The Cony and Gardiner football teams play for this boot, which has all the scores of the series that dates to 1892. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

GARDINER — There are always those little ways rivalries can manifest themselves for those at the heart of them. For Gardiner head football coach Pat Munzing, look no further than his wardrobe.

“Our rival is Cony, and they’re that other team to the north that wears the color red,” Munzing said. “I don’t own anything red other than one Patriots shirt and one Red Sox shirt; I refuse to do it, just like I’m sure there are people up there that don’t own anything orange.”

That’s just how the Tigers and Rams feel about one another, especially during rivalry week. It’s the kind of bitterness that only fuels feelings on both sides about the recent history of the rivalry, which has seen Cony take 10 of the last 11 contests against Gardiner dating back to 2012.

In any 132-year-old rivalry, there’s bound to be periods of dominance. Cony had the first big run in the series, going an astonishing 22-2 against Gardiner from 1918-39. The Tigers dominated in the 1980s and ‘90s, beating the Rams eight straight times from 1980-87 and winning seven in a row from 1993-98.

The past decade, though, has been all Cony. Following a 36-34 overtime triumph in 2011, Gardiner’s only win in the matchup came in 2017, a 13-7 overtime victory. All 10 of Cony’s wins over the Tigers since 2012 have come by multiple scores.

“We’ve been talking about (their success against us) a lot this year,” said Gardiner senior Chase Burgess. “I’ve been thinking about it because I’ve been here for three years, and we haven’t won against them yet. We want to change that, and we need to be expecting to win.”

No current Gardiner player knows the feeling of victory against Cony. The current group of seniors lost 28-14 in Augusta last year after falling 27-12 in a torrential downpour at home in 2022. The Rams also beat the Tigers 40-6 in a preseason game in 2021 during the tail end of Gardiner’s three-year stint in Class C South.

Munzing’s timeline leading the Tigers mirrors that of his senior players. He succeeded Joe White in December 2019, and after COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 season, opened the rivalry with the 2021 preseason loss and is still seeking his first against Cony as Gardiner’s head coach.

“I think it’s driven our kids a lot because (Cony has) definitely had our number,” Munzing said. “Whenever we first get that schedule, the first game you look to is, ‘OK, when are we playing Cony?’ It’s usually Week 8, but sometimes, like this year, it’s different. It’s a game you look forward to every year, and when you lose it, it’s tough.”

At Cony, the feeling is the opposite. None of the current Rams know the feeling of losing to Gardiner, and experiencing rivalry success, junior Ethan Demmons said, is the type of thing that could help Cony mentally as it seeks its first six-game winning streak in the series since it captured eight straight from 1927-34.

“I absolutely think it (gives you a mental edge the next time) when you win a rivalry game like that,” Demmons said. “We’re feeling all kinds of confidence thinking about last year, and I think that’s because it does give us a huge confidence boost and an edge going into this year.”

The current state of the rivalry gives both coaches a different feeling. Munzing played for Gardiner from 1995-98, going 4-0 against the Rams as part of the Tigers’ aforementioned seven-game series winning streak. B.L. Lippert experienced much of the same Gardiner dominance as a Cony player from 1996-99.

In Lippert’s senior season, though, the Rams finally tasted victory as they took down the Tigers 36-15. Cony’s ninth-year head coach, then, knows how much a long losing streak in a rivalry game can fuel a team — and he fully expects to see that from Gardiner on Friday.

“We were pretty average when I was there — we never made the playoffs when it was only four teams — so when we get together and talk about our high school days, it’s really that one game, beating Gardiner at home on senior night,” Lippert said. “There’s no doubt (Gardiner feels the same way) this year. … We know there’s a lot of motivation on their side.”

Cony’s accomplishments during its 12-year dominance against Gardiner have been among the best in program history. The Rams are 76-39 overall over that span, finishing 6-3 or better eight times and ending an 81-year state title drought in 2013. The team can clinch its seventh straight winning season with wins in its final two games.

A key to success both against the Tigers and Cony’s other foes? Well, Lippert believes it’s partially because the coaching staff doesn’t over-stress the rivalry. Yes, there’s a lot on the line, but treating it like another game has allowed the Rams to stay even-keeled knowing the postseason still lies ahead.

“We don’t spend a lot of time trying to over-coach this game,” Lippert said. “I think you can put too much of an emphasis on one game, especially this year when it’s Week 7. I think not doing that has helped our kids keep a better perspective than when I played, when that one game was the be-all, end-all.”