Conway-Cabot rivalry finds new home
Diamond Bank Bowl features high school football doubleheader
LITTLE ROCK - Two of the most intense community rivalries in Arkansas will herald football season in Arkansas next year.
Conway and Cabot will again open against each other but in a different setting as part of a new event.
The two schools will join Saline County rivals Benton and Bryant for a doubleheader in the inaugural Diamond Bank Bowl at War Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 31, six days before Labor Day.
Conway and Cabot have been regular opening-game opponents for a decade, the last two in the now-defunct Conway A&P Classic.
Including playoffs and special events, Cabot has played five straight times in Conway.
"I'm looking forward to be playing Conway without Peyton Hillis and Kevin Wardlow and also playing them somewhere besides Conway," quipped Cabot coach Mike Malham during a news conference Tuesday announcing the event.
Two banks (each with diamond logos) that are negotiating a merger, First State Bank of Conway and Community Bank of Conway, will co-sponsor the game. KATV (Channel 7) is another sponsor and major promoter.
War Memorial Stadium will provide all staffing, and the four participating schools will split the gate receipts evenly.
The current contract is for two years, although organizers hope to make it a long-term, annual event. Benton and Bryant will play at 4:30 p.m. this season followed by Conway-Cabot at 8.
The teams will switch times in 2005.
All tickets will be $7 each.
"I told Charley Staggs (War Memorial Stadium manager) that he'd better get some extra parking because these schools are gonna bring some folks," said Buzz Bolding, Conway athletic director.
"You have four great schools, four great programs and two great rivalries.
"We think we can attract 30,000 to 40,000 people for the two games."
Johnny White, Cabot athletic director, said the event took six weeks to bring about.
The Conway A&P Classic, a doubleheader involving Conway, Cabot, Fort Smith Southside and El Dorado, was discontinued after Southside and El Dorado decided to play a home-and-home series.
White said his school and Conway officials were in the process of renewing their rivalry at War Memorial Stadium when he heard Benton and Bryant were negotiating similar arrangements for their "Salt Bowl."
"They were considering playing Friday and Saturday, so it struck me that we all ought to get together," White said.
"We got the sponsors and everything just fell together. It seems perfect.
"You have four communities, all of which have a large amount of people who work in Little Rock. They won't even have to go home before they go to the game."
"There's not a better place to play this event than this," said Conway coach Kenny Smith during the news conference at the stadium.
"War Memorial Stadium is a grand ole stadium. People in central Arkansas are used to big games here."
Benton coach Mark Jones, a former graduate assistant at the University of Central Arkansas, said, "Our kids will be excited to go to Little Rock and get a chance to play in the stadium."
Bryant coach Paul Calley, noting Benton Athletic Director Ronnie Kerr allotted his school only 2,000 tickets for this year's game at Benton, got in a dig, "I'm glad we'll have a chance for all our fans to get a chance to see the game."
"There are a bunch of people who go to school in Bryant with Benton addresses," said Kerr, another former UCA assistant and former Henderson State head football coach. "Sometimes, it's people across the street from each other going to different schools. This is more than a neighborhood rivalry; it's a backyard rivalry."
Traveling trophies and MVP trophies will be developed for each game.
"The Diamond Bank Bowl represents everything that's good about an old-fashioned football rivalry," said Tracy French, chief operating officer of Community Bank of Cabot.
"Since Kenny Smith has assured me that Conway will win again, there will be some wager involved between the banks," said Randy Sims, CEO of First State of Conway.