A Taylor-Made Big Game -- Unbeaten Auburn, Kent-Meridian Play Game Of Century

At last, a Taylor Trophy game worth touting.

"All those years when we wished the Taylor Trophy game would mean something," said Bob Jones, Auburn High School football coach, as he looked ahead to the annual rivalry with Kent-Meridian. "Now it looks as though it's going to mean everything."

Tonight's game at French Field in Kent is everything a football fan could ask for: 8-0 vs. 8-0 with a division championship and guaranteed first-round playoff berth at stake.

"It's a dream game," K-M Coach Bruce Rick said. "Everything's on the line."

Both are ranked in the state's top 10. The winner is the South Puget Sound League North Division champion and advances to the opening round of the state playoffs. The loser still has a shot at the playoffs, but must play the South Division runner-up Tuesday in a preliminary game at Federal Way Stadium to qualify.

Auburn and Kent-Meridian enjoy the state's longest rivalry in football, dating from 1908. In 1929, Dr. Owen Taylor donated a trophy to symbolize the neighborhoop rivalry.

This is believed to be the 96th game between the schools, although scores for seven out of eight years between 1912 and 1919 were not recorded. Auburn's first school annual, covering the 1919-20 school year, lists other football scores for the 1919 season, indicating the Trojans might not have played K-M that year. Many years, the teams met twice.

Based on the reported scores, Kent-Meridian leads the series 42-34-12. During a stretch beginning in 1954, the Royals went 20-1-1 against Auburn. The Trojans ended a 10-game drought in 1976, the year they last made the first round of the state playoffs.

Auburn has won the past two Taylor Trophy games and three of the past four. Last year, the Trojans, already assured of a preliminary playoff berth, cruised to a 23-0 victory to raise their record to 8-1. K-M fell to 1-8 for the second year in a row.

"Last year, winning that game would have made our season," said K-M quarterback Chris Schlecht.

A lot of years have been like that, for both schools. And nothing really close to this.

"With both teams being undefeated and playing for the championship, if it was ever this way before, I haven't heard about it," Jones said.

It appears as though the 1926 game would be the only comparable one. Auburn and K-M met in the final game with identical 5-1 records. K-M won 6-0 to take the Puget Sound League title. Of course, there were no playoff considerations then - WIAA-sanctioned state playoffs started in 1973.

The K-M and Auburn players are aware they'll be playing for the Taylor Trophy tonight, but it doesn't lead their priority list.

"We've been so caught up in everything, we haven't actually thought much about the trophy," said Bob Holmes, K-M fullback and linebacker.

Schlecht added, "But everybody knows what it is. It's in the back of their minds."

At Auburn, Jones brought the trophy to practice yesterday and discussed its significance for the first time this week. Last year, he used it as a big motivating factor, because the game really didn't mean anything otherwise.

"This year, there are so many other things (riding on the game), I didn't really want to add one more," Jones said.

Ryan Rosevear, one of Auburn's tight ends and team captains, likes the added stakes.

"Last year, the Taylor Trophy game was just for the Taylor Trophy," he said. "This year, it's for all the marbles. . . . It's a lot more fun."

More fun and exciting, teammate Rob Preston said.

"It just makes it that much more intense, both being 8-0," he said. "It makes you want to play all that much more. It gives you chills to think about it."

Both teams survived spine-chillers against Kentwood recently to put themselves in this position. Two weeks ago, Auburn rallied from a 20-0 halftime deficit to win 21-20. Last Friday, K-M used a long fourth-quarter drive to erase Kentwood's 7-6 lead and post a 14-7 victory - the Royals' first against Kentwood.

Auburn is hoping to go 9-0 for the first time in school history. K-M last went 9-0 in 1970, then lost the "Turkey Day" playoff game to Ingraham to finish 9-1. The Royals' only trip to the state playoffs came in 1981, when they reached the quarterfinals and wound up 9-2.

Neither team wants to wind up in that Tuesday preliminary playoff game. Auburn lost there last year to Lakes, 35-0.

Players and coaches on both sides say it will take a nearly perfect performance to keep their records perfect. Execution has been the focus in practice. They all realize chances like this don't come around very often - like maybe once every 84 years, in this case.