Las Vegas High School

The Bone Game

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The oldest tradition in Nevada High School football is the rivalry between Rancho High School Rams and the Las Vegas High School Wildcats. The annual game is played for “Sir Herkimer’s Bone” also known as “Sir Herk.” The tradition began in 1957.

 

 

The “Bone” is actually a large cow bone proposed by the Rancho Lettermen’s Club as the annual trophy for the Rancho-Las Vegas football game.  The father of a Rancho player owned a butcher shop and several members of the lettermen’s club went to the butcher shop, got the bone and boiled it in water for a full day.  One end of the bone fell off during boiling, so they glued it back on and one of the guys painted it silver to hide the crack.  Since then, it has been preserved in bronze.  The first “Bone” game ended in a 13-13 tie. Each school agreed to keep “The Bone” for one semester; however, some Rancho students stole “The Bone” from Las Vegas during the semester they were supposed to keep it.  Since then it has been agreed that the “Bone” trophy is kept by the winning school for one year.

 

According to - http://www.lvwildcats.com/