Community Corner

EXCITEMENT BUILDING: Banning Prepares to Host Beaumont in County's Oldest Football Rivalry

Who will win Friday night to secure bragging rights for the next 12 months in the San Gorgonio Pass?

Anticipation was building on Banning High School's campus Friday as the Broncos prepared to host Beaumont High in what's billed as the oldest football rivalry in Riverside County.

Students, band members, cheer squads, athletes and faculty at both schools were expecting a showdown at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 on Broncos Field, 100 W. Westward Ave.


The Banning-Beaumont rivalry dates back at least to the 1930s, according to yearbooks and historians. Winners in the past have claimed the title "Kings of the Mountain."

These days the game is known as the annual "War of the Wheel." The Cougars have lifted the Wheel four years in a row and defeated Banning in five of the last seven head-to-head matchups.

Banning and Beaumont are next-door neighbors and there's no love lost between these two football programs. But some Pass residents have conflicting emotions and loyalties each year when the War of the Wheel kicks off:

Some people attended Banning but have kids that attend and compete for Beaumont. Some people have grandparents who played and bled blue for for the Cougars, but now their family members are do-or-die green and black Broncos.

Who will you pull for tonight? Have your say in the comments below.

For more on the oldest football rivalry in Riverside County see the following:

VIDEO: Beaumont Brings the Wheel to Banning Where Broncos Are Fired Up

OLD SCHOOL: Banning-Beaumont Before Facemasks, in Black-and-White

Beaumont Cougars Win 'Battle for the Wheel' 38-0 on Banning's New Field

GALLERY: Beaumont Defeats Banning 56-34 to Remain 'King of the Mountain'

Recent Beaumont-Banning History

2006 Beamont 41 @Banning 14

2007 Banning 14 @Beaumont 7

Find out what's happening in Banning-Beaumontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

2008 Banning 22 @Beaumont 14

2009 Beaumont 24 @Banning 21

Find out what's happening in Banning-Beaumontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

2010 @Beaumont 36 Banning 0

2011 Beaumont 38 @Banning 0

2012 @Beaumont 56 Banning 34


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