HOWARD – It has been 13 years since the East Knox Bulldogs last hoisted the Devil-Dog trophy.
No one realizes that more than Cody Reese.
The current East Knox football coach was on that Bulldog team that last claimed the trophy. He’ll be on the sidelines again Friday, when the host Bulldogs face the Danville Blue Devils at 7 p.m.
“It was great to win,” said Reese, who was a senior on the ’05 East Knox team. “It was the first time I’d beaten them.”
On Oct. 29, 2005, East Knox was looking to shake off a stunning 30-29 loss to Fredericktown – the team’s first loss of the season. A victory over Danville would mean a share of the Mid-Buckeye Conference championship. Danville was wrapping up what would be a 3-7 season under head coach Eric Music. But the Bulldogs hadn’t topped the Blue Devils since 1999 – and that was the same year Danville received a dose of revenge by beating East Knox in the Division VI regional finals.
But, by the time the clock had expired on that chilly evening in ‘05, the scoreboard read that the visiting Bulldogs were 27-2 victors.
“We felt good (going in),” Reese recalled. “We were coming off that bad loss, and really wanted to win the last game. We had been No. 1 (in the region) before that (Fredericktown) game, and we fell to No. 2, so we knew we were in.”
East Knox controlled the game from the beginning. Despite giving up an early safety, the team had built a 14-2 lead at the break. Finally, a pair of touchdowns put the game Devils out of reach.
There were 14 seniors on that East Knox team, including Reese, who played tight end and linebacker. On the other side of the field, Danville had nine seniors.
It was an emotional time for the Bulldogs and their fans. Longtime head coach Chet Looney had announced his retirement following the season, and the players had dedicated the game to him – despite knowing they still had more football to go, having clinched a spot in the playoffs.
The ‘Dogs defeated Nelsonville-York before falling to conference rival Centerburg, 41-20, in the regional semifinals. To date, that game was East Knox’s last playoff appearance.
Reese sees comparisons between his senior season and his current team.
“There’s that same desire to be successful,” Reese said. “They know you have to do what it takes year round, not just during the season. I see that in this group. They aren’t going to settle for mediocrity.”
No one attending East Knox Local Schools knows what it’s like to beat Danville. Since that game in ’05, the Blue Devils have outscored the Bulldogs, 335-88.
With last week’s 50-7 loss to Highland, dropping the Bulldogs’ record to 7-2, there will be no playoffs again this year. That was a tough pill to swallow when the team met on Saturday.
“All we can do now is go to work,” Reese said. “We have some work to go if we want to go out on top. We want to bring the trophy back to Howard.”
East Knox has a special trophy case dedicated to the Devil-Dog rivalry. Missing is the Devil-Dog trophy itself. Few people at the school recall ever seeing it there. No specific place is set aside for it.
But, if the game goes their way, the Bulldog faithful will find a place for it.
“It would mean so much for the players, for how hard they’ve worked,” Reese said. “Our school has been through a lot over the past 10-15 years. It would be great for our community. Football is very big around here.”
