In remembrance Nearly 20 years ago, following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, area football teams took one of the first steps in the healing process as communities gathered together on Sept. 14, 2001 to take in the first high school football games following the events of Sept. 11. In the photo above, Beaver Local’s Joe Little runs on the field with the flag before the Beaver’s Sept. 14, 2001 game with East Liverpool at Beaver Local’s stadium.

The expression “time flies when you are having fun” had to be doubly true for the East Liverpool – Beaver Local football game and its 43rd renewal on this Friday night at Fighting Beavers Stadium. To veteran observers, it seemed like only yesterday when the initial contest was played 60 years ago at Patterson Field on Sept. 15, 1962. The Beavers, led by quarterback Jim McLaughlin and middle linebacker David Myers (grandfather of present Potter place kicker Jacob Myers) were coached by Wellsville native Jack O’Rourke, who pulled off an impressive 16-12 upset victory.

Ironically, many of the athletes that year knew each other well, having attended junior high together in East Liverpool and Lisbon prior to the opening of Beaver Local High School in 1956.

The game was discontinued after the 1965 season when the Potter program reached a high-water mark under coach Bob McNea. However, the East Liverpool upward trend had a fall-out in 1981 when the rivalry resumed, and the Beavers pasted a 14-0 whipping on coach Bob Babish and his crew.

Because of a financial crisis in the Beaver Local district, there was also a scheduling gap from 1988 to 1990. During that period, the Beavers were on a pay-to-play program which seriously affected the team after which the series was resumed and continued to the present.

Other games in the series that were memory builders include: Beaver Local’s 1993 26-22 comeback win; the 2001 28-21 East Liverpool triumph played three days after the 9-11 terrorist attacks – a game in which the Blue and White, coached by Bobby Thayer, came in at No. 2 in the AP poll, and almost blew a 21-0 half-time lead, scoring only seven points in the second half to the Beavers’ 21.

In 1995 Thayer, in his first year, won 7-6, his only time to come out on top all season, but better days were ahead. When he resigned to take the Westlake job in 2004, the popular coach held the school’s top over-all record 67-38 (also 27 wins between 1996-1998, most in any three-year period).

Following a 29-22 Beaver Local win in 2008, the Potters, under coach Mark Asher and his crew, handed the Beavers a 20-14 loss in 2009 and won a 16-10 overtime thriller at Patterson Field in 2011.

When one looks back upon the history of the Beaver Local – East Liverpool football rivalry, many names and memories come to mind. Players the likes of Myers and McLaughlin along with, Larry Roberts, Derek Wolfe, Adam Hoppel, Jake Williams, George “Butch” Gaydos, Doug Dawson, Allen Blythe, Jeff Wright, Josh Ludwig, Maurice Brown, Robert Jackson and Jamin Pastore to name only a few.

It was Pastore who brought a jammed-packed Patterson Field crowd to their feet on September 15, 2000 in what would prove to be the biggest play of the game, and, for certain, the most exciting, when he returned a punt 95 yards for a touchdown with a little more than a minute remaining in the first half, leading the Beavers to a 17-6 triumph.

It is unlikely that there are many fans who have seen every match-up, dating back to 1962, but those who have can quickly recall capacity crowds, great fan enthusiasm and a rivalry marked by very few unpleasant incidents in the stands.

Unfortunately for the Potters, Beaver Local, who holds a 22-21 lead in the series are favored in this one, but hold on to your hat with the kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night.