The first Mineral Water Bowl was played over 50 years ago. On Thanksgiving Day 1948, a packed house watched Excelsior Springs High School defeat Mexico, Missouri, High School 48-18. They were two of the best prep teams in the state but excitement over the Tigers victory was short lived. Many of the town's citizens were busy trying to raise money to send the team to Chattanooga the following week to face a junior college team in the Orchid Bowl. The high school Tigers couldn't compete with the junior college squad and soon steps were taken to control post-season play and eliminate such mismatches. In 1951, after four prep Mineral Water Bowls, the Missouri High School Athletic Association ended it by banning unsanctioned post-season high school play.

Heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano vacationed in Excelsior Springs in the fall of 1954 and a few months later the Mineral Water Bowl returned as a small college game. It kicked off a span of twenty two years when the bowl became a midwest institution that attracted great teams and some future stars to Excelsior Springs.  

In 1957 the Mineral Water Bowl was one of only 11 sanctioned by the NCAA, in the same company with the Sugar, Rose, Cotton and Orange Bowls. Each fall the bowl was home to championship caliber teams from Michigan to  Colorado to Texas and North Dakota. The 1963 Northern Illinois Huskies, led by quarterback George Bork, were voted small college national champions after their Mineral Water Bowl victory over Southwest Missouri State. 

Legendary former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne (No. 31) made dozens of bowl appearances but his first was at the Mineral Water Bowl. He played in the bowl in 1955 and 1957 as the quarterback of the Hastings College Broncos and lost both games. All AFL safety, Ron Hall from Missouri Valley and the Boston Patriots played in the 1955 bowl and the first man to ever touch the ball on Monday Night Football, Don Cockroft, signed his first NFL contract on Roosevelt Field following the 1966 bowl. He was a kicker for Adams State and the Cleveland Browns.

Eric Brown of the Broncos is the only Mineral Water Bowl player to have played in the Super Bowl but Bob Allison (left) played in the 1951 bowl for Raytown High School and then appeared in the 1965 World Series as a power hitting outfielder for the Minnesota Twins. 

With more college football available on television by the '70's, crowds at the game began to thin. After the 1975 game the Mineral Water Bowl was cancelled and there was little interest in its return. Then in 1992 a reorganized Quarterback Club received National Junior College Athletic Association sanctioning for the Bowl to return.

The eight junior college games were terrific. The first three were decided by only two points and in 1997 Snow College defeated Coffeyville with a touchdown in the final minutes. In 1996, Blinn College made history by winning their unprecedented second consecutive NJCAA championship. Last year Blinn became the last Junior College Mineral Water Bowl champion, defeating Fort Scott 29-20 in a cold, steady rain.

The junior college players who appeared here were extremely talented. At least eleven future NFL players played in the game including All-Pro defensive tackle, Tim Bowens of the Miami Dolphins and safety Eric Brown of the Denver Broncos. 1998 Heisman Trophy runner-up, Michael Bishop of Kansas State and the New England Patriots is another future star who played in the Mineral Water Bowl.

Mineral Water Bowl Scores

Dan Smith starred for Northeastern Oklahoma in their 1956 lost to St. Benedict's

The 1959 American League Rookie of the Year, Bob Allison