Ask someone from Manhattan or Three Forks whether their Tigers or Wolves will win the State B championship football game Saturday, and you’ll get pigskin talk.
The crescendo is building for residents in both towns, 12 miles apart. Debates on the better team are ongoing in offices, restaurants and on the street — until on-field action quells the rivalry in Three Forks.
Three Forks is the underdog. This season is the first time the Wolves have reached the state final. Manhattan claimed its first State B title against the Fairfield Eagles in 2020, then was state runner-up in both 2023 in falling to Florence-Carlton and again last year losing at Malta.
“We are an office divided,” Manhattan Realtor Dana Jenkins said in her office, cracking a smile. “Manhattan and Three Forks have been rivals for so long. A lot of the kids (in Manhattan) know the kids in Three Forks. They are so well matched this year.”
Three Forks resident Eric Linville is a Realtor who works side-by-side with Jenkins.
“There is like this changing of the guard trying to take place,” Linville said. “Manhattan has been very tough for a long time. Three Forks rising up is creating more of a rivalry. The talk and speeches from coaches has always been (beating) Manhattan is the goal. That’s who we’re going after, that’s who we build plays for, that’s who we’re going to beat.”
Kerensa Robinson, a loan officer at Manhattan Bank, predicted a blowout crowd.
“It gets pretty intense even at a regular game,” Robinson said. “Hopefully (Manhattan) is set up for it.”
Marcus Fenno, Manhattan Class of 2022, also works at Manhattan Bank.
“Manhattan has had a really good football team for five to 10 years,” Fenno said, noting that Three Forks has upped its game in recent years. He added the increasingly level playing field adds vigor to the longstanding rivalry.
“Our boys looked good. The money is on them,” said Three Forks resident Roger Jebney, noting the Wolves defeated previously unbeaten Glasgow 32-30 in the semifinals this past Saturday.
Wolves football flags flew from a dozen lamp posts on Main Street in Three Forks on Monday. Posters decorated storefronts in both communities.
Three Forks Mayor Randy Johnston, a 1973 graduate, former running back and safety, orchestrated the flags placement. Johnston predicts winds of change are on the horizon — that his alma mater could win 32-30.
“We’ve always knocked heads with Manhattan,” he said.”The whole town will be there.”