Schools fire up fans one more time before the Bell Game

Central and Centennial high schools hyped their fans up one more time before the 114th Bell Game Friday in Pueblo.

For the people who graduated from the high schools, the rallies brought back memories.

“It is dj vu almost — I remember being in this exact gym getting rowdy for the Bell Game,” Centennial graduate Jeff Cowen said.

“Winning the Bell Game, that moment is exciting bringing it back across the field. We lost it, we won it, we lost it, and then we won it, so in my four years I won it twice,” Central graduate Louie Martinez said.

The game is the oldest in high school football west of the Mississippi River.

The rivalry between the two teams became known as the Bell Game in 1950 when a man donated a bell from the CF& I Steel Corp. Each year the winning team keeps the bell and paints it in its respective color either red for Centennial or blue for Central.

Central leads the overall rivalry, but Centennial has won the past four meetings.

Central student Emma Jesik feels the school is long overdue for a bell victory.

“We haven’t won the bell for four years and if Centennial wins it will be the second time in history there will be a five-peat,” she said.

The seniors at Centennial don’t know what it is like to lose to the Bell Game since they have won it every year since they were freshman — and they don’t want to know what the feeling is like losing the bell.

“Keeping it this year is going to be big,” Centennial student Haley Lang said.

The game is played annually at Dutch Clark Stadium.