It’s Pear Bowl time

The annual battle for bragging rights in the Upper Valley is set for this Friday, October 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Cashmere High School for the annual Pear Bowl. The Cascade Kodiaks and winners of the 2021 game, will travel to Cashmere on the night of the Bulldog’s Homecoming night.

The Bulldogs will be vying for possession of the Pear Bowl Trophy from the Kodiaks who won it last March when Fall Sports commenced later in the school year due to the pandemic. Last year’s final score was Cascade 24; Cashmere 19.

Going into this game the Kodiaks are 4 and 1.

The Kodiaks' head coach is Dominique Coffin. He respectfully regarded the competition Friday saying, “For this year’s Pear Bowl it should be a fun one. Cashmere has a very talented team and have done well so far this preseason. Every year you don’t know what to expect with the Pear Bowl because it doesn’t matter what everyone’s record is or who is favored, it is always a great game.”

The Kodiaks are coming off a game vs. Quincy last week at home where they picked up another win at 42-7.

“As a team we are excited to get the opportunity to compete against a strong team that is well coached. We are also excited to be able to show what we have,” shared Kodiaks’ coach Coffin.

The Bulldogs are 5 and 0. The Bulldogs played away last week at Ephrata where they won 30-15. The Bulldogs head coach is Bryan Bremer.

For many of the players on both teams this will be their last chance to go into the history books as a member of the winning Pear Bowl Team of 2022-2023. Sixteen of Cashmere’s 44-man roster graduate this year, with 41 points per average. Ten of Cascade’s 39-man roster are seniors with 50 points per average. This would indicate the Bulldog’s roster is a little more experienced than the Kodiak’s, but that Cascade may lead again this year in offensive scoring.

It would appear on paper that the teams are pretty well balanced so the game should be another close one just like the last two years in 2019 and 2021. Both teams are capable of making big plays and both teams play with a lot of heart, never giving up. Tickets are on sale on both the Cashmere and Cascade school district websites. Head out this Friday to support your home team under the Friday night lights. What builds a solid rivalry is the mutual respect for the other teams’ excellence. The right to brag that goes back to the 1980’s between these two CTL schools, with a dash of homecoming this year, is sure to fuel the night.