COVID shutdown forces Daniel Boone to cancel Pig Iron Trophy game (updated)

The Berks football rivalry forged by iron has been broken — by COVID.

For the first time since the 1950’s Daniel Boone and Exeter will not meet, ending the longest continuous rivalry in Berks football history. They have played 61 straight seasons; they have played for the Pig Iron Trophy for the last 55 years.

The Blazers were forced to cancel their Week 9 game vs. Gov. Mifflin last Friday due to multiple positive COVID cases on the team. That forced the rest of the team into quarantine because of close contact procedures.

More positive cases have been revealed since. The program is currently shut down.

Athletic director Eileen Schmidt said there are a total of seven positive cases on the football team, and that student-athletes from other sports will also miss games this week. Football is the only program that has been shut down.

Exeter, in anticipation of Boone’s situation, has actively been seeking an opponent for Week 10. Eagles coach Matt Bauer said his team will consider a home or road game, and would consider playing Saturday if the conditions are acceptable.

The Blazers can’t resume practice until Monday, Nov. 1. That means they won’t be able to play this weekend.

Daniel Boone is currently ranked No. 12 in the power ratings; the top 14 qualify. The Blazers’ power rating won’t be negatively affected by not playing. Even by missing their final two games it’s possible, even likely, that they make the playoff field.

Blazers coach Rob Flowers hopes that his team will have a game to play once it returns.

Flowers plans team meetings throughout the week via Zoom.

Had the Blazers lost to Gov. Mifflin, the top-ranked team in the state in 5A, they would have been expected to drop in the rankings. Back-to-back losses at the end of the regular season could well have knocked Boone out of contention for the postseason.

Schmidt said that if the football team does not qualify for the District 3 or Eastern Conference playoffs that it would consider adding a non-league game for Week 11.

“That would offer some closure for the team,” she said. “Right now we’ve got to get healthy. That is the focus right now.”

It is possible the rivalry series continues should Exeter and Daniel Boone could run into each other in the District 3 Class 5A Tournament.

Last year, when the season was interrupted repeatedly by the coronavirus, the teams met, with Exeter winning 49-16.

The Blazers and Eagles have played for the Pig Iron Trophy since 1966, and first met on the varsity level in 1960. Their streak of playing 61 straight seasons is the longest streak in Berks football history, and one of the longest in the state.

In the early days of the Inter-County League, when league membership was wanning, Daniel Boone and Exeter played twice in the same season in both 1966 and 1967.

The Pig Iron Trophy was first awarded in 1966 by the Lions Club of Amity-Antietam-Birdsboro. It represents the iron forged at the Birdsboro steel plant, where many people who lived in the Birdsboro and Reiffton communities worked.

Daniel Boone played its first varsity game in 1959; Exeter played its first game in 1958.

The Blazers won the inaugural meeting in 1960, 25-6.

The Eagles lead the series 40-22-1. Since the trophy was introduced, Exeter leads 37-18-1.

Exeter has won nine straight games in the series.