ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — When Lafayette closed, St. Joseph lost one of its longtime football rivalries. In the process, another one may have gotten a lot more interesting.
Benton and Central meet Friday night on the Southside in a Week 2 matchup that carries more weight than it has in years past. Former Lafayette players now fill both rosters, former Central players have moved to Benton and athletes who once shared sidelines will now line up across from one another.
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The two teams got an early look at the new rivalry during the city jamboree. Central won the matchup 18-0 while the game grew chippy at the line of scrimmage and the two student sections went back and forth throughout the night.
For Benton, the matchup comes as second-year coach Mark Cole continues trying to change the direction of a program that hasn’t had a winning season since 2010.
“There was a lot going on where we got the program started, now let’s build, now let’s get better, now all those blowout losses — that’s not acceptable anymore,” Cole said before the season. “Let’s go win some football games, two isn’t enough for me.”
The school district restructure gave Benton additional talent from both Lafayette and Central, including former Central player Dominick Hapner.
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“It’ll be really fun, all my brothers over there I’m really excited to see how that plays out,” Hapner told the News-Press during a practice.
Central experienced the same change from the opposite side. Coach Sheldon Farrell estimated before the season that his varsity lineup was nearly split between returning Central players and former Lafayette athletes.
In a city with a lot of negative views on the district restructure, Farrell believes the consolidation will ultimately strengthen football throughout the city.
“I actually think it’s the best thing to happen to this city even though there’s a lot of people that don’t believe that,” Farrell said before the matchup. “I think long term, this is going to be great. It’s great for us — we needed them and they needed us.”
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Benton enters with momentum after opening the season with a win, while Central comes in searching for its first. Central already owns bragging rights from the jamboree, but Benton now gets the Indians at home with an entire game to respond.
With Lafayette gone, Benton and Central are now the two public-school football programs left in St. Joseph. Players who grew up competing across three schools are increasingly being divided between two, bringing old friendships and rivalries into the same matchup.
What was already a city game now has the potential to become one of the top rivalries in the state.
