ZEPHYRHILLS – You don’t need to ask random folks in eastern Pasco County for their Drivers Licenses to find out what city they are from. Just ask the question–Pirates or Bulldogs? That will tell you all you need to know. The 58th installment of the rivalry dubbed “The Nine Mile War” between Pasco and Zephyrhills will take place this Friday and although we could give you nine million reasons why we love this game, we’d rather you give you nine good minutes with the ‘Dogs Head Coach Reggie Roberts instead.

There’s no better resource to tap when it comes to perspective and purpose in this series than Roberts. He grew up in completely engulfed in its passion, has coached and played against his own flesh and blood, and while never losing to the Pirates as a player–has yet to defeat his arch nemesis. It’s a series that began in 1941, and just like some of the other counties in the area that have “marquee” rivalries (think: Lakeland-Kathleen or TC-Jesuit) that by definition aren’t much of one given the dominance by one team–it’s still one of the best “rivalries” you can find in the entire state.

If you want to know what this annual matchup is like, think Auburn-Alabama football–or Kentucky-Louisville in basketball. Who cares if you win ZERO games? Just beat (insert “that team” here) and you can go to the breakfast spot where the old-timers congregate and you won’t have to order it to-go, okay? Pasco leads this series 40-17 and have won seven consecutive games. The stretch from 2008-12 was particularly tough on Z-Hills when they lost by an average of 38 points per contest to Pasco while the Pirates went 57-7 in those seasons overall.

The type of angst and animosity that surrounds this game fits the name it has been given, but the word “war” should be used ONLY in a contextual sense–not in a literal one. There’s no need for guns, bombs and other munitions that would cause bodily harm, but its comparison is meant to characterize the need for sacrificing everything you’ve got for one single night–for one drive, one quarter, one half and one goal–victory over the adversary. These residents of these cities will leave Bulldog Stadium and go back to their homes still neighbors–and in many cases still blood relatives. The “war” will have ended and the collective struggle will be shared by folks in orange–or red–and black.

We spoke with Coach Roberts about this rivalry that’s every bit a part of our Americana–the kind that we all recognize when we see it.

BCP: For Pasco being “down” this season–it probably makes your job even tougher this year doesn’t it?
Coach Roberts: “It is, but that stuff doesn’t matter. When this game is on the line like it always is, they’re not going to play me into ‘Pasco’s down this season’ man, they have Division-1 athletes–they have the Florida Gators coaches standing on the sidelines. They have a Division-1 caliber quarterback that’s just a sophomore that’s already got offers, so I don’t wanna hear all that about Pasco being down–we’ve got to come to play. I don’t want to hear all that crap–they are explosive. If you don’t come ready to play, they will beat you. They’ll come ready to play because of what this game means to Dade City as a whole.”

BCP: Although we agree it’s a big-time rivalry, it’s a bit lopsided right now, right coach?
Coach Roberts: “About five years ago this team (Zephyrhills) didn’t think they could win at all. They were just happy to put on the uniform and go out and play. The enemy is us–we’ve got to stop giving games away like the last couple years and win the big game. We DO have to learn how to win that big game and turn it on and learn how to kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer. We’ve yet to do that.”

BCP: We don’t care if you go 1-9, just beat Pasco.
Coach Roberts: “You’re absolutely right, when I was at Bethune-Cookman it was all about FAMU. Who cares what your record is? It’s time to get it.”

BCP: What’s your favorite part about this rivalry?
Coach Roberts: “My dad coaches over there. He coaches football, he has the JV program this year, and when I was in high school, he coached over there against me. He coaches over there when they won a state championship–so it’s about the history between me and my family members and there’s some tight bonds with this game. I always pray for those kids and hope the best fore those kids, please don’t get me wrong. This rivalry is really good for both communities. This is just the epitome of what it means to play small-town football and play football in two very good communities with a lot of great kids. It’s a showcase for both communities regardless of what side you’re on. That’s the reason that regular season records don’t matter, how they played–or how we played last week doesn’t matter. You gotta put it on and bring it that Friday Night.”

BCP: The reference to war–it’s more of a local, civil conflict. It’s more of a testimony to the rivalry and the participants itself, because the animosity is only revealing itself on one night. The rest of the time, these people are interconnected and interrelated and will be sitting next to each other in restaurants, churches and so on. It’s the ultimate “perspective game” isn’t it coach?
Coach Roberts: “Absolutely–I can’t explain it any better than that. Going back to that perception of war, I teach our guys to lay it all on the line, our soldiers and our military–I understand what they sacrifice, we don’t make those kids of sacrifices, but you know what? Those sacrifices DO teach us about things in our personal lives. We may not cary a gun or cross a battle line, but I want these boys to have the fortitude to fight for things in life like our soldiers fight on the battlefield. There’s a lot of lessons that come along with football and with this rivalry itself. The good thing about it–there’s some bragging going on, but there’s also hugs and some things going on. Like I said, it’s good for these communities. In my playing days, it was something you marked down on the calendar–even though you never wanted to look past anybody, it was the game we all couldn’t wait for.”

BCP: All that said about the wonderful atmosphere AFTER, what about right now leading up to it, coach?
Coach Roberts: “For the sake of this week–families separate, man.”