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There can be only one big rivalry game
Folks in Brewton and East Brewton have the Battle of Murder Creek. It has statewide and national acclaim. The same can be said of Clay County- Lineville, Blount-Vigor or Hazlewood-Hubbard (Courtland). But for a select, a lucky few, nothing tops the Clarke County -Thomasville showdown. It is a rivalry that dates back to 1917 and, with the exception of the war years when teams just didn't get to play, it continues today. There have been 92 meetings between the schools and Thomasville has a decisive edge. In fact CCHS has only in the last 15 years become a factor in the series. We need sports in our lives and these sports need rivalries. The game to game drudgery that comes during a season of greatness or sorrow is broken up only by the one contest that carries over for 365 days. Like Auburn-Alabama or New York- Boston, the days between games are a huge part of the build-up. That is so terribly true for Grove Hill and Thomasville. The people in these towns, and everywhere in between, it is the talk that starts up the day after the game, idles through the winter, canters along with spring drills, lopes in the heat of the summer, and picks up speed as fall practice begins. As the season progresses it gains momentum until the last Friday of the regular season. Then on that night a school gets to rule for a year, the fans get to crow for a season and, if we are truly lucky, someone gets to add their name to a long list of performers who have stepped up their play, if only for one game. When we look at professional sports and college sports we see people hungry for money who have forgotten the game, or we see people who have lost the idea of fair play. But at the high school level, it is what is best about sports. Yes, the fans hate each other, families are split, co-workers avoid each other....for one day. But after that, there is a closesness that comes with having the rivalry the way it is. The Jackson-CCHS game is fun, but it does not matter as much to Bulldog fans. The JHS-THS game is an area contest, and its meaning is strictly in advancing towards the playoffs. The CCHS-THS game is the little county school taking on the city school...the big school going head-to-head with the bigger school. Throw all of that out the window, because none of it matters. Especially this year. The two schools are rolling through their competition at a rate not seen in almost 50 years. The Bulldogs at 9-0 and the Tigers at 8-1. One team gets momentum going into the playoffs and the other has to try and build, not only a team, but a town and a group of fans back up, as they prepare for the playoffs. The fact both teams have so much to lose and so much to gain in this game. It becomes something that makes me love it...and hate it all at the same time. There will be better than 5,000 people at D.F. Anderson Field Friday night, waiting to see if Allan Floyd's Bulldogs or Jack Hankins' Tigers will be the first to blink. If you have any plans on seeing the same thing, make sure you get there early and find a seat. By kickoff it will be too late.
That's all folks...........
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