an all-time high.

For the first time in a long time, the Bangor Cardinals are not in the driver’s seat in the Scenic Bluffs title race. A shocking 20-13 loss to Onalaska Luther in Week 7 snapped their 45-game conference winning streak that dated all the way back to 2013 and was the longest in all of Wisconsin high school football.

That loss also opened up a huge opportunity for Cashton, who remains unbeaten in league play this season and raced past Royall 48-7 last Thursday to secure a share of the program’s first conference championship since 1998.

No matter what happens Friday, the Eagles (7-1 overall, 5-0 Scenic Bluffs) have a conference title to celebrate. But that doesn’t mean their desire to upend their archrivals has lessened in the slightest.

To start with the obvious, clinching a conference title outright tastes quite a bit sweeter than having to share the honor with your biggest rival. That goes doubly so when you factor in the fact that Bangor has won seven consecutive Scenic Bluffs championships and will be looking to push that streak to eight Friday night.

The last time the Cardinals didn’t finish the season atop the conference standings was back in 2013. That also happens to be the last year Cashton beat Bangor. Ending both those streaks in one go would be a perfect cap to a regular season for the ages for the Eagles.

“In the past, this conference was over in Week 7. Now, we’re heading to the last week,” said Cashton head coach Jered Hemmersbach. “That’s what’s going to make Week 9 exciting.”

On the other end of the equation is Bangor (6-2, 4-1), who had to pick itself up from an unfamiliar position for the program following the loss to Luther. The Cardinals responded well to that defeat, blowing past Brookwood 37-7 last week to ensure they’d still get a crack at a conference title in Week 9.

“I think (the players) responded really well,” Bangor head coach Todd Grant said of the Luther loss. “I think it reveals character more than anything else. I told them it’s revealed that they have good character. They put time in, they put the work in — maintain that confidence and stick together, which they’ve done.”

Bangor has also been dealing with the loss of Tanner Jones. The junior running back/linebacker is one of the Cardinals’ most important players and had accrued 745 yards and 10 touchdowns on 101 carries before being lost with what’s expected to be a season-ending injury.

No one is going to mistake a powerhouse program like Bangor for a plucky underdog, but the Cardinals are entering a Scenic Bluffs game where they are not the clear favorite for the first time in a while. And they are well aware of how dangerous Cashton can be after narrowly escaping with a win in their meeting back in the spring.

In that game, the Eagles rallied back from a 21-6 deficit to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, but Bangor would score a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute to pull out a 34-28 victory. That close encounter adds yet another layer of intrigue to this upcoming matchup.

“To come that close last year and now, with the team we have — we just want it so bad,” said Cashton senior Dylan Bayer. “Nothing is going to get in our way of getting that.”

The Cardinals cannot win themselves an outright conference title, but they can still grab a share and continue their streak.

On top of that, they could play a bit of a spoiler and continue their winning ways against their archrivals, even in a season where everything seems to be coming together for Cashton. That would certainly hand Bangor more than your average level of bragging rights.

This was a game circled, highlighted and bolded when the conference schedule for this fall was released. One of the most anticipated chapters in this rivalry’s history is ready to go Friday, October 15 at 7 p.m. in Cashton.

No matter the result, it should be one that all involved will remember for quite some time.

Cashton football, Bangor football, Scenic Bluffs football, Bangor-Cashton rivalry

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