by Irene Baldwin
Longtime sports rivals and neighboring schools, Cambridge Central and Hoosick Falls Central, will begin a new football tradition on September 5 at 7 pm, a Friday evening under the lights on the football field on the campus of HFCS. The Indians and Panthers varsity football teams will face off and, as usual, play hard, the victors taking home a tangible reward for winning, The Ken Baker Jug. The Jug will remain on display throughout the coming school year inside the victorious school’s trophy case. Next year the KBJ may or may not make a trip up or down Route 22. Wherever the Ken Baker Jug holds court, the honor it represents will be a coveted one.
Although Coach Baker will not be physically present for the auspicious football match-up, his indomitable spirit, which has imbued the CCS and HFCS football programs since 1972, will surely be felt on this night by all who knew and loved him. Former students and players of Coach Baker are invited to assemble on the football field during the game’s half time to offer a solemn moment of silence in his memory. Ken Baker, a member of the State High School Football Hall of Fame, is known and respected as one of the best coaches Section II has ever produced.
Since the unexpected, untimely and sad passing of Coach Ken Baker in the spring of 2008, HFCS Superintendent Ken Facin and CCS Superintendent Dan Severson have collaborated to create a special and meaningful way to offer tribute to the man who was integral in creating success within both schools’ football programs.
Coach Baker was the varsity football coach at Hoosick Falls from 1972 to 1986 and then at Cambridge from 1986 to 1995. Baker’s philosophy, which both schools continue to follow in their programs, is a simple but powerful one – respect your opponent; be physical; hustle.
The Jug, produced in the area over 110 years ago, has been donated by Jack’s Outback Antiques of Main Street, Cambridge. The large ceramic vessel features paintings of the two school mascots, a fearsome black panther on one side and a majestic Indian on the other, symbolizing two diverse but connected teams. Around the top of the vessel are emblazoned the words, Ken Baker Jug.
Each football player will be given a commemorative Route 22 Rivalry T-shirt featuring both the blue and white Panthers and the orange and black Indians. How fitting that Ken Baker’s love of healthy competition and positive play will be exemplified in the yearly awarding of The Ken Baker Jug.