Streamlined Keg Bowl taps into the fun

It may have been Keg Bowl Lite but it was still the Keg Bowl.

The 39th annual Keg Bowl was played at its traditional home at Ainsworth Field Saturday and, in spite of low turnout numbers which forced the sharing of the quarterback position and a slight altering of the rules, the game was considered a rousing success.

With old Keg Bowl legend Roger Willhite and new Keg Bowl legend Nate Pavlik sharing the quarterback duties (each played for the Silver Bullets when not under center) for both teams, the Silver Bullets ended up defeating the Young Bloods 45-43 in the high-scoring affair.

Seven hardy football players showed up ready to play for Saturday's game. In addition to Willhite and Pavlik, Jeremy Lyght and Wayne Helvey suited up for the Silver Bullets, and Jared Koskela, Justus Johnson and Shane Barnes played for the Young Bloods.

Doug Willhite (the chief organizer of the Keg Bowl party), Bob Brown and Michael T. Allen refereed the game.

Injured in a logging accident recently, Aaron Brown could not play this year and instead offered color commentary, playing advice and aimed an occasional snowball at the players from the sidelines.

Due to the low number of players, the rules of play were altered for this year's Keg Bowl. Rushing the quarterback was not allowed and the game was passing-only, with the ball being called dead when passes were complete and placed at the point of the catch.

That created almost non-stop running for the players from play to play, tiring out both teams rapidly and forcing the implementation of shorter quarters of play to keep anyone from dying of a heart attack.

The game ended up being more or less a friendly game of catch between friends, with periods of rest and beer refreshment in between bouts of action.

The friendly crowd attending the game and the welcoming warming fire on the sideline added to the typical Keg Bowl atmosphere.

Also adding much to the event, Randy Pirker's daughters Stephanie and Arikka attended the game this year in honor of Randy, who was a major player at first and a referee later on during the history of the Keg Bowl, which is a little less lustrous now that he is gone.

Proceeds from this year's game have been earmarked for the Thompson Falls junior high football program.