Tri-State Football
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Showdown Has Become Tradition
By Katie Budke | Multimedia Journalist
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In recent years the season’s first football game at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium hasn’t involved the Bearcats. Instead the top high school football programs in the Cincinnati area participate in marquee matchups as part of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown.
It’s what Tri-state football fans have been waiting for since last winter. The Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown marks the unofficial start to the football season for the past 12 years.
It exemplifies the supremacy of high school football in the area. The three-day event showcasing 20 teams in 10 games, including a quadruple header on Saturday, has garnered not only regional attention, but also national regard as well. Although it’s easy to forget, the Showdown had its humble beginnings.
Tom Gamble, a Cincinnati native and Director of the Sports Business program at Northern Kentucky University, noted the area’s passion for high school football and its distinct community feel.
In the spring of 1997, Gamble sought a partnership with Don Schumacher and Associates Inc, a Cincinnati-based sports management, marketing and consulting firm to form DSA Prep Sports and create a one-of-a-kind perennial football event.
Gamble approached Skyline as the event’s title sponsor and put his faith in Cincinnati’s surrounding communities to make the event a hit.
The first annual Crosstown Showdown did not disappoint. A Friday night doubleheader featured a LaSalle upset of a dominant ‘90s Princeton football team. Cincinnati Elder was just beginning its rise to fame as it took down a tough Fairfield squad.
Two more games were added the following year. The event moved from Friday night to an all-day affair Saturday and the quadruple-header that Tri-state football fans eagerly anticipate each year was born.
Over the past 12 years, the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown has expanded into a three-day affair featuring the high school football talent of Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky, making it the biggest and longest running high school football event in the nation. Last year the event drew over 35,000 fans.
An invitation to play in the annual Showdown is viewed as an honor by coaches and local high school communities as the event features the best the tristate has to offer. For high school athletes, it’s the chance of a lifetime to play in a playoff-like atmosphere during a nationally-recognized football contest at a collegiate football stadium.
Because the event occurs before league play begins, teams have the opportunity to take on opponents they might never play throughout the course of the regular season. The Showdown gives teams a chance to prepare for the postseason during the regular season’s opening week.
This year’s matchups include 12 teams that advanced to the playoffs in 2008.
The 2009 Showdown begins at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium on Thursday August 27. The doubleheader begins at 5:30 p.m. with a matchup between Chaminade Julienne and Troy. Mason takes on Trotwood Madison at 8:00 p.m.
On Friday, games will be played simultaneously in two locations. In Dayton, Clayton Northmont will faceoff with Lakota West at 6 p.m. followed by an 8:30 p.m. tilt between Huber Heights Wayne and Princeton.
Fans at Nippert Stadium will enjoy a Westside Special doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m. when rivals LaSalle and Oak Hills battle it out for bragging rights in game one. Friday’s nightcap features a marquee matchup between two former state champions as St. Xavier and Colerain square off at 8:30 p.m. It will be the third time in the past five seasons the teams have opened the season against one another.
The final day of action begins at noon on Saturday between two Kentucky teams when Beechwood and Dixie Heights take the field. Another Kentucky matchup follows at 2:45 p.m. as Newport Central Catholic battles hooks up with Simon Kenton. Moeller versus Winton Woods is slotted for 5:30. 2008 state runner-up Elder will square off against East St. Louis, Illinois in the final game of the 2009 Showdown.
Fans can participate in the action by purchasing tickets for $10 in advance of game day and $12 at both event locations on Thursday and Friday. Ticket at Saturday’s quadruple header will be available for $13.
While in recent years, the Kirk Herbstreit Classic has invited tristate teams to compete in its Ohio versus USA challenge, the 2009 schedule doesn’t include a single area team.
Due to the weak economy and scheduling issues, Herbstreit was unable to include any local teams. If fans want to see the best Ohio and Northern Kentucky high school football has to offer, they’ll have to attend the local extravaganza that is the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown. Although other events have had to downsize, the Showdown continues to expand demonstrating the Tri-state’s passion for high school football.
There aren’t many other areas where high school football trumps college football and the NFL. But there also aren’t many areas with the talent the Tri-state has to offer.
In 2006, Cincinnati high school football made history when it became the only city to ever have three local teams ranked in USA Today’s Super 25 simultaneously.
Those three teams, Elder, Colerain and St. Xavier, have won five of the last seven OHSAA State Championships (Elder 2002, 2003; Colerain 2004, and St. Xavier 2005 and 2007).
Beginning Thursday fans will have the opportunity to witness the surprises and upsets the 2009 season will bring. There’s a good chance they may even see an eventual state champion.
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