The La Salle-Peru and Ottawa football programs first played in 1897 to begin a historic rivalry that has seen many exciting matchups in the 128 meetings since.

Here’s a dive into history and a recounting of some of those interesting matchups in years ending with the No. 5, viewed a decade at a time.

1915

In the Nov. 19 contest played in a cold, steady rain at King Field, the lone score of La Salle-Peru’s 6-0 victory came in the second quarter when quarterback Don Lourie hit Paul Mudge in stride with a 43-yard pass on what the Ottawa Free Trader described as “one of the prettiest plays of the game.” The Cavs finished the season 8-1.

1925

Strong north winds brought rain, then hail and finally snow to Washington Park on Nov. 7. The game was moved from L-P’s Matthiessen Field, which was a “quagmire” minutes before game time. The Cavaliers won the game 26-0, with leading ground-gainer Pat Lopatka, Walt Reinhart and Larry Janwicz each running for a TD. Ottawa’s Frank Brannan had a 77-yard punt in the game.

1935

The Cavaliers, led by first-year coach Albert “Butch” Nowak, a former All-American lineman at the University of Illinois, earned a 12-0 victory at Matthiessen Field on Nov. 1. L-P fullback Jimmy Taylor led the way, scoring on runs from the 2 and 7. L-P finished the season at 8-2.

1945

In the Sept. 14 season opener for each squad, L-P won the game 13-0, with Cavaliers’ scores coming on a second-quarter 19-yard run by John Konczak and a fourth-quarter 14-yard pass from Konczak to Bill Cusic. It was the 11th consecutive win in the series for L-P.

1955

The Bill Novak-led Pirates pushed out to a two-score lead after the first quarter on the way to a 31-9 triumph at L-P Stadium in the season opener Sept. 15. Ottawa QB Jack Meckenstock scored a pair sneaks, halfback Keith Severson scored on a 63-yard run and a 31-yard interception return, and Fritz Ieuter added a 7-yard TD run. L-P’s Gene Bassetti rushed for 102 on 14 carries and the Cavs’ lone TD on an 8-yard run.

1965

In front of an estimated crowd of 5,400 at L-P Stadium on Oct. 1, the Pirates and Cavaliers played to a 0-0 tie - one of five deadlocks in the series. Ottawa moved as close as the L-P 14, while the Cavs got as close as the Pirates 19. Ottawa QB Jay Bernardoni threw for 100 yards as part of the Pirates’ 195-135 advantage in total yards. Both ended the season 8-0-1 and shared the North Central Illinois Conference championship.

1975

The Cavaliers, which won the NCIC Northeast Division, advanced to the Class 4A semifinals and finished with a 10-2 record, scored 24 first-quarter points and rolled to a 56-0 victory on Sept 26 at L-P Stadium. Ed Merriman rushed for 130 yards and three short TDs for L-P, while Andy Rios added 99 ground yards and a pair of scores. Bill Manley and Bob Ochse also had running TDs for the Cavs, which outgained Ottawa in yardage 411-92.

1985

The Cavaliers topped the Pirates 22-7 at Howard Fellows Stadium on Oct. 4. L-P QB Thorpe Sine completed 11-of-19 passes for 167 yards, including a 37-yard TD pass to Jim Bacidore. The hosts also received a 42-yard interception return score from Dan Snell and a 7-yard TD run by Jim Turczyn. David Waters led L-P with 103 yards rushing. Ottawa’s only score came on a 21-yard TD run by Rich Gama with 20 seconds left.

1995

In a Sept. 29 game played at Hall’s Richard Nesti Stadium (with Howard Fellows Stadium getting a facelift), Ottawa halfback Adam Haase scored on an 88-yard run 35 seconds in and later added an 88-yard interception return TD in the Pirates’ 36-0 win. In between, Ryan Nevins (11, 16) scored a pair of rushing TDs, and Nick Allen added a 1-yard plunge. The Pirates finished the regular season 9-0, advanced to the state playoff quarterfinals and became the first team in program history to win 11 games. L-P’s Nathan Sell had 89 yards rushing. It was Ottawa’s eight straight win in the series and first shutout against the Cavs since 1966.

2005

In the Sept. 30 contest at Howard Fellows, the Pirates used a pair of first-half TD passes (18, 16) from QB Jared Mundt to Eric Schueller and a defense that held the Cavaliers to 109 total yards to earn a 12-0 victory at Howard Fellows. Gavin Kurtz led Ottawa with 83 yards rushing on 29 carries, while L-P’s Bruce Bray had eight carries for 58 yards.

2015

In the highest-scoring game in the history of the series, L-P QB Kennedy Carey’s 16-yard TD pass to Jack Doyle with 50 seconds remaining gave the Cavs a 44-36 win at Howard Fellows. Carey finished 15-of-20 for 243 yards and three TDs, all to Doyle (six catches, 128 yards), with Max Uranich also making six catches for 101. Adam Poundstone had 131 yards rushing on 16 carries and two scores for Ottawa, which trailed 28-7 at halftime. The teams combined for 41 first downs and 772 total yards.

2025

The Cavaliers won both meetings this season over the Pirates, 41-24 in Week 3 at King Field and 28-14 this past Friday at Howard Fellows.