City Rivalry - Chesty Lions vs. Firebirds

Have you ever wondered what a rivalry looks like on paper? It looks a lot different on Friday nights for sure, but here is a historical snippet of the Chesty Lions vs. Firebirds Football rivalry from day one in 1997 to the end of this 2019 decade of play. These two have never met in post-season play in the old playoff (District) format that ended in 2015. It is possible to happen with both schools in the 6A-West bracket down the road, as they are 0-3 in the new format starting in 2016 to 2018.

For the first time in many seasons, Bob Lisher and Dirk Wedd will no longer be patrolling the sidelines of battle for defending the City of Lawrence, KS bragging rights. This game usually closes out the Fall regular sports season in preparation for post-season play and has since it's earliest of days. This benchmark Football game sets the tone for the Chesty Lions and Firebirds in all Fall, Winter, and Spring sports.

As the 2019 season closes out, both Steve Rampy (Blue Valley Tigers/Pitt State Gorillas) and Kevin Stewart (formerly AC at BV North) have now been chosen to take the reigns of this rivalry which is now in it's 23rd meeting all-time.

For the breakdown itself, this is how it is maintained: 97-8 (1997) week-8 is how the year is recorded for a quick reference point whenever an email or someone has a question throughout the season via @Twitter or any other form of social media. L = Loss, W = Win. 1-0 etc. is the running record for either school. * = 2016-2019 new playoff format.

This is also maintained in a similar fashion for the Olathe North Eagles vs Olathe South Falcons, and Bishop Miege Stags vs. ST Aquinas Saints on a local level.

The research is quality, and if it is never found in the average High School yearbook, the next way to hunt down the information is the local microfilm of the newspapers from specific era's, decade's etc to verify a final score, sometimes which can be misrepresented in a high school yearbook, or not even included many times depending on where the search leads.

Bob Lisher (14-8, 22, 636)
F          Opp.    LFS     Final              LAW

vs. Dick Purdy (0-2, 2, 000)                

97-8     L            0-1     15 – 34            1-0                                          

98-9     L            0-2     24 – 28            2-0                                                                   

vs. Dirk Wedd (6-13, 19, 315)                         

99-9     W           1-2     31 – 28  – OT  2-1                                                                   

00-8     L            1-3       0 – 35            3-1                  

01-8     W           2-3     16 – 0              3-2                              

02-8     L            2-4     26 – 42            4-2                                                                  

03-8     L            2-5       6 – 21            5-2                                                       

04-8     W           3-5     14 – 12            5-3                                                       

05-8     L            3-6     28 – 33            6-3

06-8     W           4-6     49 – 15            6-4                              

07-8     W           5-6     27 – 0              6-5                                                       

08-8     W           6-6     21 – 13            6-6

09-8     W           7-6     42 – 14            6-7

10-9     W           8-6     42 – 20            6-8                              

11-9     L            8-7       0 – 20            7-8      

12-9     W           9-7     28 – 22            7-9

13-9     W         10-7     28 – 10            7-10

14-3     W         11-7     31 – 12            7-11                

15-3     L          11-8     12 – 14            8-11                

16-8*   W         12-8     56 – 7              8-12    

17-8*   W         13-8     24 – 21            8-13                

vs. Steve Rampy (0-1, 1, 000+)                                   

18-8*   W         14-8     28 – 13            8-14                                                     

Kevin Stewart (0-0, 1, 000+)

19-8*   x          14-8+   00 – 00            8-14+ 

Thank you to former LJW Sports writer, Bobby Nightengale for providing some information that was missing at an earlier date in 2017.