C-Falls, Whitefish set to brawl

O'Brien Byrd grew up in Columbia Falls and played soccer at Columbia Falls High School from 1991-94.

Now Byrd is the head soccer coach at Whitefish High School where his Bulldogs are 5-0, including 1-0 in Northern A play.

Columbia Falls boys coach Peter Browne coached at Whitefish from 1990-98 and joined the Wildcats as an assistant in 2000 before taking over as head coach the following year. The Wildcats are 3-2 and won the Class A state championship last year.

Whitefish and Columbia Falls have been athletic rivals for ages, and while soccer only entered that equation last decade, the schools already have plenty of history on the pitch.

"That's the beauty of it - it doesn't really matter that soccer is relatively new, it's every sport," Byrd said. "It's always fiercely competitive."

In 2003 the Bulldogs lost a 4-2 double-overtime thriller to Columbia Falls in the state title match. Tyler Stanley scored the first overtime goal to break a 2-2 tie. Stanley was one of Columbia Falls' all-time greats, but now he's an assistant at Whitefish.

It was Byrd's first season at Whitefish and he described the loss at bittersweet because even though he wanted to win the title, he couldn't help but be happy for Columbia Falls.

"The first year was definitely the weirdest," Byrd said. "I trained so many days in my life on that field in Columbia Falls and here I am on the other side of the pitch."

Those mixed emotions epitomize the Columbia Falls-Whitefish soccer rivalry. It's passionate and intense, but it isn't vicious.

Byrd says the rivalry isn't hateful because so many of the players grew up together and hang out in the offseason.

"That being said, if you have an opportunity to play against one of your good buddies, you're going to throw down," Byrd said. "It is a highly-emotional game."

Browne's decision to leave Whitefish for Columbia Falls was a professional matter which had to do with teaching. Despite cherishing his time at Whitefish, Browne has no doubts he made the right decision.

"Columbia Falls is a great place to coach and it's an awesome school and we have a great athletic department and it's the best move I've ever made," Browne said.

Browne quickly made his mark with the Wildcats.

"When I took the helm in 2001, we won the state championship against Whitefish and it was a pretty strange feeling because I coached almost all the kids on both sides of the field," Browne said.

The visiting team won both Whitefish-Columbia Falls boys games in 2005. The Wildcats beat Whitefish on its homecoming and the Bulldogs won in Columbia Falls to end the regular season. While the Wildcats won the state title, Whitefish was bounced from the first round of the playoffs by Corvallis - a team it beat 4-0 earlier in the year.

"Us losing, I think, played a vital part in winning the state championship and maybe it was the other way around for (Whitefish)," Browne said.

According to Byrd, today's game has postseason implications and the Bulldogs must win if they hope to win the conference..

"I think the loser of the game (today) is going to start thinking about who they play as the No. 2 seed at state," Byrd said.

Barring a tie, today's losing team will have a chance to even things later this season when the Bulldogs and Wildcats meet in Whitefish.

Whitefish has scored in bunches this year, including a half-dozen goals against defending Class AA state champion Flathead last month. The Bulldogs are deep and talented and Byrd has no reason to reinvent their attack just because they're playing a rival.

"We're going to stick to our game plan and what's been working for us to lead us to a 5-0 season," Byrd said. "Peter Browne is a very good coach and he's not going to be surprised at all and his team will be well prepared."

That doesn't mean Byrd will tell his players that today is just another match.

"That would be a lie and they'd actually know it because most of them have participated in these kinds of games already," Byrd said.

The Wildcats are a young team and Browne concedes they are rebuilding.

"We're ready to get going and whatever happens (today) happens and we'll see them again," Browne said. "There's three teams that go (to the playoffs) from the north this year so if we drop it, we drop it."

While today's loser will be hard-pressed to clinch a No. 1 playoff seed, Browne doesn't see today's game as one that will make or break a season.

"We've won two state championships as the second seed, so that's the farthest thing from my mind," Browne said.

Browne has learned not to get too involved in the rivalry, but he still enjoys the game's atmosphere.

"It's very emotional and it gets a little blown out of proportion, but it's fun for the kids and it's bragging rights," Browne said. "We get both the communities together and pack the house and hopefully have a good high school game."

The Whitefish and Columbia Falls girls begin play with what should be a thriller.

The Lady Bulldogs (3-2, 1-0) returned almost everyone from last year's squad which lost to Belgrade in the state title match. The Wildkats (4-1) were conference champions last year and lost to Belgrade in overtime of the first round of the playoffs.

Whitefish coach Lini Reading is torn in her assessment of the rivalry.

"Half of me wants to say it's another conference game and half of me wants to say it's the Kat-Dog rivalry," Reading said. "Regardless of how it looks on paper, it's always a great game."

Reading says that so many Lady Bulldogs and Wildkats play together for Glacier United that it isn't as if the teams are enemies.

"I think that we can have great intensity in the match without the animosity," Reading said. "Some of these kids have created a relationship with each other off the field that there's no reason they can't have.

"Hopefully more than anything the kids respect one another with what they're trying to do both on and off the field in their lives."

The Whitefish and Columbia Falls girls didn't take long to establish a soccer rivalry.

"The first year in (Class A), we were in the championship match with (Whitefish) and they won 1-0," said Columbia Falls coach Greg Trennery

Reading says she will stress the importance of today's game, but only because Columbia Falls is the team to beat in Northern A.

"If we come off the field feeling we've done the best we can, whether we win or lose, we've taken a step toward our ultimate goal which is reaching far into the playoffs," Reading said. "Our overall goal is not beating Columbia Falls, it's way past that.

"Whether we win or lose, we proceed forward with our heads up."

Trennery has 13 returning players and they need no pep talk before playing Whitefish.

"They definitely know that they have to get up for that match and they tend to work a little harder for it and it's important because usually Whitefish is the one that we have to beat to win conference," Trenerry said. "They know it'll be a tough match, so they're prepared for that."

The Lady Bulldogs battle the Wildkats at 3:30 p.m., followed by the Bulldogs and Wildcats at 5:30.

Trenerry knows today is special and that the Wildkats will likely play in front of their biggest home crowd of the year, but he isn't too concerned with that.

"I just don't get into that so much," Trennery said. "We just want to play."