The MaxPreps Rivalry Series visits Idaho

This fall, MaxPreps and the National Guard will visit high school football rivalries all across the country as we honor what is quite possibly the greatest tradition in sports. We're sending photographers and videographers out to capture the whole rivalry experience between some of the longest standing rivals in the nation. We get to kick off our third rivalry game in Idaho for The Service Bowl. The Rivalry Series microsite has all the details and information you'll need to follow this rivalry from start to finish.

Canyon Ridge and Twin Falls play for an old World War II tank helmet. Known as ‘The Bucket,' the trophy is painted with Canyon Ridge colors on one side, and Twin Falls colors on the other. The winner of this brutal slugfest also plays for a trophy featuring a Militia Soldier, along with the Great Seal of Idaho. An inscription reads: "Canyon Ridge HS vs. Twin Falls HS Honoring all Military Service Members."While the closest of the nine contests was Twin Falls' 18-6 conquest in 2011, plenty of these battles have been competitive. Take Twin Falls' win a year ago. Leading just 22-14, the Bruins secured Service Bowl victory late when Taryn Casperson refused to go down and outraced the Riverhawks 48-yards for the final score.After putting away the trophies following that 29-14 win, Twin Falls is completely content in keeping this volatile clash right where it is, with a fourth straight triumph. Canyon Ridge, on the other hand, is dialing in on the 2014 season expecting to claim its second Service Bowl win in front of a disorderly home crowd.An overflowing crowd is expected to fill the seats at Canyon Ridge High School on Friday September 21 at 7:00 p.m. So arrive early and grab a hotdog as these two rivals batter each other one more time in hopes of taking home all of that hardware.

Not only has Impomeni, guided Canyon Ridge to two postseason berths in the last four seasons, he treated those same Riverhawk fans to a 45-23 blasting of Enemy No. 1 Twin Falls in just the first year of his tenure. Impomeni is 18-20 at Canyon Ridge and for the first time since the inception of the Service Bowl, both schools competed in the playoffs in the same year last fall.Before the 2014 free-for-all even began, Twin Falls students chanted, "Five year winning streak," according to a story on magicvalley.com. "I hope you hear what they're saying," yelled an assistant coach to his players as the mantra continued. "Hear it!" That was all of the motivation the Riverhawks needed in throttling Twin Falls by 22 points in their only series win.A year ago, Canyon Ridge was within striking distance of earning their second Service Bowl win with three minutes to go. But, that's not good enough in this gridiron skirmish. When this year's melee reaches Riverhawk turf, Canyon Ridge expects to be in the thick of a playoff berth and will stop at nothing in throttling their cursed rival Bruins for win No. 2.

Although Twin Falls High School, home of the Bruins, has been located at its current location since 1954, the south central Idaho high school was originally established in 1907 per Wikipedia. Located 127 miles southeast of Boise, Idaho on I-84, Twin Falls hosts somewhere between 640 and 1,279 students, placing them in Class 4A, the second largest football classification in Idaho. Bruin football coach Allyn Reynolds, 50-56 at Twin Falls, walked away from coaching and teaching in January. However, his retirement may go down as the shortest in the history of the world. Reynolds is back to guide the Bruins through at least one more football season, and of course, into another Service Bowl.Reynolds and the Bruins are 8-1 against crosstown rival Canyon Ridge after claiming the series' hardware in each of the first five seasons of this young rivalry by outscoring the Riverhawks 155-32. The Bruins have won the last three contests by a 103-48 margin and own a 281-125 scoring margin over Canyon Ridge during the entire nine years of this black and blue football riot.With Reynolds in charge in 2018, it is almost a certainty that Twin Falls will bully its way into postseason play once again. From the outset of this football fisticuff, Twin Falls has been a mainstay in postseason play, making the playoffs every year except in 2014.In 2009, the Bruins not only muscled their way past Canyon Ridge for the first time, but they also swatted their way into the Class 4A semifinals before dropping a 47-21 decision to eventual state champion Blackfoot.Not only do the Bruins want to reach that level of postseason greatness again, they expect to continue their domination of Canyon Ridge on their way to winning the school's first state football title since 2004. Should Twin Falls players, coaches and fans hear the Riverhawks cry UNCLE along the way, it would be icing on the cake.

To learn more about The Battle for the Silver Football and the other teams who are a part of the 2018 Rivalry Series, check out the MaxPreps Rivalry Series microsite.