Hanover tradition: Tomato Bowl enters 50th year

The search went through a Richmond area high school sports historian, a former Times-Dispatch sports editor who was a high school writer when he joined The Richmond News Leader in the late 1960s and another former News Leader sports writer who still freelances for the T-D.

They didn't know who dubbed the annual football game between Hanover County rivals Patrick Henry and Lee-Davis the Tomato Bowl.

It was the Tomato Bowl when former Lee-Davis coach Buddy Gregory arrived at the school as an assistant coach in the 1960s. It was the Tomato Bowl when Ray Long Jr. became Patrick Henry's coach 28 years ago.

This year's Tomato Bowl is tonight at 7:30 at Patrick Henry. Before the kickoff, a 50th anniversary celebration will take place, even though this is the 51st football game. The Confederates celebrated 50 years last year.

Lee-Davis consolidated in 1958 from Washington-Henry High and Battlefield Park. Patrick Henry consolidated in 1959 from Henry Clay, Montpelier and Beaverdam high schools.

The story Long heard about the origin of the Tomato Bowl name is that the schools' principals, Nelson Taylor at Patrick Henry and Bennie Aylor (now deceased) at L-D, set up the game in 1959 in honor of the famous Hanover tomato.

Taylor, who expects to be at tonight's ceremony, said the story is greatly exaggerated, and he doesn't remember who first called it the Tomato [he says it should be To-mah-to] Bowl.

"It was somebody's bright idea, probably a coach, that caught on," Taylor said.

Patrick Henry leads the series 25-24-1. The Patriots have won seven of the past eight meetings and four consecutive.

The search also turned up a newspaper story from Sept. 16, 1989, that reported Lee-Davis had beaten Patrick Henry the night before to end a four-game losing streak in the Tomato Bowl. The loss dropped Patrick Henry, a member of the Colonial District, to 0-3 with all three losses coming to Capital District schools.

"That could be a good omen for us," current Confederates coach Jason Meade said.

Should L-D win, Patrick Henry would fall to 0-3 with all the losses to Capital District teams. It also would be the first time the storied Patrick Henry program [Group AAA Div. 5 state champs in 1994] has lost to the other three Hanover County high schools (Hanover, Atlee and L-D) in the same season.

"We are in the same position [as 1989], and that team never got untracked," said Long, the winningest Group AAA coach in the Central Region. "It is frustrating because we [this year] can perform better than we are. We look like we're playing in slow motion. I can't put a handle on it."

The Patriots are young, and key players are banged up. Senior running back Brandon Wong probably won't play.

"We're going to be battling," Long said. "I've learned the kids don't need you when they win. They need you when they lose. My passion for the kids is still there."

Meade expects the Patriots to do battle. The Confederates (1-1) have played a good first half in each game, but Hermitage pulled away to win the opener. Hopewell bounced back last week, but L-D weathered the rally.

"If we don't play hard from play one, the outcome won't be good," Meade said. "We still have to teach these kids how to win consistently. We've got to take notes from Josh [Just at Hanover] and Roscoe [Johnson at Atlee]. They have their kids believing. We have to get Lee-Davis believing like them."

Contact Arthur Utley at (804) 649-6559 or .