For the most part, reading or evening viewing the comments on our paper’s Facebook page is an activity I rarely do. Just for mental sanity and peace of mind, it’s for the best.
Yet once the official announcement of the temporary discontinuation of the annual Swamp Cup football game between Centralia and W.F. West was brought forth on Friday, it was bound to blow up on social media.
So I read the comments. All of them. And was left with one thought after a 25-minute scrolling of what seemed like an endless void.
Some of y’all are gravely misinformed.
By a large margin.
So let’s first dive into the why before discussing what this means for the future of swampy.
Back in December, there were rumblings of a football only merger between the Evergreen Conference and the Greater St. Helen’s League. It was finalized in January where W.F. West, Tumwater, Black Hills and Aberdeen were joining the GSHL for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
That left Centralia to be a 2A independent, but in order for a path to the postseason, will be in the 1A Evergreen League alongside Tenino and Rochester. The Tigers would need to finish top-three in the league to be in the 2A playoffs.
So since Centralia and W.F. West are no longer league opponents, again for FOOTBALL ONLY, they are not obligated to play. Which led to the joint statement between the two AD’s – Tommy Elder for W.F. West and Tim Ahern for Centralia – in announcing the game is not on the schedule for the next two falls.
“After extensive discussion and review, both schools and athletic departments have agreed that pausing the event is the most responsible decision at this time,” the ADs said in the joint statement.
The questions came in like a tidal wave online.
“Why would you take this away from the seniors?” Right because the senior class from Centralia I’m sure is looking forward to the yearly mollywhopping. I think W.F. West would rather play a competitive game and maybe learn something if it wants to go on another extended run in November.
“But why wouldn't they play at the end of the season when no one else is playing?” I can’t even begin to fathom how stupid this idea is. Yes, let’s play double digit games and then for funsies, play a rivalry game that WILL STILL be a drubbing even if the weather is somehow not a monsoon.
“But can't they play it in the non-league if they really wanted to?” By the time this was going down, both Centralia and W.F. West likely filled out their non-league schedules for the next two years. And probably already came to the consensus that a pause was the best case scenario.
Let’s get one thing crystal clear: This is to benefit Centralia more than W.F. West.
The Tigers have not fielded a competitive football team in over a half-decade. They went 6-5 in 2019 and have won a combined five games since. And they haven’t won a league game since the 2020 winter season.
Through a youth program that still needs to be built up and keeping Centralia kids in Centralia (that’s a longer discussion for another time), It’s a program that needs a little reset. And in talks with people around the situation, this pause of the rivalry combined with playing the Evergreen League for the next two years could be exactly what Centralia needs.
And when the WIAA goes through a re-classification cycle in 2028, who knows what will happen in terms of the EvCo, GSHL and Evergreen leagues. Would it stun me to see swampy make a return for 2028?
It wouldn’t.
In the same breath, I think this could be a longer hiatus. It truly will come down to how Centralia fares on the field. Any semblance of progress means the two Lewis County schools will meet again. And more non-competitive contests or 1-8 and 2-7 records may lead to bigger discussions.
It isn’t the first SW Washington rivalry that’s been put on pause.
The Spaghetti Bowl between Capital and Olympia didn’t get played in 2016 – for the first time in 39 years – and it wasn’t until 2021 when it was renewed. Now that was primarily because of the shift in leagues, Capital went up to 3A and Olympia joined a new 4A league with eight league opponents, so under different circumstances.
Still, like Centralia, Capital leads the all-time series against its rival. Capital pulled off a 33-27 OT thriller last fall for the first win over Olympia since 2014. So yes, good things can happen by not playing a rivalry game for multiple years.
The reality is W.F. West is on another level than Centralia in 2026. In high school sports, there are ebbs and flows. The Tigers will beat the Bearcats again. They will get the chance to put the orange helmet on swampy. When? Who knows.
At the end of the day, this will hopefully bring a closer and more exciting Swamp Cup game, whenever it gets played again.
For the sake of both programs, this was the right decision. Let’s just agree to not take 25 minutes to read Facebook comments again.
