To the editor:

I read the Nov. 7 story about high schools competing for various trophies with interest.

The one that especially caught my eye was the jug that was passed between Echo-Wood Lake and Belview that started in the 1970s when Echo and Wood Lake paired their schools.

This is the second chapter as far as competition between Echo and Belview.

The original start of the jug competition started in 1957. Echo's coach, John Schoen, had attended the University of Minnesota which had the longstanding rivalry with Michigan over the Little Brown Jug. He thought it would add to the friendly rivalry between Echo and Belview to have a similar trophy. The Belview coach agreed and the first game was played in Echo that year.

Echo played 11 man and Belview played nine man so being at the Echo field is was 11 man. The game had been postponed because of bad weather and was played in mid-November on a very cold night and ended in a 0-0 tie.

The next year the game was a nine-man game played in Belview and Echo won a last-second touchdown pass from Paul Tongen to Don Redetzke.

As a member of the Echo football team those years, it brought back memories when I read the article.

Doug Parson

1959 Echo alumnus