Jug Game between Mankato East and Mankato West extends decades-long rivalry

MANKATO – A wide smile flashed across Sherri Blasing's face as she hefted a painted clay jug, the prize in a cross-city rivalry between high schools that has brought together generations of students — and once played a pivotal role in the football career of vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz.

The Kato Jug is the prize for the winner of the annual football game between the city's two public high schools, the Mankato West Scarlets and the Mankato East Cougars. The schools play Friday at Blakeslee Stadium on the Minnesota State Mankato campus. "This is something that brings our community all together," said Blasing, principal at Mankato West.

All week, students at Mankato West have been preparing for the Jug Game, traditionally one of the largest annual events in this city of about 45,000.

"You can expect probably half the town of Mankato to be there," said Avery Matejcek, a senior at Mankato West who on Friday will be wearing a banana suit and leading cheers.

At Mankato East, students said they think this year is their chance to see victory for the first time in their lifetimes. Mankato West has won the past 18 games, but this year the Cougars are 5-1 while the Scarlets are 3-3.

"This could be our year," said Caden Hansen, a senior at Mankato East.

But supporters of Mankato West said rankings and team records go out the window during the annual Jug Game, which, like all grudge matches, always brings out the best in both teams.

"No matter what the rest of your season looks like, if you win that Jug Game, that matters," said John Considine, a Mankato West alum and right tackle on the 1999 Class 4A championship team that had Walz as an assistant defensive coach.

For evidence, Considine recalled the 1999 Jug Game. Mankato West, with high hopes coming into the season, had stumbled to a 2-4 start. Considine said the team couldn't stand losing to its crosstown rivals, too, and the players put in extra preparation that week. They won that Jug Game 21-0, and that victory over their rivals was the launchpad to a state championship, he said.

The origins of the rivalry date to Mankato East's founding in 1973. Rich O'Brien, 91, an English teacher for that initial class, said students at East didn't have a separate identity from West because, after all, they had been in the same classrooms only a few years before.

"The rivalry was manufactured by the coaches," said O'Brien, now a sculptor and ink artist. "'East is least, West is best.' The kids didn't really believe in it."

Over time, the rivalry grew, he said.

By the time Jim Tischler graduated from Mankato East in 1994, the rivalry was almost a "sincere hatred" of the other side of town. Mankato East at one point dominated the series, winning 22 of the first 33 matches. The east side of Mankato was seen as the "tough guy" part of town compared to the more well-off rivals, he said — a comparison some Mankato West alumni don't dispute.

Today's teens are more cordial, mostly because of social media, the principals at Mankato East and West said.

"We have a healthy rivalry," said Akram Osman, principal at Mankato East and an alum who graduated in 2009.

Many of the students have competed against each other in cross-city sports leagues, he noted. Events by the school district bring together students from the two high schools. Opposing fans are often texting each during rivalry games.

"You don't have to speak person to person, you can just get on social media and text some of your friends from the other side [and] trash talk," said Peyton McCormick, a senior from Mankato East.

Players on each team said familiarity with each other adds to the bragging rights that come with winning the Jug Game, which this year will include a food drive and the launching of powder into the air to promote breast cancer awareness.

Laren Kelly, a junior lineman at Mankato West, said he knows the Scarlets will be an underdog "on paper" Friday. His coaches have said to treat Friday's matchup as just another game and not to worry about the rivalry, but the players have been notably more focused this week, Kelly said.

The same is true at Mankato East. Jim Tischler now coaches his son, Hayden Tischler, a wide receiver. With the Jug Game coming this week, practices have gone longer, and players have been putting in more time watching film of their opponents, he said.

"As much as we want to say it's just another game, that's not true," Tischler said.