Earlier this summer in our June 11 issue, we published a story about how Craig Runnels, Newport Hills resident, was organizing a reunion match between old community soccer rivals, the Bears and Panthers.

The teams hadn’t played since the fall of 1975, but that didn’t hurt the interest at all.

Nearly 30 former players and coaches showed up to the game on June 21, coming such cities as Houston, San Diego and Phoenix.

Runnels reported one player, at the last minute, announced he would attend and flew all the way from Columbia, Md., to play in the game, which saw its rivalry form over the years in Newport Hills, before the days of the strict organization of youth soccer.

Now in their late 40s or early 50s, the players assembled at Redmond Arena Sports to settle things once and for all.

The game itself, Runnels reports, was fantastic, except for one small part:

“There were 100 or so parents, brothers, sisters, wives, kids, etc., in attendance and it was like a neighborhood block party on the sidelines while the game was going on,” Runnels said in an email to the Reporter. “The only negative, from my perspective, was that the Panthers came from behind in the second half to win 8-5.”

Runnels was one of five different scorers for the Bears, who led midway through the second half 5-4 before the Panthers rallied to score four unanswered goals to seal the win.

The Panthers were led by Dave Bernard, who scored three goals, and Russ King, who netted two.

An original concern of Runnels was the potential for injury – we are talking about guys in their 50s – but the game went over with only two minor incidents.

“The grudge match was a great success,” Runnels said.

The match brought a question to my mind: what are some of the other old rivalries you’d like to see renewed? Send me an email at jwillits@bellevuereporter.com and we’ll print your observations.

Joel Willits can be reached at 425-453-5045.