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Inches.
That was the difference between Idaho Falls painting the goalposts orange and dealing with a heartbreaking loss to archrival Skyline.
The Tigers came out on the losing end of that game last year at Ravsten Stadium. But the orange and black are vowing to have a different ending this time around... one involving orange spray paint filling the night air.
Tonight's game has been one of the more talked about games this season. On my radio show last night, we did the "Rivalry Shoutout Hour", which ended up becoming the "Blue vs. Orange Smackdown" as unreal amounts of people wanted to give some friendly smack talk and predictions for tonight's game. It was meant for any matchup in East Idaho, but it turned out to be solely about the Emotion Bowl.
It's a tradition deeply rooted in the history of Idaho Falls itself. Students, alumni, and fans from all over wait for this game every single season.
No matter what the record of either team, how many injuries one team may have, or the effect of the weather on the playing conditions, if there is one thing that history has taught us, it's this: Expect the Unexpected.
One team could be a three or four touchdown underdog and somehow, inexplicably, come up with the victory. The other team could throw a "Hail-Mary" pass on the last play of the game into triple coverage and still come up with the game winning touchdown catch. Or a team could decided to bring a live Bengal tiger onto their sideline as extra motivation/intimidation (it's true, it happened in 1977).
Whatever the case may be, always expect the unexpected in the Emotion Bowl. I'm sure that the students at IFHS didn't expect to lose the first EIGHT games played against the then-new Skyline High School back in the 60's and 70's.
Idaho Falls is off to a 4-0 start for the first time in a long time. They've been slicing and dicing their way through their opponents like a hot knife through butter. Quarterback A.J. Martin, now in his third year as the starter at Idaho Falls, has been superb, passing for nearly 1,200 yards through four games.
Skyline has had a rougher go of it. After getting crushed by Bonneville in the opening week, Skyline reeled off two close victories against Blackfoot and Century before getting beat by Rigby. Zak Bennett has looked good for the Grizz considering that his offensive line has had struggles, passing for over 800 yards along with 6 TD's and four rushing TD's.
But none of the previous play really matters in this game. What matters is what happens on that Ravsten Stadium field for 48 minutes.
Thousands of fans will pile through those concrete entrance gates to see the Tigers and the Grizzlies battle it out on the field for the chance to earn the right to paint those old goalposts in their respective schools' color.
Sports Illustrated gave the Emotion Bowl the #7 ranking in the magazines' "Best High School Football Rivalries". USA Today dubbed the Emotion Bowl as the 4th biggest high school football rivalry in the United States back in 2004. That happened to be the same year as "The Catch", when Skyline's Andy Miles caught a 48-yard touchdown pass as time expired to give the Grizzlies a 29-28 victory over the Tigers.
Will the goalposts change color once again? Will Idaho Falls continue their turnaround season with a win in the biggest game to date? Or will Skyline increase their series lead and win three Emotion Bowls in a row for the first time since 1992?
The 49th Emotion will air LIVE starting at 6:45 p.m. tonight here on IdahoSports.com. Join Lorin Jensen, Sven Alskog, Tyler Belnap, and myself as we bring you the broadcast from Ravsten Stadium in Idaho Falls.
You don't want to miss this. Tonight, we will be rockin' at Ravsten.
To watch the Emotion Bowl, click HERE.
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