Wednesday, Oct. 03, 2012
Harrisonville to honor bowl champions
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ReprintHarrisonville will honor a very special alumni group at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5 before the Wildcat football game against Oak Grove at Harrisonville’s Memorial Stadium.
In 1951, the Harrisonville Wildcats defeated the Higginsville Cornhuskers in the Mineral Water Bowl in what would be the final high school bowl game in Missouri football history. The game was played at Roosevelt Stadium in Excelsior Springs on Thanksgiving Day and the final score was 14-13.
The 1951 Wildcats will be recognized during pre-game ceremonies and participate in the official coin toss. The pre-game recognition will include the presentation of the recently refurbished Mineral Water Bowl trophy by the Harrisonville Athletic Booster Club who restored the trophy.
The Mineral Water Bowl was started in 1947 by the Excelsior Springs Quarterback Club to showcase the top two Kansas City area teams in a bowl game as voted on by a selection committee. The game was played for four years at the high school level. In 1948, Excelsior Springs defeated Mexico and then defeated North Kansas City in 1949. The 1950 game featured Raytown versus Excelsior Springs with Raytown prevailing. Finally, in the 1951 game, the Harrisonville Wildcats defeated the Higginsville Cornhuskers.
From 1954-1975, the Mineral Water Bowl was played by small colleges and from 1992-1999 it was a junior college bowl game. Beginning in 2000, the game became a Division II bowl game for the MIAA Conference which is still played today.
All 1951 Wildcat football players have been invited to the recognition, as well as coaches. Assistant coach Luke Scavuzzo, along with 10-12 players are expected.
The players will receive a DVD of the original game film as a gift and on Saturday, Harrisonville will host an interview session in which staff will record the players’ memories from the game for historical and sentimental purposes.
