WINNEBAGO COUNTY (NBC 26) – One of Wisconsin’s oldest high school football rivalries will reach triple digits later this week as Neenah and Menasha face off for the 100th time Thursday night.
- Neenah leads the standings at 54-40-5; the Rockets have won three straight games against Menasha, including a 40-0 victory last season.
- After this game, there are no further games scheduled between Neenah and Menasha. Menasha’s coach said he made the decision to schedule other non-league games “in the best interest of this program.”
- There have been long hiatuses in the series before, including from 2014 to 2020 when the Bluejays left the Fox Valley Association. The rivalry resumed in 2021.
“We’ve been playing for a long time,” said Jon Joch, a Neenah graduate who has been going to Neenah-Menasha football games since the early 1980s. “Hopefully there will be a little more scoring than there was at our first game in 1896.”
The series dates back 128 years when the two schools played to a scoreless tie. The two football fields are just five miles apart.
“It’s our natural rival,” Joch continued. “They’re so close. Just two schools that want to beat each other, but at the same time respect each other and know they’re the main rival.”
Players from both sides said they know the other team well; the two sides often see each other in neighboring cities.
“It’s right down the road,” said Alex Alatorre, Neenah’s center. “We go there on Wednesday to get wingers, and if we see them there, we know we’ll be playing them in Week 2.”
“Sometimes that can make the rivalry even greater because when you see the person in public, you think, ‘Oh, we beat you in that game,'” added Menasha senior linebacker/tight end Nathan Messman. “It just gives you the upper hand.”
The head coaches have close ties to the series: both were in the game themselves and now lead their respective alma maters.
“Back when I played football in high school, the coaches didn’t even talk to each other, they didn’t like each other,” Menasha coach Jeramie Korth said. “(Neenah) coach (Steve) Jung is one of my best friends.”
“I think it’s one of the most important games on our schedule,” Jung said. “And I really want our kids to play well, and I really enjoy this battle. I think it’s great for our community.”
From proximity to familiarity to history, all the ingredients help create a unique rivalry.
However, this is the last game between Neenah and Menasha on the schedule, at least for now.
“It’s not something we’re going to do in the near future,” Korth said. “But we’ll look beyond that.”
Jung indicated that Neenah would like to continue, while Korth expressed concerns about the disparity in enrollment numbers at the two schools.
Last year, Neenah High School had 1,979 students enrolled, while Menasha had 966.
Korth also said that football participation is higher in Neenah than in Menasha. In Neenah, there are “75 to 100 kids in each middle school class,” while in Menasha, there are “25 to 30 kids.”
“I have to keep my eye on what’s best for this program,” Korth said. “That’s something we’ll look at later, but next year we have two different non-conference opponents.”
There have been gaps in the series before, most recently from 2014 to 2020 after Menasha moved from the Fox Valley Association to the Bay Conference; the Bluejays are now in the South Division of the Fox River Classic Conference in football.
The two teams resumed the rivalry in 2021, but this week’s clash marks the end of that four-year agreement. Neenah has won all three meetings since the resumption, including a 40-0 victory last year.
Jung said this is part of a larger problem for FVA teams, which have struggled with scheduling out-of-conference games in recent years. Kimberly’s Week 1 game in particular has been canceled each of the past two seasons after the opponent dropped out.
“As teams get bigger, different scenarios always arise,” Jung said. “For us – I think for the FVA and the Classic Eight in the southern part of the state – it’s starting to get difficult to get games.”
Jung said the FVA may be interested in joining the Classic Eight, which includes such notable teams as Arrowhead, Muskego, Mukwonago and Kettle Moraine.
“That’s something we’d like to have,” Jung said. “Crossover games with a conference like ours.”
That would mean the two conferences teaming up to play non-conference games against each other. However, the Classic Eight currently only has seven teams compared to eight in the FVA, which Jung said would make scheduling difficult.
As far as the Neenah-Menasha rivalry goes, Thursday night’s game could be the series’ swan song. 100 might be a nice round number to finish with, but many are hoping both sides can find a way to keep the series going.
“I just want to say that I hope the coaches and the administration can work to keep this rivalry going,” Joch said. “And I think it’s great for our kids, it’s great for our communities and it’s a win-win for both sides.”
Neenah leads the series 54-40-5. Game 100 begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at Neenah High School.
