The Whitefish-Columbia Falls football rivalry has always been important.

The last few years, however, it has added a new element.

The winning team has gone on to win the conference the last two seasons and each finished a game away from competing for a state title.

With Whitefish’s acsension back into the Class A elite last season, and a semifinal run by Columbia Falls the year before, the Cat-Dog game has become a springboard to postseason success.

“We can downplay it and say as coaches, “Next game, next opponent,” but that’s your rivalry game,” Whitefish coach Chad Ross said.

“They’ve had the better hand the last few years. It’s hard to say there’s no extra emotion there, it’s just how we handle that.”

Last season, a Bulldogs team on a two-game skid out-slugged then-undefeated No. 1 Columbia Falls in a 20-15 homecoming victory to beat its rival for the first time in three years. The win renewed the confidence of a young, but talented Whitefish team that would travel back to the Class A semifinals for the first time since 2002.

“A lot of people were questioning what type of a team we were,” Ross said.

“It was that first step in building confidence in ourselves. It was easy to play the underdog card then. It was huge, just for momentum and confidence. And they were a really good football team.”

The Bulldogs, who return 16 starters from that team, have opened this season 5-1 and have put themselves in the conversation of the best in the state. Their aim this season, along with beating Columbia Falls in consecutive years for the first time in more than a decade, is to win the first school’s first football championship since 1979.

“We took over a team with only four seniors our first year, now we have 16 returning starters,” Ross said.

“All those hours in the weight room, all those times throwing the ball. All those times that you got pounded you finally get to pay back. We’re really trying to make the most of it.”

Underdog isn’t a role that Columbia Falls is used to playing in this rivalry. Before last season, the Wildcats had won eight of 10 against Whitefish and were coming off a near undefeated season in 2013 that saw them start the season 9-0 before falling in the state semifinals at Billings Central.

This season’s version of the Wildcats looks a lot like last year’s Bulldogs: young, talented and a few plays away from something special.

Turnovers and untimely mistakes have cost Columbia Falls this season, but its 2-2 record hides the skeleton of the juggernaut that mowed through the conference, and nearly the state, two years ago.

This weekend’s game could serve as a statement game for the Wildcats.

“In the big rivalries, the emotion of it is going to be there, you know they’re going to play hard,” Columbia Falls coach Jackson Schweikert said.

“We’re pretty talented, but we’re inconsistent right now. That’s what’s giving us troubles ... It’s a process of fixing those errors and getting better every week. We want to continue to get better in this game.”

With the stakes raising year by year, Cat-Dog games have been extremely close the last few years. Three of the last four meetings have been decided by less than a touchdown.

Last season’s upset and the recent success of each program has proven that this year’s version shouldn’t be much different.

“As a head coach they’re the games you want your kids to play,” Ross said.

“We’re expecting four quarters against Columbia Falls. It’s easy to get your kids excited for four quarters.

“They’re some great games. It’s loud, it’s crazy. Fans from both sides are there. People talk to you about it at the gas station and the grocery store. It’s a neat thing to be a part of.”

The Cat-Dog game has always been important. As both teams show they can compete for titles now and in the future, its importance is only growing.

Joseph Terry has been a sports reporter and columnist for the Daily Inter Lake since 2012. His column ‘Sidelines’ runs weekly in the Thursday edition of the Inter Lake Sports section. He can be reached by phone at (406) 758-4463 or by email at [email protected].