Rivalry not diminished with Saturday's rout

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John Hellige played on the Bloodhound side of the Fort Madison-Holy Trinity rivalry.
He coaches on the Crusader side now.
There’s no question what the rivalry means to him.
His Holy Trinity team lost to Fort Madison, 78-40, on Saturday afternoon at Fort Madison High School.
Hellige talked about the experience of the Bloodhounds, who are ranked No. 2 in the state in Class 3A. He talked about his team’s inexperience.
And then I asked him about the rivalry.
“I played in the game,” Hellige said. “With some of my friends like John Muerhoff…”
He paused, the emotion of the thought stopping his voice. Muerhoff, a brilliant player at Aquinas in the late 1980s, died last January.
Muerhoff and Hellige always had great battles, whether on the courts of their respective high schools, or at the YMCA, or on the asphalt courts of Lincoln School, or wherever.
Great competitors. Even better friends.
“…Who we lost last year,” Hellige said, continuing. “It’s always a great game. A few blocks away, neighborhood rivalry…”
Every rivalry is about bragging rights. Every rivalry has an edge to it.
The final score of this one didn’t take anything away from this rivalry.
“The rivalry means a lot,” Fort Madison coach Ryan Wilson said. “It’s Fort Madison, it’s 3A versus 1A, everybody wants to win that game.”
This rivalry has a different feel than maybe the 1970s or early 1980s, and that’s OK.
Fort Madison and Holy Trinity are separate schools, yet together for some sports. That has made a difference.
Bloodhounds and Crusaders have their rivalry games, yet they’re together for football or soccer or baseball or track.
They recognized three All-State selections from Fort Madison before the game on Saturday. One was Jason Thurman, a Holy Trinity graduate who was honored for his play with the Bloodhound baseball team last summer.
“They’re chanting and yelling and cheering for each other, which is a good thing,” Wilson said. “And I think in the last couple of years, that’s made this special.
“Some of those guys are teammates in football. Some of those guys are teammates in baseball. Some of those guys are teammates in soccer. There’s a camaraderie there.”
“It’s different now with us sharing sports,” Hellige said. “A lot of these kids play two or three sports together.”
Saturday’s game was a showcase for the present and the future.
Fort Madison senior Dayton Davis led the Bloodhounds with 23 points, and fellow senior Miles Dear had 22. Sophomore Conner Gehling had 22 for the Crusaders.
“That’s a good team,” Hellige said of the Bloodhounds. “With eight seniors, that makes a difference.”
“They’re going to be dangerous in a couple of years,” Wilson said. “They’re taking some licks right now. But give them some time.”
There isn’t bad blood like other rivalries. But everyone likes bragging rights.
“Three hundred sixty-four days a year, we root for the Bloodhounds,” Hellige said. “But we wanted to get this one.”
John Bohnenkamp is an award-winning sports reporter and editor, and is a contributor to Pen City Current

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