Think back to the year 1996. How old were you? For me, I was two years old. This was the last year that crosstown rivals, Wauwatosa East and Wauwatosa West played football against each other.
On Saturday, August 20 at Hart Park in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, Tosa West and Tosa East had the chance to re-unite on the football field.
Wauwatosa East and West sports booster clubs organized a tailgate party before the game. It cost five dollars for either a hamburger, brat, or two hot dogs, a bag of chips, a cookie, and a beverage.
Both schools sold food tickets and game tickets ahead of time, but few people bought the tickets. Organizers did not believe that many people were going to come to the game. Shelly Koranda, a member of Wauwatosa East’s booster club said, “We’ve sold all of the food tickets. There were about seven hundred and there were more people that wanted to buy food.”
Wauwatosa West only sold about 200 game tickets ahead of time. However, by the time the game started, the West stands were packed.
Because this game has not happened in so long, it is unsure as to whether or not it will happen next year. Shelly Koranda said, “I think they should do this game at least once a year.” Governor Scott Walker believes that they should “absolutely” do this game every year.
Both of the governor’s kids play for the Wauwatosa East team so sadly, he was biased. He believes that, “It’s great to have the rivalry back. It’s just good fun for Wauwatosa.”
Many people I talked to said that they wanted to have this game more often, but Daniel Frens, an upcoming junior at Tosa West, disagreed; “I think if they had the game more often, it wouldn’t be as special when it happened.”
The game started off slow with a 0-0 score in the first quarter. But, West Junior Mickey Morgan scored our first touchdown and then came back and scored us another touchdown! By halftime, the score was 13-0, with West in the lead.
After halftime, East gained confidence and energy and came back by scoring 3 touchdowns. In the end, they defeated West, 21-13.
West Junior Daniel Frens said, “I think our football team needs to practice tackling because we missed a lot. East won because we got lazy at the end and slacked off defense wise.” West Junior Alyssa Heyer, an upcoming sophmore at Tosa West, begged to differ; “I think that the tailgate before the game should be better recruited so we can have more team spirit.”
Though the outcome was not the way that Tosa West had hoped, the game created a fun night for everyone. For me, as a Tosa West student, I loved that we had the chance to show who truly owns Tosa. For now, its Tosa East. But the next time this game rolls around, Tosa West is going to show that we are the real owners of Wauwatosa.
Reporting: Amanda Holmer and Lydia Smrz
Photography: Mitch Stingl, Zakiya Robinson, Kathryn Kreuser
