DAYTON — When Alter plays Chaminade Julienne, both teams get up for the game. Even though it’s been a lopsided rivalry, there have been numerous intense nail biting games.
“Countless memories here going at it with them,” Carson Swisher, CJ senior linebacker, said. “Just going at it with them, it’s always been a great game, a great time just to show everyone what we got.”
Both Alter head coach Ed Domsitz and CJ head coach Marcus Colvin have been around this rivalry for multiple decades.
“Great rivalry,” Domsitz said. “Goes back 50-some years.”
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“I think about morning drop off here at CJ and how many parents yell ‘Beat Alter! Beat Alter!’” Colvin said. “It’s important to the community just as it is to their community.”
It’s not uncommon for this week 10 matchup to have significant playoff implications. This year is no different. CJ should be in, but a loss would still make the Eagles do some nervous scoreboard watching. The Eagles are currently 12th in Division III Region 12. The top 16 teams make the postseason.
“Well we got to go all out, leave it all on the field,” Walter Sledge III, CJ senior running back, said. “It’s a big year. It’s been leading up for the past couple of years. We know what’s got to go down.”
Alter is 17th despite a 4-5 record and the Knights likely need a win to get in but would still have a chance to make it to week 11.
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“We’ve been in this situation before and at times both teams have been in this situation before where the team that wins goes and the team that loses turns in the equipment,” Domsitz said. “I think that, is there pressure? Yes. But it’s playoff season here in Ohio.”
Alter has won four straight meetings with CJ, but the Eagles won in the playoffs in 2017, the team’s last win in this rivalry. Alter has won 11 of the last 12 matchups. CJ’s last regular season win over Alter came in 2010. The Eagles only have one other win over the Knights in the last 20 years, that came in 2000. CJ also won a rematch in the playoffs in 2004.
This year both teams are in Division III and have each been impacted by COVID-19 cancelations and have each played three games against Division I or II teams. Those cancelations and schedule changes have had a significant impact on each team’s playoff hopes. Both teams seemed like locks for the postseason at the beginning of the season.
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“It’s been very unique from my past couple years at Alter just because of the strength of schedule we’ve had this year,” Jon Duplain, Alter senior defensive end, said. “Playing D-I teams like Fairmont and Miamisburg and Hoban, D-II powerhouse. It’s been a great opportunity for us to see what other teams in other divisions are like but it’s also humbled us and it’s really given us the opportunity to sit back and reflect on ourselves and grow and being able to realize our mistakes and our faults and being able to improve from those.”
CJ is 3-4, Alter is 4-5 but because of cancelations and schedule changes the records are not indicative of how good the teams are this year. The two teams square off at Roger Glass Stadium in the Arby’s Game of the Week on Touchdown 7, powered by Voss Auto Network. You can see it at 11:13 Friday night.
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