Football Rivals Brainerd & Bemidji to Play for 80th Time in the Battle for Babe’s Bell

This Friday will mark the 80th meeting between Brainerd and Bemidji football, and it’ll also be the eighth time they will battle for Babe’s Bell, one of state’s most unique traveling trophies.

It’s a rivalry centered on a folk tale, with the two cities laying claim as the birthplace of America’s largest folk hero, Paul Bunyan. Bemidji and Brainerd are both home to towering statues of the man in plaid and his blue ox Babe, as though the size of the colossus might determine the logger’s true origins.

The disagreement spilled onto the gridiron in 1940, and since 2018 the Warriors and Lumberjacks have played for a traveling trophy that stays with the winner of their annual game.

“It’s a totally different feeling,” said Bemidji football senior linebacker Trevor Larson of winning the trophy. “It’s just, everyone on the team’s hyped up, you know? No one’s sad, and then everyone’s just excited to bring the bell back to Babe.”

In the seven years they’ve played for Babe’s Bell, the Jacks have won five times, including last season’s 28-22 victory over the Warriors that brought the trophy back to Bemidji after a two-year hiatus.

“It felt amazing,” said Bemidji football senior slot Miles Gish. “And then going to the Paul and Babe [statues] after and singing the song and taking pictures, it was awesome.”

The average margin of victory since the trophy’s inception is 17 points, but whether it’s by one or 100, the sting of defeat in this rivalry can make the rest of the season seem almost inconsequential.

“Obviously, Bemidji [and] Brainerd, we have that respect,” said Brainerd football senior captain and running back Jayden Barnum. “But at the same time, in high school football, we have [this] rivalry. I’ve always been told we always want to beat Bemidji. If we don’t beat anybody else, Bemidji is the one team we want to beat, and we just got to work as hard as we can to make sure that we can beat them this time.”

That’s because what’s up for grabs in this rivalry goes well beyond the normal bragging rights.

“It’ll mean everything for the players, for the coaches, for the whole town,” said Brainerd football senior linebacker and captain Albert Karpeh. “This is what we play for every year. In the off-season, that’s what we work for. And just to be able to see that bell in our weight room every time we work out for the rest of the season, that [would be] just amazing for us.”

Kickoff for the Battle for Babe’s Bell is Friday, September 26 at 7 p.m. at Chet Anderson Stadium in Bemidji.