High school football playoffs, rivalry games are at stake in the season’s final weeks

Who can believe that the high school football season is already in its ninth week? It seems like only yesterday that we were talking about the freshness of the new season, teams with high hopes, and the smoldering hot temperatures and high humidity of late August.

Fast-forward to mid-October and you can feel the cooler temperatures in the air, the almanac is telling us that the first frost is approaching, and the vivid green fields are beginning to fade into a lighter shade of brown, just as the hopes and dreams of many teams have started to fade with each passing week of the season.

With only a few weeks remaining in the regular season, the stress level is high for several teams. Some coaches are starting to feel like they are operating in a pressure cooker. Fans and school administrators all want to achieve success, and some programs are barely hanging on to a thread of hope for making the playoffs.

The stakes will get higher over these final few weeks, and I mean much higher. Not only will every conference game matter from here on out, but we’re also starting to see a flurry of rivalry games take place.

To set the record straight, we’re not talking your average run-of-the-mill county or conference rivalry games either, we’re talking about those classic battles that communities shut down for like in the movies, or using the phrase that former A.L. Brown football coach, the late Bob Boswell once called it, “Big Time High School Football.”

Beginning this Friday in a few communities across North Carolina, it will feel like getting in a time machine and going back to yesteryear when high school football was really big!

By no means am I saying that prep football isn’t big today, because it is, but in a time before social media, the internet, and a bevy of other entertainment options popped up for teenagers and communities, high school football games were the place to be on Friday’s.

If you recall the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s rivalry and understand the passion and commitment that these two families had for feuding against one another, you can start to imagine what the rivalry between Tuscola and Pisgah is all about.

I’ve been covering football in this state for a long time, I grew up in the shadows of the Bell Game that takes place between arch-rivals Kannapolis and Concord, and I’ve been to about every major rivalry game this state has to offer, so I’ve seen what a good football feud looks like; however, I’m not sure that there are enough descriptive words available to truly shine a light on what this battle is all about.

It’s not just school versus school, it’s more like town versus town, country versus city, and mill workers versus everyone else. To say that these two fan bases don’t particularly like one another, at least from a competitive football standpoint is an understatement.

While I’m not a local when it comes to these two communities, I’ve got close friends in both Waynesville and Canton, and I’ve been to about half-a-dozen of these rivalry contests, so I have a pretty good idea for how they operate.

I don’t call this a heated contest where the two fan bases hate one other, but I do think that both communities have a love affair with this game, and they plan for it all year long and put on massive tailgate parties that would rival what you may see on a Saturday afternoon in the Southeast Conference.

It’s not too late change your plans and make the trip up to Waynesville on Friday and take in this bucket list event. Both the Tuscola (5-2) and Pisgah (6-1) football teams are surging up the charts in my weekly power rankings, and one lucky fan could take home upwards of $20,000 in half-and-half ticket winnings.

The Toe River Rivalry

Staying in Western North Carolina, a rivalry game that is starting to pick up steam in regards to being considered one of the best in the state, is the annual tilt between Mountain Heritage (5-1) and Mitchell (5-2), also called the Toe River Rivalry. This year the game will take place in Burnsville, and for the die-hard football fans in this state, I implore you to consider adding this game to your must-see list.

Like the Tuscola-Pisgah rivalry, these are two communities that border one another and to get down to it, just don’t like one another in a football perspective. Like any good rivalry game, the fans will arrive early, stay late, and absolutely pack the stadium to watch their young men battle it out for 48 minutes.

Both teams are capable of winning the 1A state championship this year, and if the recent contests between these two foes are any predictor, this game could end up as another classic battle, adding another storied chapter that these fans talk about for years to come.

Battle in Bunker Hill

If driving to Western North Carolina isn’t an option, then the Catawba Valley could be for you as a highly anticipated battle of undefeated rivals square off on Friday in Claremont as Maiden (7-0) travels to Bunker Hill (6-0).

Maiden has established themselves as one of the elite teams in the 2A ranks, but don’t think for a moment that Bunker Hill won’t give the Blue Devils a run this week. This is one of the best years that the Bears have had since the late 1980’s, and this week they’ll have a chance to assume the driver’s seat in their quest for a conference crown.

Fans are known to come out in massive numbers in Catawba County, so if you want to get a good seat for this donnybrook, make sure you arrive early.

Greenville in the spotlight

And just so I’m not leaving out my friends in Eastern North Carolina, Greenville could be the place to be on Friday as longtime rivals New Bern (7-1) and J.H. Rose (5-3) face-off in a game that could decide the conference championship.

If you remember back to the start of the year, J.H. Rose was our preseason #1 in the 3A classification, but a few tough losses in an ultra-aggressive non-conference slate looked to really set the Rampants back, but now they have won five-straight, and the conference title is in sight.

These are two blue-blood programs in the state, always ranking among the elite of the elite, and they have had a knack over the decades to produce some incredible games and storybook endings, so I have a feeling that this week could be another thriller for fans.

Around the region

If you can’t travel to the far eastern or western reaches of the state, here are some other huge matchups that are taking place in your communities.

In the Charlotte Metro region, you can consider seeing Butler (5-2) as they travel to Keffer Stadium to take on Charlotte Catholic (5-1). Keffer Stadium is one of the best places in the state to watch a game, its tight confines always produce a lot of excitement.

If you are in the Raleigh-Durham metro region, the top games will be Millbrook (6-1) traveling to Wakefield (4-3), or you can take in a classic southeastern Wake County rivalry with the surging Garner Trojans (3-2) traveling to Fuquay-Varina (5-3).

There will be plenty of action taking place in the Sandhills as Pinecrest (5-2) travels to Laurinburg to take on Scotland County (5-1), and on Saturday you can travel to Rockingham to watch Lee County (5-2) visit Richmond Senior (6-1).

I hope that I have gotten your blood flowing today in eager anticipation of this week’s games. While I never had the dreams or desire to be a reverend or pastor, I do feel like high school football is my ministry, and I love spreading the word of the big-time games each and every week.

High school athletics, and football in particular is a symbol of all that is good in communities, and it brings everyone together on Fridays in support of one common goal, so go out and cheer on these young people with your neighbors and pass on your love for this incredible sport to your kids for them to enjoy as well.