Eugene rivalry takes last stand

PULLMAN – David Vobora laughed.

“You could say that,” the University of Idaho senior linebacker said when asked if he was looking forward to taking the field Saturday at Martin Stadium for the Vandals’ game with Palouse rival Washington State.

You see, Saturday is Vobora’s last chance at bragging rights. Among college football players, bragging rights are a big deal.

On the Washington State sideline will be two guys Vobora’s seen across the field for years: Alex Brink and Chris Baltzer.

The tie among the trio transcends time – back to high school – and distance – as they all hail from Eugene, Ore.

In those years dating back to his sophomore season at Churchill High in Eugene, Vobora’s team has never won – and most of the games haven’t been close.

Not the seasons Brink and Baltzer were stars at Sheldon High, leading the 15-0 Fighting Irish to a state championship as seniors.

Not the three times Vobora’s Vandals ventured into Martin Stadium, where the combined final score has been 143-44.

“We beat them when I was a freshman, but I didn’t play,” Vobora said, looking back on the only Churchill team to defeat Sheldon in Brink and Baltzer’s three years on varsity. “I guess I’m due.”

“He was one of their key guys when I was playing,” Brink said, looking back on the Eugene days. “He’s a year younger than me (and) that Church team at the time had a lot of seniors, so he was a big part of it, but not as big a part of it as he is with this Idaho team.”

Baltzer, a senior reserve linebacker for the Cougars after a career limited by five knee surgeries – the first coming while he was at Sheldon – has vivid memories of Vobora’s talent.

“He stood out on the field,” Baltzer said. “He’s a great athlete. Just having that play-making ability, you can’t teach that, and he obviously had it. I think it showed in college. He dang near lead the nation in tackles, or did.”

That was last year, when Vobora, who, unlike Brink and Baltzer, never redshirted, had 134 tackles, first in the Western Athletic Conference and seventh in the nation. But he can’t recall getting one against Brink – even in high school.

“I remember getting through a couple of times,” Vobora said, “and he would get rid of the ball just as I got there.”

Which seemed to be part of Brinks’ M.O., even then.

“I remember playing against those guys so well,” Vobora said. “They ran the spread offense just like they do at Washington State. We would cover four of their five receivers great and Alex would find that fifth guy and thread the ball in there.

“It’s just like he’s doing now.”

All three would have been happy to be teammates in college, and they wished it could have been at Autzen Stadium. As Baltzer said, the first time he went to a football game at Oregon, he was in his mom’s womb.

But it wasn’t to be.

“At that time, Oregon wasn’t recruiting a lot of in-state kids,” said Vobora, whose father played for the Ducks. “We’ve had to prove ourselves at other places.”

They have, with Vobora a Vandals captain and a first-team All-WAC selection and Brink about to become the WSU career passing leader. When they see each other in Eugene during the summer, there is a bond.

“We’ve seen him out, said, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ ” Baltzer said. “It’s weird because we play against each other, but I almost feel like we stick together because we all kind of got shunned from being from Oregon, and had to go different places to play. So we kind of got a connection there.”

They also have a connection on the field that predates the Palouse. But they will meet for one last game in Pullman and, as Vobora sees it, one last chance.

“There is nothing I would like better,” he said, “than to walk out of Martin Stadium with a win.”