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Photo Credit: Ryan Edwards

What’s the biggest rivalry in the Kansas City metro?

Is it Rockhurst vs. Blue Springs? Or Blue Springs vs. Raymore-Peculiar? What about Lee’s Summit vs. Lee’s Summit North? Perhaps it’s Staley vs. North Kansas City? Could it be Bishop Miege vs. St. Thomas Aquinas? Maybe it’s Blue Valley North vs. Blue Valley? Liberty vs. Liberty North? Rockhurst vs. Bishop Miege? William Chrisman vs. Truman?

When I asked myself this question, I came back to one game. Blue Springs vs. Blue Springs South, or ‘The Cat Clash’ as it is known in Blue Springs.

I grew up in Blue Springs, many of you may think that I’m biased because I went to one of those schools, I didn’t. I attended St. Mary’s. I did, however, grow up going to both Blue Springs and Blue Springs South games as a kid.

The Cat Clash was first played in 1994, in the playoffs, of all things. Both teams were undefeated, 10-0, and only one could advance to the next round. At the time, two young assistants, Kelly Donohoe and Greg Oder, were cutting their teeth at South, under then Blue Springs South coach David Ross.

“We were the home team (for that game),” Oder said. “Our home field was their home field. We played that game at Peeve Stadium, of course, we ended up winning that game.”  

Fast forward to today and Donohoe and Oder are on the same staff again. But this hasn’t always been the case.

Donohoe left South after the 1997 season to take over at Raytown South, four years later, he found himself standing on the Blue Springs side of the rivalry.

Oder stayed at South as an assistant, before taking over as head coach in 2001.

That was the first game Donohoe and Oder ever coached head-to-head, and it was Donohoe’s team who rallied to come back and beat South late in the fourth quarter to win the game 15-14 as Blue Springs’ Andrew Tuggle scored the game-winning touchdown with a broken shoulder.

“It was very, very intense,” Donohoe said of the rivalry. “There’s so much anxiety. There’s pressure to win that game. I always told people the time of our game the week before that game (against South), I was always an internal, nervous wreck the entire week.”

Neither coach can narrow down a favorite game in the longstanding rivalry. For Oder, it’s the first game the two schools ever played against each other, for Donohoe, two games really stand out above rest. Not because the Wildcats won, but because of how his kids competed until the very end.

 

The first is a Class 6 quarterfinal game in 2006. South had already beaten the Wildcats earlier in the season, 34-3. But as everyone knows, anything can happen in the playoffs and Blue Springs almost caught the Jaguars by the tail in the playoff game.

“That was an unbelievable playoff game that went back and forth,” Donohoe said. “It started snowing at the end of the game. They won a really close game. (South) went on to win the title that year. … We felt that was the state championship in 06 when we played each other in the playoffs that year.”

 

Another game that really stands out Donohoe was the 2010 game.

Trailing 28-6 late in the third quarter, Donohoe turned to his stud running back, Darrain Miller, to get the game to overtime. Blue Springs would end up winning the game in overtime 42-35.

“I think people left the stands on our side because they thought the game was over,” Donohoe recalled. “It was a miraculous comeback with Darrain Miller. It was probably the single greatest performance I’ve ever witnessed on the sideline. Our two minute drill in the fourth quarter was handing the ball to Darrain Miller. It was amazing.”

Over the years, ‘The Cat Clash’ has had a lot of conference and post season implications.

Neither Donohoe or Oder know the exact answer, but it was Oder who said it best, Blue Springs may be the only school district in the state of Missouri that features two Class 6 schools that have won numerous state championships.

“To have two Class 6 schools with so many state championships, that’s crazy to me,” Oder said. “Football is extremely important to that community, and you can tell. It’s obviously a big deal in that community.”

Oder might be onto something. While at Blue Springs and Blue Springs, Donohoe and Oder racked up a combined seven state championships, with the last one coming in 2015, Oder’s last year at South.