The History of Chiawana Vs Pasco Football Rivalry
Both schools compete fiercely in various sports, with recent examples of the “Gravel Pit Bowl” football game. With Chiawana taking Pasco by a Storm and winning the rivalry 15 years of dominance. The first year Chiawana officially opened, and they refused to play Pasco.
Unfortunately, Pasco Football comes up short once again, losing to Chiawana 59-6 last Friday.
The past scores have been:
2024: 60-7 Chiawana
2023:52-10 Chiawana
2022:42-6 Chiawana
2021:64-7 Chiawana
2020:13-0 Chiawana
2019:34-0 Chiawana
2018: 42-7 Chiawana
2017: 84-0 Chiawana
2016: 49-0 Chiawana
2015: 62-3 Chiawana
2014: 83-7 Chiawana
2013: 45-0 Chiawana
2012: 28:12 Chiawana
2011: 22-14 Chiawana
2010: 37:14 Chiawana
I spoke with some former coaches about their thoughts on Chiawana High School and Pasco High School, and how these changes impacted them and their teams.
**Coach Hockaday:**
– **What were your initial thoughts when Chiawana opened?**
“My initial thought was that it was probably going to hurt sports quite a bit due to the boundaries that were created. As a teacher, I thought it would decrease the number of students in the school, help with hallway traffic, and lead to smaller class sizes.”
– **How did the split impact your team or yourself?**
“At that point, I was the head baseball coach, so we went from having about 50 or 60 kids turning out for baseball down to around 30. That right there hurt the numbers for the program as a whole.”
– **Do you think Chiawana is the reason why Pasco sports have been underperforming?**
“I think it has a lot to do with it, just based on the city of Pasco building in West Pasco. People are moving into that area, and that’s where they are going.”
**Coach Leon Wright-Jackson:**
– **What were your initial thoughts when Chiawana opened?**
“My first thoughts were surprise. I found out about Chiawana being built probably a year after I graduated from Pasco High. When I came back to visit and talked with my coaches, they were already designing the school colors. I was very surprised that it was happening.”
– **How did the split impact your team or yourself?**
“It impacted me because I didn’t want the pride of Pasco to change. Everything happens for a reason, but when I left, I thought the idea was that we would stay at Pasco High and simply build bigger campuses to make one school. It didn’t work out that way. I feel that when everything was laid out regarding boundaries, it was lopsided. That’s my personal feeling, but it is what it is now; it definitely shook Pasco.”
– **Do you think Chiawana is the reason why Pasco sports have been underperforming?**
“I think there are many factors involved, but Chiawana definitely plays a role. The movement of staff members and the reasons why people left for Chiawana naturally caused a culture change, so yes, I do think it altered things.”
