Ft. Riley (WIBW) - Ft. Riley 1st Lt. Dion Booker puts it matter-of-factly.
"I just want to say we will beat the Air Force pretty soundly," he predicted at a recent football practice on post.
Ft. Riley has an active intermural football program, with more than 20 teams facing off Mondays thru Thursdays. But last year, they took their love of the game to another level. Ft. Riley soldiers travelled to McConnell Air Force base in Wichita, for a flag version of college football's Army - Air Force game.
Ft. Riley won, 28-13, and they have no intention of giving up the bragging rights when McConnell travels to Ft. Riley Oct. 16th.
"We're going to show them how it's done right," said Sgt. Jason Lafasciano, who's Ft. Riley's quarterback.
Lafasciano says the football breaks up the stress of the workday, allowing the soldiers time to have a little fun. But they do take the McConnell matchup seriously, holding tryouts to put together the best team possible.
Booker is among those who plays any chance he can get. Before he donned the Army green, he was a "Blackshirt," a four-year letterwinner on defense for the University of Nebraska. At practice, he can be heard sharing the knowledge that in 2001 made him an honorable mention all-Big 12 pick.
Ken Roynon, who is Ft. Riley's sports and fitness specialist, says the team has people who played in college, like Booker, and others who played in high school. They also are a mix of enlisted men to ranking officers, but on the field, he says, they are all football players, rather than soldiers.
The soldiers believe this football game will serve a greater purpose. With the band and cheerleaders from Junction City High School taking part and other activities planned, this will be a true community event, bringing people together, especially those with family who are deployed, or who just returned from deployment.
"We're the U.S. Army and it's American football," Lafasciano says. 'That goes hand in hand!"
The game is October 16th at Ft. Riley. They hope it's good enough for highlights to make the CBS Sports broadcast of the college Army - Air Force game on November 6th.
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