MANKATO — For the last 19 seasons the coveted Kato Jug has stayed with Mankato West football.
The Scarlets are aiming to make it 20-straight regular season wins over Mankato East at 7 p.m. Friday at Blakeslee Stadium.
“We’re excited to have an opportunity to go out and play in a great community event,” Scarlets head coach JJ Helget said. “Hopefully we can get a win.”
In fact, the last time the Scarlets lost in the regular season to their crosstown rival Mankato East Cougars was in 2005. The Cougars won 22-21.
Of course, that was back when “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” was released. That was back when Fall Out Boy was dominating radio airwaves with “Sugar, we’re goin down.’ When Joe Mauer was one year away from winning the first of his five Silver Slugger awards. When Johan Santana made his first MLB All-Star Game.
Yet through every inch of change there has been one constant — West has owned this head-to-head rivalry. The Scarlets have outscored the Cougars 681-165 in the regular season between 2006 and 2024. West has shutout East five times in that stretch and has scored at least 30 points on 12 separate occasions.
West has dominated this matchup for nearly two decades. Except in last season’s Class 5A Sectional semifinal game between the Scarlets and Cougars.
Sure, the Scarlets won the Kato Jug with a 28-7 win in 2024. But the Cougars had the last laugh, winning the playoff game 35-15 on West’s home field.
“I’ve said it multiple times — I would have rather lost the jug game (last season) and won the playoff game,” Helget said. “It’s a big game. There’s more to it than just the jug game.”
Now the Scarlets look to not only avenge 2024’s season-ending defeat, but keep the jug at the bottom of the hill for the 20th-straight season.
“We lost pretty bad. Ugly way to go out,” senior offensive lineman Eli Ahmann said of last year’s playoff meeting. “I just think of the guys we lost last year and how that really hurt me. How that affected me.”
The Scarlets enter Friday’s showdown at 1-1. For this game records are as useful as wearing a Carhartt coat while walking in the sun, but it does tell the tale of the season so far.
West dropped their season opener in a 21-19 road loss to Mahtomedi, who is ranked No. 5 in Class 5A in the Star Tribune’s first polls of the 2025 season. The Scarlets were without senior tailback Trevor Sheldrup in the loss, who was out with a hamstring injury.
He saw limited action in Week 2 against Owatonna. In fact, he had a whopping total of six carries. He also racked up 200 yards rushing while scoring touchdowns of 86 and 92 yards in the 35-7 home win.
“He’s one of the best running backs in the state, in my opinion,” Ahmann said of Sheldrup. “It helps having him back. He really adds to our well-oiled machine for sure.”
Now the Scarlets stand face-to-face with their cross-town rival. A squad that sits tied for No. 3 in Class 5A. They know what they’re expecting.
A well-coached team. A strong offensive line with a tandem of quality running backs. A young quarterback with a talented arm. A linebacker pairing that may be the best in Class 5A.
A team that’s a contender to win their section. A team worthy of being a state entrant.
“For us, it’s just going to be ‘take what they’re giving us,’” Helget said. “We’re going to do what the defense allows us to do. We’re excited for the challenge.”
And while this game carries a heavy amount of weight in terms of bragging rights and community pride, this game isn’t the end of either team’s season in Week 3. Both teams are expected to be contenders to possibly knock off No. 1 Chanhassen come playoff time. A second meeting between the Cougars and Scarlets isn’t out of the realm of possibility either.
But for now, it’s a Week 3 showdown that is drawing the eyes of nearly everyone in Mankato.
“It’s what everyone talks about,” Helget said.
“Sometimes you get a lot of people caught up in (the game). This game won’t define anyone’s season. Our goal is to get better. We got better from Week 1 to Week 2. We’re looking to get better from Week 2 to Week 3.”