5 of the best traveling trophies in high school football


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SALT LAKE CITY — the regular season for high school football is wrapping up and there is not much that creates more pride and excitement than winning a rivalry game.

Friday, Oct. 25 marks the Battle for the Rock between Salt Lake high schools Skyline and Olympus. This got us thinking, what are some of the greatest traveling trophies in the great state of Utah?

Well, we found them and here they are: Five of the greatest traveling high school football trophies.

5 of the best traveling trophies in high school football

Box Elder - Bear River - Golden Spike - 93 games

The battle for the Golden Spike between Box Elder and Bear River high schools is the oldest in the state and one of the most heated.

The Golden Spike represents the Golden Spike driven into the rails at Promontory point. The spike that goes back and forth between the schools is not the actual Golden Spike, but according to Box Elder head coach Robbie Gunther it may as well be.

"When I first got here (Box Elder High School) they said ‘this isn't like anything you've ever seen."

Wise said no one in their town wears red, Bear River's colors, during the week of the game.

5 of the best traveling trophies in high school football
Game Night Live
Make sure to catch SportBeat's Game Night Live at 6:30. This week the crew will be at Judge Memorial as they face off against Morgan. It's a clash between No.1 and No.2 in 3A.

Same goes for Bear River.

"We don't wear purple here," Bear River head coach Chris Wise said. "We don't let kids in the weight room if they're wearing purple."

Ogden - Ben Lomond - Iron Horse - 59 games

Ogden high School and Ben Lomond High School battle it out every year for a chance to take home the Iron Horse. What is the Iron Horse? It's a two trains going head-to-head representing both schools.

Ben Lomond athletic director Jeff Kilts said they're players look forward to the rivalry game so much every year that they have trouble focusing after the game is played. Apparently the Iron Horse game generates more ticket sales for Ben Lomond than the total of all other sporting events for the year.

"It's one of Utah's great rivalries," Kilts said.

"It's insane," Ogden head coach Kent Taylor said. "The community is quite literally divided the whole week.

5 of the best traveling trophies in high school football

Taylor said it's tough sometimes to even go to the grocery store during rivalry week, which he compares to the BYU-Utah game.

Roy - Weber - The Shield - 48 games

The Roy Royals and the Weber Warriors have faced off 48 times and they don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

Each year the winner of the Roy-Weber games takes home an elaborate shield that bears the seal of each school and according to Roy head coach Fred Fernandes it is "One of the best looking trophies."

While Roy has held onto the trophy for three years now, the coaches agree that this is a game where records mean nothing. Most of the games have been close battles and both teams take pride in holding onto the shield.

"It's good for high school football," Fernandes said.

Northridge - Layton - Sword - 21 games

The Northridge Knights and the Layton Lancers will meet each other in the Sword Game for the 22nd time Oct. 25.

5 of the best traveling trophies in high school football

Northridge and Layton are so close to one another that kids at both schools actually play little league together and then go to the same junior high.

"The game is heated and emotional," Northridge head coach Erik Thompson said. "After the game the kids have a respect and friendship for one another."

"Our kids are so close with Northridge kids," Layton head coach Jim Batchelor said. "It's becoming one of the best rivalries in the state."

The sword is just that, a sword, that represents both a knight and a lancer and each year where the sword goes is usually determined by a last second play.

"Regardless of records it comes down to the last seconds of the game," Batchelor said.

"Records get thrown out the window," Thompson said.

Skyline - Olympus - The Rock - 46 games

Just a few blocks separate the Skyline Eagles and Olympus Titans and the history between these two schools is deep and heated.

The Battle of the Rock is one of the best-known rivalries in the state and for good reason. The salt Lake schools are now in the same region and the players and coaches from both schools live in the same neighborhoods.

If all of that wasn't enough, Olympus head coach Aaron Whitehead played football at Skyline.

5 of the best traveling trophies in high school football

"What's fun for me is the reason I'm coaching is because of the guys on the other sideline," Whitehead told me.

Current Skyline head coach Steve Marlow was actually one of Whitehead's coaches in high school. Olympus has held the rock for the past four years, but Skyline holds the overall edge.

"Skyline has the overall record with 10 more wins than Olympus," Marlow said. "It's always been a really great rivalry and it's been a lot of fun."

Depending on whom you talk to you'll get a different story of how The Rock came into existence. Some have said it was a rock that came out of the foundation when Skyline was built in 1962. Others claim it was formed when a lightning bolt struck a large piece of granite on Mt. Olympus. It's not completely clear what the origin is, but even Coach Whitehead has admitted to embellishing the legend a little bit.

Hear Rod Zundel chat with Coach Whitehead and Coach Marlow along with team captains about "The Rock."

There you have it, five of the greatest traveling trophies in Utah high school football. What are your choices? Or maybe you're still pulling for your alma matter to bring home the hardware. Let us know on the comment boards, Facebook or send an email.

Also be sure to catch KSL's Game Night Live Friday at 6:30 for all of the high school football action you can handle, including the Battle of the Rock and the Sword Game.

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John Clyde

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