When Cony senior Casey Mills learned the annual Cony-Gardiner football game was going to be a preseason game this year, his initial concern was that the energy would be gone from the state’s longest-running rivalry.
Speaking on Wednesday, however, Mills said those fears have been assuaged.
“That was definitely a worry, that we were going to get to the preseason Cony-Gardiner game and it wasn’t going to feel as real or as exciting as if it’s in late September or October, when it’s really football season,” said Mills, a defensive end. “But it really hasn’t been the case. All week, we’ve been talking about Cony-Gardiner. All the guys, all the captains are getting ready. We’re really ready to bring the heat.”
The 143rd matchup between the Rams and Tigers will be a preseason game for the first time since 2012, due to the teams playing in different classes, and though the rivalry won’t carry the season-altering ramifications it normally does, players are excited to resume the showdown after it was forced to spend a year on the shelf.
“I think it’ll be a much different game than it would have been a couple of years ago, due to all the adversity we had,” Gardiner senior fullback Owen Pushard said. “It’s been two years since we played a real football game. Starting off with Cony is a good way to start it.”
“Even if it’s a preseason game, it’s the biggest game,” Cony senior receiver Aidan Coulombe said. “I wish it was a regular season game or a playoff game, but you can’t have that, obviously. (But a) preseason game, you still want to go out and compete with them. That energy is still there.”
Gardiner coach Pat Munzing said the game doesn’t need to be played on a cold night with the playoffs around the corner to be special for the teams involved.
“You’d rather play them in the regular season, and have it count for something,” he said. “(But) Cony-Gardiner is Cony-Gardiner. It doesn’t matter where it falls on your schedule, it’s the first opponent you look for. ‘Where are they?'”
“And it’s our first game back. I know it’s an exhibition game, but it’s our first game in two years, and we’re coming back with our rival. That makes it pretty special.”
Cony coach B.L. Lippert said he expects the game to be competitive but doesn’t like the timing, saying that it’s too difficult in August to give the game the proper buildup.
“Hopefully there’s a big crowd, but we haven’t really talked too much about the rivalry this week,” he said. “It feels like we’re getting off the ground, first time playing in two years, so we’re really focused on us and less about the opponent, and that’s usually not the case for Cony-Gardiner. Normally you spend some time focusing on past games, bringing in some guy that played in 1955 to talk to the team. We just don’t have the time to do that right now.”
Lippert also said the rivalry’s placement in the schedule makes for a dilemma: Trying to win a game when you would normally be trying to spread out snaps and prepare for the regular season.
“In the preseason, you’re trying to get stuff installed, you’re trying to see personnel, who can play,” he said. “In a game against Gardiner, you’re trying not to experiment too much. You’re trying to win the game.”
Munzing shared that thought.
Coach Jim Hersom demonstrates a drill for linemen during practice Thursday in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“If this was an exhibition game against somebody else, yeah, we’d play it differently,” he said. “For sure, just because of all the tradition, we want to win the game. Got to beat Cony.”
For the players who haven’t played in two years and who had to settle for a 7-on-7 consolation last year, however, Friday night will still be a special occasion.
“When we first heard it was going to be a preseason game, we were like ‘Oh, OK. That’s ‘eh’,'” Gardiner junior quarterback Wyatt Chadwick said. “But then, once you get the pads on and practicing, then you’re like ‘OK, we’re actually going to play them.’ … I think it will feel definitely like a late-season game. I feel like you’re going to walk in and it’s going to be packed, because there hasn’t been a real Cony-Gardiner game in a while.”
Added Gardiner senior tight end Ryan Banister said: “I think the Cony-Gardiner game will always be the Cony-Gardiner game, no matter what field we’re playing on, what type of football it is. I think that’s just kind of the energy that comes with it.”
It may not count in the standings. But it will count for the players on the field.
“When I think about ‘What’s the essence of the Cony-Gardiner game,’ it’s hitting,” Cony’s Mills said. “And, as much as people don’t want to hear it, it’s talking trash. … I’ll take a Cony-Gardiner game no matter what kind of format that looks like. I’m 100 percent ready to go back and play some real football.”
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