By Andy Loigu

Regarding traditional neighborhood rivalries, the conventional thinking says the pundits should simply “throw out the record books because anything can happen.”

Warren Hills (5-3) will be the favorite when the Blue Streaks visit the 0-8 Hackettstown Tigers in the 96th edition of the storied football rivalry between the two teams. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, October 29.

Going into this year’s game, Washington/Warren Hills leads the series 46-43-6.

The Streaks may be the favorite but we must keep in mind though that Goliath was a 50-point favorite over David back in the day.

To have any chance at all, Hackettstown needs to slow down Warren Hills quarterback Luke Dugan, tailback Jon Lainez and wideout Lucas Fritton, who all have produced notable seasons. Lainez is a wondrous Tony Dorsett style cutback runner who turns on the afterburners in the open field and Fritton is like your favorite all-night convenience store, always open.

Just about every player who has ever taken part in this annual game would tell you it’s a game they have looked forward to playing in since they were  youngsters in the first grade.

The winning team gets to keep the Beater Board for a year, and since last year’s 40-7 Blue Streaks win, it has been housed at Warren Hills High School.

A beater board is a farm implement which is used for squeezing hay into squares for storage and shipping. The annual presentation by the sponsoring Hackettstown and Washington Rotary Clubs celebrates the agricultural history of Warren County.

The Beater Board award began in 1986. In the words of community icon Norman Worth, at a joint Rotary meeting several years ago, “we wanted to present the winning team something like the Little Brown Jug of college football legend, something to make the game extra special.”

Tony Villante, who coached the Tigers to a win that year, said he thinks about the players who battled in this traditional game 70, 80 years ago, in the halcyon days of Coach Chot Morrison. “It’s all about writing our chapter in this history and, of course, we want it to be a good one” he told the players and coaches and parents at a previous presentation luncheon.

This Friday a new chapter will be written. How the chapter will be written remains to be seen.