Hello all,
In the spring, high school football coaches were contacted by MaxPreps regarding their second annual "Rivalry Series". Coaches were asked to submit information regarding their biggest rivalry game of the year. In early June I was contacted again to be made aware that our (Gibbon) game vs Wood River on September 26th was chosen as one of the 13 games that MaxPreps will cover as part of their second edition of the "Rivalry Series". I'm not sure what the rules on this site are regarding the use of outside links, so I will avoid posting one. If you google "MaxPreps Rivalry Series" it will bring you to a page that shows the 11 games they covered last year. Each game has a brief 5-7 minute video outlining the coverage. One of the games they visited featured T.C. Williams, the home of the movie "Remember the Titans".
We are honored to host this game. I am well aware that Gibbon-Wood River is not the biggest name brand rivalry in the state of Nebraska. Norfolk Catholic-Pierce, McCook-Aurora, Elkhorn-Gretna, the cross town games in Omaha, etc... are all bigger brands, and draw a larger fan base than what we have and we fully recognize that. There are countless games that were worthy and we are honored to be chosen as the Nebraska host site. Gibbon-Wood River have had some big names come through over the years, Scott Frost (Nebraska QB) and Luke Van Matre (UNK all time leading rusher) to name a few.
Obviously my main goal is to win the game (I imagine Coach Fehringer at Wood River shares the same opinion), but I also want to make this a good experience for MaxPreps so they come back to our state sooner rather than later. Perhaps then they will get a chance to visit one of the other great rivalry games we have here in Nebraska. As the head coach, I am trying to advertise and market this game to the best of my ability prior to the start of the season. Once August 11th comes around my focus will be entirely on our first game (St Paul), and then on our next opponent from week to week. The major newspapers (OWH, LJS, GI Independent, Kearney Hub, Hastings Tribune) and media outlets (Huskerland Bob, 1,000 yard guy, Power 99 radio), and local news stations have all been made aware of what is going on.
Gibbon is traditionally a small C-1 or large C-2 school. Our community is 1,800 people. Our facilities are built to accommodate that type of atmosphere. The smallest community MaxPreps visited last year was just under 5,000 people. We currently have a seating capacity of 450-500 people. We have arranged to bring in 1,500 extra seats, several portable restrooms, extra food vendors (catering), arranged additional parking, etc... I am in the process of arranging for a college football coaching legend to be in attendance as well. I have that about 95% done, but haven't signed any paperwork regarding that yet so I will hold off on details there until it is a signed and done deal.
Obviously the majority of the readers on this forum are players and parents that will have other game obligations on the evening of September 26th. I am writing to try to reach those people that do not have other game obligations on that night and invite/encourage you to attend. Please consider attending as a fan of Nebraska high school football. I am not asking for "Gibbon fans" or "Wood River fans", I am hoping to get fans of the game in our state. Please consider helping to make this a positive experience for high school football in the state of Nebraska.
If you have any questions regarding this please post them here and I will try to get them answered to the best of my ability.
Thanks,
Mark McLaughlin
Head Football Coach
Gibbon Public Schools
This post was edited on 8/5 11:23 PM by GibbonBuffs
In the spring, high school football coaches were contacted by MaxPreps regarding their second annual "Rivalry Series". Coaches were asked to submit information regarding their biggest rivalry game of the year. In early June I was contacted again to be made aware that our (Gibbon) game vs Wood River on September 26th was chosen as one of the 13 games that MaxPreps will cover as part of their second edition of the "Rivalry Series". I'm not sure what the rules on this site are regarding the use of outside links, so I will avoid posting one. If you google "MaxPreps Rivalry Series" it will bring you to a page that shows the 11 games they covered last year. Each game has a brief 5-7 minute video outlining the coverage. One of the games they visited featured T.C. Williams, the home of the movie "Remember the Titans".
We are honored to host this game. I am well aware that Gibbon-Wood River is not the biggest name brand rivalry in the state of Nebraska. Norfolk Catholic-Pierce, McCook-Aurora, Elkhorn-Gretna, the cross town games in Omaha, etc... are all bigger brands, and draw a larger fan base than what we have and we fully recognize that. There are countless games that were worthy and we are honored to be chosen as the Nebraska host site. Gibbon-Wood River have had some big names come through over the years, Scott Frost (Nebraska QB) and Luke Van Matre (UNK all time leading rusher) to name a few.
Obviously my main goal is to win the game (I imagine Coach Fehringer at Wood River shares the same opinion), but I also want to make this a good experience for MaxPreps so they come back to our state sooner rather than later. Perhaps then they will get a chance to visit one of the other great rivalry games we have here in Nebraska. As the head coach, I am trying to advertise and market this game to the best of my ability prior to the start of the season. Once August 11th comes around my focus will be entirely on our first game (St Paul), and then on our next opponent from week to week. The major newspapers (OWH, LJS, GI Independent, Kearney Hub, Hastings Tribune) and media outlets (Huskerland Bob, 1,000 yard guy, Power 99 radio), and local news stations have all been made aware of what is going on.
Gibbon is traditionally a small C-1 or large C-2 school. Our community is 1,800 people. Our facilities are built to accommodate that type of atmosphere. The smallest community MaxPreps visited last year was just under 5,000 people. We currently have a seating capacity of 450-500 people. We have arranged to bring in 1,500 extra seats, several portable restrooms, extra food vendors (catering), arranged additional parking, etc... I am in the process of arranging for a college football coaching legend to be in attendance as well. I have that about 95% done, but haven't signed any paperwork regarding that yet so I will hold off on details there until it is a signed and done deal.
Obviously the majority of the readers on this forum are players and parents that will have other game obligations on the evening of September 26th. I am writing to try to reach those people that do not have other game obligations on that night and invite/encourage you to attend. Please consider attending as a fan of Nebraska high school football. I am not asking for "Gibbon fans" or "Wood River fans", I am hoping to get fans of the game in our state. Please consider helping to make this a positive experience for high school football in the state of Nebraska.
If you have any questions regarding this please post them here and I will try to get them answered to the best of my ability.
Thanks,
Mark McLaughlin
Head Football Coach
Gibbon Public Schools
This post was edited on 8/5 11:23 PM by GibbonBuffs
