Jan 28, 2019 3 min read

There is an impasse on the Charleroi-Monessen Bridge.

One of the oldest high school football rivalries that returned in 2016 after a nine-year hiatus will not be played in Week Zero, or any other week, at least in 2019.

“No. We will not play Charleroi (in 2019),” Monessen athletic director Gina Naccarato said. “I have already booked a Week Zero game with Greensburg Central Catholic.”

One of the state’s oldest rivalries that dates back to 1907 and has since become known as the “Battle for the Bridge” will take a backseat in 2019 following the threat that cancelled last year’s season opener.

Hours before both teams planned to kick off their 2018 seasons, the Charleroi administration cancelled the game after an alleged threat was made on social media to one if its players. The game was not rescheduled or counted against either team’s record.

According to Naccarato, Charleroi couldn’t provide physical proof of the threat during a conference call between school officials Aug. 25, hours before the teams were set to begin their seasons against one another.

“They chose not to come to Monessen to participate in a scheduled game. I feel bad for the players, coaches and fans of both communities and it is a shame that a compromise couldn’t be reached to keep this long-standing rivalry going,” Naccarato said following the Aug. 25 conference call.

After the alleged threat, Monessen assured a heightened security presence during last year’s game to no avail.

First disrupted by WPIAL realignment in 2007, which placed Charleroi in Class AA with a full nine-game schedule, the “Battle for the Bridge” that spans across the Monongahela River most recently went in favor of the Cougars. Charleroi won 23-21 in 2016 and 35-13 in 2017. Playing from every year from 1923-2007 with the exception of 1972, when Charleroi did not have a football season because of a teacher’s strike, the Cougars lead the all-time series 49-43-9.

“Speaking from a fans perspective, it’s really disappointing,” said Monessen coach Mikey Blainefield, who was a former player for the Greyhounds. “You miss out on a rivalry and it takes away from a right of passage for a lot of us alumni. We all played against the Cougars. You take that away from the new generation. As a Mon Valley guy, it’s something that was entertaining to everybody. It was always something that raised the level of play for us. It was treated like a championship.”

New to the rivalry, Lance Getsy was expected to make his debut as the Charleroi football coach in last year’s game before it was cancelled.

“Traditions are always a good thing to have,” Getsy said “but we aren’t going to worry or stress about something we don’t have control over.”

Schedules for the fall sports season were released by the WPIAL Monday. In the second year of a two-year cycle, most football schedules remained similar to last season other than the flipping of home and away.