POCATELLO — One team had to lose, but, as a fan said before the game, “I guarantee a team from Pocatello will win here tonight.”

    That wasn’t much of a Kreskin-like prediction for a contest featuring perennial opponents Highland and Pocatello in the annual Black & Blue Bowl at Holt Arena Friday evening. Still, despite the lopsided 28-7 score for the Rams, the crosstown rivalry brought a dose of excitement and thrills that not only filled Holt Arena with a big crowd of fans — it attracted fans from the raucous to the reserved.

    It wasn’t just bragging rights at stake. Highland was driving for a 6-1 record with an eye on the championship prize while the Indians were struggling to keep their slim state playoff hopes alive.

    As the game reached its conclusion, some blamed the defeat on the loss of Poky’s dazzling wide receiver Seiji Wood, out with a broken collar bone. Calmer heads could  reasonably concede that Highland’s suffocating defense and opportunistic offense clearly carried this night.

    But tonight was for the fans and as diverse and loving those connections to the teams may be, the battle proved equally bitter and sweet, depending upon one’s loyalties.

    One of the more complex cheering sections at the conflict was led by Ken Sparrow, who attended Pocatello for a year, but left and eventually graduated from Preston High in 1975. He was there to support the Indians, but had an extra dose of humiliation as his 12-year old grandson, Sheldon Romriell, was squarely behind the Rams.

    To make matters even more confusing for Sparrow, his wife, Tammy, was also a Highland graduate, while all of his children attended Pocatello High.

    “Yes, we’re definitely a mixed bag,” he sighed. “I know Pocatello is the underdog here and I am supporting them 100 percent, but I am gracious enough to sit on the Highland side and promise not to cheer too loud.”

    Sheldon, on the other hand, made no such promise.

    “I grew up as a Poky fan,” he said, “but since I moved to the Highland area and met a lot of friends there, I am on their side.”

    Sheldon also predicted the Rams would win by double digits, so he was correct in his estimate as his club won by 21. It took a last minute Rams score to provide the final margin of victory.

    The game, in recent times, has lived up to its hype. Pocatello scored a 25-17 overtime victory in 2011, while the Rams won 21-14 last season. However Highland, a 5A school, has dominated the series overall and continues to hold a commanding advantage over its 4A  adversary.

  Another family who had mixed emotions attending the game was Chad Tolman, a local baseball coach. He is a 1984 Pocatello graduate and former safety for the Indians.

    Because of boundary issues, he has had four children — two former and two current — who are or were Highland pupils. He even student-taught at Highland, but still has a soft spot for his alma mater.

    “In my day, we always seemed to have 2-8 and 1-9 records while Highland was always in contention for a state championship,” he said. “Yet, when we played them, we always played our hearts out. I read in the Journal that Highland leads the series by a wide margin, but how many of those games were a touchdown or less?”

    He vowed to pull for his school, but also promised to secretly cheer for both squads.

    “I just want to see both teams succeed,” he added.

    His daughter Keira, a freshman, was less diplomatic and more to the point, saying, “I want Highland to win. There’s no doubt about that.”

    Leaving no doubt about her own personal allegiance, Janae Cornwall, who works in Pocatello High’s nutrition department, cheered herself hoarse during the contest. She was there with her four children. Two of them attend Pocatello, as well as a family friend, freshman Nathan Panfil.

    “Of course I support the Indians all the way,” she said. Her son, Ryan, a senior, and her daughter, Mykayla, a sophomore, were not as vociferous but were still pulling for the underdogs.

    They were surrounded by like-minded individuals who pinned their hopes on their 2-4 team which had already suffered a heartbreaking setback to Madison by a margin of just seven total points.

    “The Indians have had some tough losses,” Cornwall said, “but we are proud of them, no matter what.”

    Equally proud of his team was Steve Morris, a 1968 Highland grad — the fourth graduating class in school history — and a defensive end under then-head coach Jim Cutter.

    “They are obviously having a great year, but for some reason, Pocatello always seems to play us tough,” he said. “It’s probably because the crowd, the rivalry, the history and the excitement bring both teams up to another level; a level where everyone wants to do their best.”

    On this evening, both clubs gave it their all. And the fans followed suit on both sides of Holt Arena.