It was a cool Fall night on Friday, October 2nd, when Saugeen District Secondary School (SDSS) Royals Football team began a new tradition with Kincardine District Secondary School (KDSS) Knights. Together, they played in the first-ever ‘Pumpkin Bowl’ to kick off Port Elgin Pumpkinfest weekend in Port Elgin (Saugeen Shores).
The game was also a night game played for the first time under lights at SDSS football field and began with a well-attended crowd that cheered when SDSS scored first and the game began with a 2-0 score against KDSS.
KDSS Knights only returned to football in the Fall of 2025 after having no high-school football for more than 60 years. It took three years of work by many volunteers and that included rebuilding, teaching and competing to again develop the KDSS program.
In last year’s return (2025) to the sport, the Knights scored no victories but, this year, the team persevered and, for the time in over 60 years, the team won its first football game defeating the Royals in a close 22-19.
The Pumpkin Bowl game is a new tradition that the two schools plan to continue each year to begin the award-winning Pumpkinfest weekend in Port Elgin (Saugeen Shores).
