Last year was a leap year for the Lewis Cass football team. One of the longest-lasting school rivalries is between Cass Kings and the Northwestern Tigers. Two years ago, both Cass and Northwestern were members of the Hoosier Athletic Conference, until Cass left to join the Three Rivers Conference in 2023-2024. Like normal, Northwestern decided to follow us to the Three Rivers Conference. This was another appearance of Northwestern looking up to their superior, Lewis Cass Kings. Lewis Cass has always been Northwestern’s big brother across all aspects regarding both schools. Head Coach, Clayton Mannering, was excited about Northwestern joining the TRC. Coach said, “I was very excited when I found out that Northwestern was joining the TRC. We’ve played them more than any other school, and it felt weird last year not getting a chance to play the Purple Tigers. They also raise the competition level in the TRC: they are the third largest school in the conference, and they are the third 3A school as well (Peru & Maconaquah). I expect that they will compete at the top of the conference in most sports right away, including football.”
Lewis Cass football coach, Bryce McDonald, is a former Northwestern Tiger football player and is a Northwestern alumnus. However, it is well known Lewis Cass is better and decided to take his teaching and coaching talents to the next level. McDonald thrives here at Cass, while Northwestern would not be the best option. When the choice came for him to be a winner, he chose correctly and became a Lewis Cass King. Coach Mannering had some facts to add, including, “Last year was the first time since 1964 that we did not play Northwestern. We lead the all-time series 41-19-1.” When McDonald was asked how it feels to play against his alma mater, Coach said, “Friday nights are always a good time no matter who you are playing. Northwestern has gone through so many changes over the years that no one that I played football with is there any more. Northwestern has always been more of a finesse football team that looks to exploit your weaknesses using speed and the passing game. Cass is smash-mouth football that looks to make the other team grind for four quarters. I’ll take smash-mouth football over finesse football any day of the week.” said McDonald.
Northwestern students are known to have a silver spoon in their mouths and find the easy way out, whereas the boys of Lewis Cass put in the hard work, pride, dedication, and loyalty. Though Northwestern is a rival of Cass, Coach Mannering holds high praise for Northwestern’s new head coach, Caleb Small. Mannering said, “I’m good friends with Coach Small, and have a very high opinion of him. We played against each other in high school when he was at Hamilton Heights, and we’ve kept in touch ever since then. Watching their film, I can tell that he’s already elevated their level of play. He has a lot of kids out for the team, and they seem to be hitting on all cylinders right now, especially offensively. I expect them to be 3-0 when we play them next week, so they will be fired up about that too.” They may be our rivals, but ultimately, Coach Mannering knows the Purple Tigers have skill and talent. Though McDonald is a Northwestern graduate, when asked if he would carry a chip on his shoulder for the big game, he responded with, “It is always nice to beat your alma mater. With our schools being so close together it is as close to rivalry as we are going to get. Every year each team brings their best game to our match-up.” Ultimately, Cass is the better school across all aspects, even football. Coach McDonald said, “What sets Cass apart from Northwestern is the students. Cass kids know that success comes from hard work and dedication. Nothing is given to them, they have to go out there and earn it. I know Northwestern will bring their A game Friday, the question will be if they can commit to four quarters of hard-nosed football. I know Cass will be ready to grind it out.”
Along with the coaching staff and Coach McDonald being ready for this game, junior Brody Hillis is also ready more than ever for this game. When asked his thoughts on the matchup and if this game was the most important game for him, Hillis replied, “I don’t really care that much. One word to describe this matchup is meh.” Hillis’ response describes many Cass students, staff, and alumni’s thoughts of Northwestern: meh.
