Carson High, Douglas High football to play for Rivalry Trophy

The Carson-Douglas football rivalry is second to none in the Battle Born state, and now the yearly winner gets a keepsake.

Coaches Blair Roman and Ernie Monfiletto put their heads together in the offseason and came up with the idea and rough design of the new Rivalry Trophy.

And, thanks to hard work by Burns Machinery in Minden, Jared Hyatt, a welding teacher at Douglas, Carson assistant coach Jim deArrieta, Alltizer Powder Coating and Award Zone in Carson City, the 4-foot tall trophy became a reality.

“The main thing was that we wanted to honor the rivalry and commemorate the first 75 meetings,” Roman said. “It looks great, and now the kids on both teams have something to play for.”

This rivalry is heated, and sometimes has extended to off-the-field issues. After the 2015 game and before 2016 graduation, there were acts of vandalism at both schools.

“For me the vandalism played into it (the decision to have a trophy),” Roman said. “I wanted to also have a positive focus for the game away from that type of thing as well as honoring the rivalry.”

“What happened was unfortunate,” Monfiletto said. “It was unnecessary, and poor decision making by some kids. It isn’t something that Blair and I condone. It’s a fierce rivalry and should be decided on the field.”

Because the last day of Carson’s three-day camp was canceled, Roman took the trophy to Monfiletto, and the new trophy will reside in Minden because Douglas won last year’s game.

“We officially made the transaction, Blair and I did, last Thursday,” Monfiletto said. “Blair and I, a long time ago, we talked about the rivalry itself and discussions about what to call it and we looked at each other and said, ‘It’s just the rivalry. We don’t need to make things up for something that exists, and so, that’s what that trophy is going to be called … The Rivalry Trophy. It’s 75 years of history, so that’s pretty neat.

“We really have not had anything to commemorate that rivalry and now we do,” Monfiletto said. “I don’t know if that means the rivalry means any more to either of us, but it is one thing that allows either program to celebrate the most recent victory.”

The 4-foot high sign rests on a miner’s cart. The cart was purchased on eBay by deArrieta, who donated it.

“He put a ton of work into putting it together, cleaning it up, lacquering it and making it presentable,” Monfiletto said. “He went far and above the call of duty. He had purchased that cart on eBay, and it was in pretty rough shape. He got it, assembled it, cleaned it up and really did a first class job to make that thing outstanding.”

The trophy (the Nevada sign) on top of the cart was done by Burns Machnery, and Hyatt produced the trophy itself, according to Monfiletto. One side of the cart has Carson on it, and the other side has Douglas. The opposing team’s sign can be taken off yearly.

A plaque with the final scores of the yearly game will be put on the platform starting with this year’s game on Nov. 3.

“We’ll take it out Carson week; we won’t take it out before then,” Monfiletto said. “We don’t plan on getting ahead of ourselves.”

Both teams open their seasons in Pocatello at the annual Rocky Mountain Rumble at Idaho State University on Aug. 26.

Douglas faces Rigby at 10 a.m. and Carson plays at 1 p.m. against Lewiston. Galena and Spanish Springs are also playing in the two-day event.