Banning-Beaumont Tradition: 'Oldest Football Rivalry in Riverside County'

A plaque on the old trophy says it all:

      "THE WHEEL"
    A Pass Tradition
Banning vs. Beaumont
  Riverside County's
Oldest Football Rivalry
      Since 1925

Gary Harvey had a lunch date this week with some old friends looking to talk Beaumont High football. He walked out of his house in a green Hawaiian shirt, looked down at himself and ran back into the house to change into something blue.

That’s how you can tell it’s Banning-Beaumont rivalry week.

Harvey and his pals entered a Beaumont eatery and frowned. One guy – Beaumont High Class of 1962 – looked down at the, gasp, green carpet. He asked the hostess, "What’s under that carpet?" She told him it was white. He asked her to flip the rug because he certainly would not be eating on or near a green carpet this week.

That’s how you can tell it’s Banning-Beaumont rivalry week.

More than a football game, the Banning-Beaumont rivalry gives residents of the century-old neighboring cities a chance at bragging rights among people they consider friends 51 weeks out of the year.

At 7 p.m. Friday, the game that began decades ago renews the football rivalry at Banning’s new football field. The teams play for "The Wheel," a trophy stemming from stagecoach history in the San Gorgonio Pass.

According to Cougars athletic director Martin DuSold, the game is the oldest prep rivalry in Southern California and one of the oldest in the state.

The overall record, which includes a few years where they did not play each other, shows Banning with a slight edge, 35-29, with 6 ties.

Both teams have had their turn at dominance. From 1970 to 1985, the Broncos won 12 of the games, and Beaumont won 1 with two ties. From 2001 to 2010, Beaumont has won 7 of 10 games, including the last two – a 24-21 overtime victory in 2009 and last year’s 34-0 victory.

Broncos football coach and athletic director Scott McRitchie said he, his staff, and his players are approaching the Banning-Beaumont game with focus. Banning High practiced Wednesday as an unseasonably cold and wet storm moved slowly through the Pass.

"We're getting stronger each week, and we're learning," McRitchie said Wednesday evening. "We're working hard, as you can see, here in the wind and rain right now."

This year, forget that both teams are struggling in the midst of rebuilding – this is anyone’s game when pride and bragging rights are on the line, Harvey said.

"You throw out the records for this game and that’s the truth," Harvey said. "I don't know if it's the same because there's so many new people in Beaumont, but for the old-timers and people that have been here so long, it’s bragging rights."

DuSold agreed.

"It's an overflow crowd every time," DuSold said. "Between the two communities there's a great crossover with families that live and work in the communities. Families who have had generations here, it creates a nice event. People newer to the communities may not know this history, but it's still such a nice event. It's certainly the game you don't want to lose because there’s plenty of bragging rights for the next year."