RIVALRY ROUSES BIRMINGHAM TAFT WAS FOCUS EVEN AS PATRIOTS PREPARED FOR PREVIOUS GAME.Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer The players who made the Taft-Birmingham rivalry are gone. The bad feelings are a little less personal. But a look at Birmingham High of Lake Balboa's practices last week show the rivalry is alive and well. The Patriots spent half their practices preparing for Monday's opponent, El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
``It was a little bit of a risk, but we would tell the kids, `OK, this is an El Camino segment,' then `This is a Taft segment,' '' Birmingham coach Ed Croson said. ``From our perspective, it's still Taft.'' And there's nothing to give a rivalry a fresh kick like being televised live on Fox Sports Net 2. It's the first time any of the players have been on Fox. ``That's exciting for everyone to be on TV,'' Birmingham running back Bryan Baylor said. ``Especially for all us seniors. It should make the game a lot more interesting.'' Fox scheduled the game because of the epic battles Epic Battles is a collectible card game by Score Entertainment released in September 2005. Gameplay attempts to emulate a traditional fighting game experience and features characters and attacks from several different franchises. between the teams the past four years. But those games were waged between Taft's Steve Smith, Noah Smith, Cary Dove and Paul Pratt, and Birmingham's Dennis Keyes and Chad Green Chad Elton Green (Born: June 28, 1975 in Dunkirk, New York) is a former switch-hitting, righthanded minor league baseball player. An outfielder, he attended Mentor High School and then the University of Kentucky. . All are now on Division I college football teams. They were the best City Section teams in the area last year, playing for the City title at the Coliseum Coliseum: see Colosseum. . This season, they both are young, both still finding their way. But, as usual, the West Valley League title is on the line. Birmingham (5-3, 3-0) is in position to clinch Clinch, river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, formed by the junction of two forks in SW Va., and flowing generally SW across E Tenn. to the Tennessee River at Kingston. the title with a victory. Taft (5-3, 2-1) lost momentum Monday with a 55-28 loss to Granada Hills but still could set up a three-way tie for first with an upset. Though the stars are gone, some players remain who took part in the rivalry last season, when Taft beat Birmingham 30-6 to win the West Valley League title in the final game of the regular season, then the Patriots came back to blow out Taft 35-7 for the City championship. Taft linebacker Wallace Bates Bates , Katherine Lee 1859-1929. American educator and writer best known for her poem "America the Beautiful," written in 1893 and revised in 1904 and 1911. , one of the team's three starting seniors, remembers that game. He remembers Baylor, coming off the bench to take some of the load for an injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. Keyes, scoring two touchdowns. Matthew Kredell, (818) 713-3607 matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com BIRMINGHAM (5-3, 3-0) vs. TAFT (5-3, 2-1) Where: Pierce College In 2006 the Library won a national Excellence award. Academics Pierce College offers associate's degrees, mainly in the arts and sciences. There are also certificate programs in early childhood education, social services, dental hygienist, and others. When: Tonight, 7 TV: Fox Sports Net 2 CAPTION(S): box Box: BIRMINGHAM (5-3, 3-0) vs. TAFT (5-3, 2-1) (see text) |
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