Union, Jenks rivalry seizes Tulsa

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Night after night of media hype. Tickets selling by the thousands. Football players kept focused by ``media blackouts.'' Pre-game shows. <br><br>It's the kind of thing they're

Friday, December 1st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Night after night of media hype. Tickets selling by the thousands. Football players kept focused by ``media blackouts.'' Pre-game shows.

It's the kind of thing they're getting used to at Union and Jenks High Schools when the Class 6A crown is up for grabs.

Never in all the Friday nights of Oklahoma history has a high school football game seen such a crowd as the 40,385 fans who watched the powerhouse rivals play for the 6A state title last year. This Friday, another huge crowd is expected at the University of Tulsa's Skelly Stadium to watch them do it for the third time in a row.

``It's exciting, but it kind of wears off after a third time,'' said Sami Miles, a senior at Union in south Tulsa.

But the old timers who cheer the boys on at every game already had their tickets Thursday. So did the 10-year-old sister of a Jenks football player.

It's a game no one _ jocks, geeks, loners _ misses if it can't be helped, explained the girl in the Union cafeteria who scoffed at the notion of school spirit Thursday but said she'd be there.

``Tell all the parents if Union wins don't expect any of their children to come home that night,'' said another Union student, junior Courtney Hill.

Twice, Union has come up short against Jenks. It took a last-minute touchdown against Moore to get here a third time.

But school pride at Union was soaring Thursday as a fight song echoed in the hallways and banners went up all over the cafeteria.

``Take State!'' cheered one. ``Trash the Trojans!'' exclaimed another. ``Break Their Thumbs!'' urged one more, a reference to the four championship rings Jenks wears.

Football players were off limits to the media. Otherwise, they would be barraged, one administrator explained.

Cheerleaders, student officers and other student leaders rushed to put the finishing touches on Friday's pep assembly. Spotlights had to be tested. Dance music coordinated. Two students carted a giant papier-mache football into the gymnasium.

``School gets in the way of spirit stuff,'' said Jody Armstrong, who found himself balancing a load of homework against rallying for the team.

He wondered what they were doing over at Jenks.

``I kind of feel sorry for them. Their pep assemblies are not as _ what's the word?'' he said, searchingly.

``Pro-Union?'' offered classmate Ryan Ensley.

But just a few miles away, past south Tulsa's fast-food restaurants and wooded hills, even the littlest Trojans in Jenks were buzzing about the game.

``You are a good player. I am glad you're on the team. Play hard. Play smart,'' 10-year-old Austin Laskey wrote in a letter to a Jenks football player in whose footsteps he hoped to one day follow.

He, along with fourth-grade classmates Barry Wise and Katy Hughes had signed their names to a banner that two classmates would get to carry into the pep assembly at Jenks on Friday.

``Everybody in my class is saying, `Are you going?''' said Katy, who planned to be there.

Larry Wilkey, their principal at East Elementary, said the entire city tends to get caught up in what has become a fierce thriller of a game.

He'll be in the stands, a little nervous, watching his son, Tyler Wilkey _ the kicker for the Trojans. Wilkey noted that many college-bound players already have played in front of the biggest crowds they may ever see.

The draw, he said, is the excitement.

``So far every time there has been a Jenks-Union game, it's been very exciting,'' he said. ``Just a good game to watch.''