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Cascade vs. cashmere Oct. 22 • 7 p.m. Cashmere High Field
Pear Bowl rarely disappoints By Ian Dunn Editor The Pear Bowl is the best of rivalries. Rarely does it ever disappoint. Fans from Leavenworth and Cashmere pack the stands to watch the game. Usually, extra bleachers are brought in to accommodate the extra fans. The cool fall air. The cheerleaders. Great play, spirited play, on the football field. The heroes of these games will be remembered many years into the future. And it’s as good natured a rivalry as you will find. This is what rivalry games are all about. For a high school football fan, it does not get much better. So, Cascade and Cashmere will meet on the field in Cashmere for Pear Bowl 2010. The Bulldogs come into the game as strong as ever, but still smarting from a defeat last week to Chelan in the Bronze Shoe game, the first such loss for the Bulldogs in 11 years. The Kodiaks have struggled this season with surprising losses to Omak and Tonasket, but rebounded nicely last week with solid win over Okanogan. Make no mistake, these boys will leave it all out on the field Friday night. “You can throw the record out. Those don’t mean a darn thing,” said Cashmere Head Coach Phil Zukowski. “It’s like the Apple Cup. No matter the record, anything can happen.” Ca s c a d e H e a d Co a c h E l i a Ala’ilima-Daley has watched plenty of film of Cashmere and could not help but come away impressed by what he saw. “They are the real deal. We knew coming into the season they were going to be the top dog,” he said. “I know a lot of people chose
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A Cascade running back plows ahead for yardage in last year’s Pear Bowl in Peshastin. The visiting Bulldogs beat the Kodiaks 31-7. Chelan, but Cashmere is still stinging from that loss at the end of the year. They want to prove everyone in the state that was a fluke. They play like they are mad.” Daley has a healthy respect for the Cashmere skill players, notably quarterback Tyler McNair, who leads the league in rushing. “If you focus on him, you have guys coming to the outside that have speed,” he said. “We have watched some film. They are like running track meets. If we can get those guys bottled up, we’ll be OK.” This season, uncharacteristi-
went onto win the state championship, Cascade played the Bulldogs to 12-7 game in the Pear Bowl. Perhaps evidence of the role emotions can play in the outcome of a rivalry game. “That’s always the case,” Zukowski said. “Back in 1999 when we didn’t have a good team, it was still close. No matter what, the boys always get up for this game.” Frequently, Cascade Coach Daley comes up with a special strategy to try and defeat the Bulldogs. Planning for that starts, often times, at the beginning of the season and evolves week to week. Zukowski knows Daley will have something up his sleeve. “All we can do is take care of our own business,” Zukowski said. “We hope as coaches we have taught the players to adjust to whatever they bring. He (Daley) will bring something different. Yes. We just have to be ready.” Coach Z, as Zukowski is known, loves these kind of big games. And Cashmere typically plays in quite few each year. “I enjoy every big game,” he said. “I would rather play in a big game than a non-big game. The pressure it puts on the kids. The community. It brings out the best in our team.” Daley says you never know what emotions will come to you in game like this. “The boys are really looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s going to fun for us to play somebody that good and see where we are at.” Cashmere will be a big favorite, but Coach Z has no worries about his team overlooking the Kodiaks. “That will never happen. This is for pride in the valley,” he said. Ian Dunn can be reached at 548File photo 5286 or editor@leavenworthecho. The Cashmere running game is always tough to stop. Last year, the Bulldogs ran away with a victory over com. the Kodiaks in Peshastin. cally, Cascade has struggled on defense stopping the run. This does not bode well playing a team like Cashmere that runs the ball so effectively. Daley said he would not be getting much sleep in the days leading up to the game. “Our scheme has been pretty successful the past few years, so hopefully the kids can buy in and we can hold them and limit their gains,” he said. “Stay away from the big plays. That hurt us last year. When we beat them a few years ago, we kept them away from their big plays.” Two years ago, when Cashmere