Tonight marks the start of the Iowa high school football season and when Greene County and Perry tee it up at Dewey Field, one of the state’s oldest rivalries and trophy games will take place. The Perry YMCA team beat the Jefferson High School team in 1898 and with only a handful of exceptions, the teams have played football against each other ever since. In 1928, the Rotary Clubs from Jefferson and Perry donated a cowbell to the winning team, and that same bell is still played for today. The victor keeps it at their school, then brings it to the field the following year.

Both teams lost key players from a season ago to graduation, so a lot of new faces will see action. Greene County head coach Caden Duncan talks about the game. “People in our communities always mark that on the calendar. When the new schedules come out, we’re asked when the “Cowbell” game is. It’s important to the people in the community, it’s important to the kids, and to the coaches. We take a lot of pride in wanting to bring that trophy home. It doesn’t matter how good each team is going to be each and every year. There’s a tradition in that rivalry and you never know what you’re going to get. Both teams are going to bring it, and it should be an interesting game.”

A freshman-sophomore game starts the action at 4:30 p.m. with coverage on KG98 and streaming on www.raccoonvalleyradio.com starting at 6:45 p.m., and varsity kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m.