By GARY DOVE
IAEGER — Neighbors, rivals and soon-to-be teammates will square off one last time tonight at Fanning Field.
The Big Creek Owls and the Iaeger Cubs will meet for the 55th time on the gridiron, with an abundance of history in the books from these two schools that will combine next year to form Riverview High School.
The Owls hold a decided edge in the previous 54 meetings, 37-16-1, however, the Cubs have won 14 of the last 19 contests.
Iaeger’s 30th year head coach Mitchell Estep, a 1975 Cub grad, will be taking part in his 29th Iaeger-Big Creek football game tonight, having coached in the last 26 meetings, and having played in the 1973 game as a junior and in ‘74 as a senior.
During Estep’s tenure as head coach that started in 1980, Big Creek has had six different head coaches, with current mentor Mike Vallo in his ninth season.
Estep, who has guided Iaeger to 185 wins in his 29-plus seasons, has a 15-11 slate against the Owls.
Big Creek won the closest game, score-wise, in the series 28-26 two years ago in Iaeger, while it was the 3-2 Cubs that surprised the unbeaten Owls 20-6 a year ago in War.
There have been several important “exchanges” over the years between the two schools.
Former Big Creek principal, the late-Robert L. Turner, was born in Lex, between Iaeger and Bradshaw, but served as principal at Big Creek from 1935 until his retirement in 1985.
Owl grad Glen McNew served as head football coach at Iaeger in the 1960s before going to highly-successful years at Mullens and then Morgantown, where he led the Mohigans to the Class AAA state titles before retiring.
Incidentally, McNew is the brother-in-law of Tom Fanning, son of the late Pat Fanning, for whom Iaeger’s Fanning Field was named.
Another former Owl, Frank Smith, Jr., son of longtime Owls public address announcer Frank, Sr., graduated from Big Creek, but served as an assistant coach at Iaeger (under Estep) before moving to South Carolina to continue his teaching and coaching career.
Iaeger returned the favor with Jim Pettus and the late-Pete Cartwright. Pettus played at Iaeger, but served as an assistant football coach under the late-Mario Poletti at Big Creek, while also guiding the Owl basketball fortunes.
Cartwright did likewise, graduating from Iaeger, but later teaching, serving as a football assistant and trainer at Big Creek, and also was the head baseball coach for the Owls for two years.
Current Big Creek principal Steve Tucker served as assistant principal at Iaeger before taking the top job at War, while Vallo currently teaches driver’s education at both schools.
Big Creek was a Class AAA school in 1958, when the current three-class system was adopted, but with declining enrollment, is now a Class A school.
The Cubs were previously a Class AA school, but are also a Class A school now.
Since the ‘58 season, Iaeger has been to the playoffs 10 times, all as a Class AA entrant, with Estep leading the Cubs to nine of those trips. The other came under Howard “Butch” Bivens in 1979.
Big Creek has been to nine playoffs, finishing as the Class AA runner-up in 1976 to Ravenswood, and again as runner-up, this time in Class A in ‘97 to Moorefield.
Vallo guided the Owls to the Class A playoffs last season.
As the 2009 season is penned each week into the illustrious histories of each school, the players tonight won’t be thinking about the past, or dreaming about the future.
They’ll be trying to capture a win in the final meeting on the gridiron between the Owls and the Cubs.
Big Creek - Iaeger Football Series
Year Played Winner Score
1937 Big Creek 45-7
1938 Big Creek 14-0
1940 Big Creek 53-24
1941 Big Creek 35-14
1942 Big Creek 14-0
1943 Big Creek 34-0
1944 Big Creek 34-0
1945 Iaeger 7-0
1946 Big Creek 13-0
1947 Big Creek 19-0
1948 Big Creek 6-0
1949 Big Creek 19-0
1950 Big Creek 6-0
1951 Big Creek 32-0
1952 Big Creek 27-0
1953 Big Creek 28-0
1954 Tie 7-7
1955 Big Creek 60-0
1962 Big Creek 26-0
1963 Big Creek 39-0
1964 Big Creek 19-6
1965 Big Creek 31-0
1966 Big Creek 12-0
1967 Big Creek 27-0
1968 Big Creek 53-6
1969 Big Creek 78-0
1973 Big Creek 20-6
1974 Big Creek 24-0
1982 Iaeger 14-0
1983 Big Creek 28-12
1984 Big Creek 38-8
1985 Big Creek 14-0
1986 Big Creek 22-8
1987 Big Creek 28-0
1988 Big Creek 6-0
1989 Iaeger 12-6
1990 Iaeger 20-8
1991 Big Creek 28-13
1992 Iaeger 12-8
1993 Iaeger 6-0
1994 Big Creek 14-0
1995 Iaeger 12-6
1996 Big Creek 14-3
1997 Big Creek 22-11
1998 Iaeger 38-12
1999 Iaeger 49-20
2000 Iaeger 41-18
2002 Iaeger 35-16
2003 Iaeger 45-24
2004 Iaeger 28-0
2005 Iaeger 26-6
2006 Iaeger 52-30
2007 Big Creek 28-26
2008 Iaeger 20-6
—Compiled by Gary Dove
