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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 2, 2006 Rivalry to take at least a year off Ashland, N. Medford football teams won’t face off in 2006 By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Call it the first major casualty of reclassification. Ashland High’s 106-year football rivalry with North Medford, considered one of the longest gridiron rivalries in the nation, will take a season off in 2006 and may be over with for good. The Grizzlies and Black Tornado first played each other in 1899 and have faced off every year since 1909, but North Medford athletic director Tim Sam said scheduling a game against Ashland for the upcoming season simply didn’t make sense for North since the two schools will be playing at different levels. Ashland and North both compete at the Class 4A level now, but that will change next fall when North will become a Class 6A school and Ashland Class 5A. “During those 106 years, Medford and Ashland have always been in the same (classification) and Ashland elected not to play up this year and never in our history have we played a lower-level team,” Sam said. “We considered it, but just thought it was not in our best interest to play a lower level team and to continue to play the highest level of teams available.” The decision was met with frustration here, where Ashland High head coach Charlie Hall has been a vocal proponent of continuing the state’s longest rivalry. Continuing long standing rivalries in general emerged as a hot button topic during reclassification talks last fall, when Ashland High held a town hall meeting to discuss the school’s options. Ultimately, school administrators decided that AHS should stick with the Oregon School Activities Association’s recommendation and become a 5A school, rather than “play up” at the 6A level. Class 6A includes schools with an average daily membership of at least 1,521 students — or less populated schools that have decided to play up — while 5A includes schools with ADM’s between 851 and 1,520. North Medford’s ADM is 1,783, while Ashland’s is 1,078, a fact that didn’t keep the Ashland High football team from upsetting North Medford 46-42 last September. AHS athletic director Karl Kemper is holding out hope that the rivalry will continue in 2007. When pressed, Sam didn’t sound quite as confident. “Yeah, I don’t know,” he said. “I think a lot of us are kind of waiting to see how things play out in the next year or two, but we are not adamant about not playing Ashland ever. “I am certainly sad to see the rivalry go, but I don’t think you base your decisions on what the rivalry has been like.” The Grizzlies open their 2006 football season Sept. 1 at North Salem. Their first home game is the following weekend against Corvallis. The newly-formed, five-team Southern Sky Conference kicks off its inaugural schedule Oct. 5, when Ashland travels to Crater and Eagle Point faces Mazama. Ashland’s other Sky Conference games are Oct. 12 against Mazama, Oct. 19 at Klamath Union and Oct. 26 against Eagle Point. Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 3020 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams