There are lots of fun rivalries in all of sports.
There's the Maumee River Rivalry in Northwest Ohio between Napoleon and Defiance High Schools; Fort Hill and Allegany High Schools fight for The Black Kettle each year in Maryland. Another game in Ohio is referred to as the Holy War between St. Edwards and St. Ignatius. And locally Mount Carmel and Shamokin have the annual Coal Bucket game.
Almost all have been tightly contested through the years.
With the now annual matchup between Mount Carmel and Southern Columbia at 17 years as of tonight, one has to wonder, does this game deserve its own name?
The possibilities are endless, and with the game back in its rightful place in the third week of the season (after being in week nine for the last four years) it could use just the little extra pomp that a catchy name brings with it.
Names were the last thing on anyone's mind 17 years ago when the administrators and coaches at the two schools decided that it made perfect sense for the two teams to play.
Southern Columbia and Mount Carmel are separated by just 16 miles and have combined to win nine state titles since that first game in 1996.
The game was held in week three for the first dozen years, and in eight of those years the Tornadoes and Tigers entered with identical 2-0 marks.
The schools have split the all-time series, eight victories apiece.
And yet, no name.
"You look at a lot of those names and if you do the history, you see the games were established before the '90s," Southern Columbia head coach Jim Roth said, and agreed with a point made by Mount Carmel head coach Carm DeFrancesco.
"It doesn't need a billing or name, it's just two of the most successful programs in this state playing each other," DeFrancesco said.
But the game may not have ever come about had Southern's program not started to improve while almost simultaneously Mount Carmel was getting away from playing a much bigger schedule as it settled into being a Class AA power.
"We were two programs in different places," DeFrancesco said. "We had a big AAA and AAAA schedule while I was an assistant here."
In 1994, when Southern won its first state title, the Tigers played a schedule filled with Class A and AA schools, by 1996 the Tigers added Mount Carmel and Selinsgrove as Roth tried to ready his teams for the playoffs with stiffer regular season competition.
"It was just part of the process in terms of evolving from the weaker division to the stronger division to the Mid-Penn in the '80s, and then the CSC. As we upgraded conferences and schedules, we were looking for better competition," Roth said.
"There was a time when I said we should play Mount Carmel and Shamokin and people looked at me like I had three heads," Roth admitted. "They were both strong teams and bigger schools. It's helped our program and made us better for the playoffs."
In 2005, Shamokin was finally added to Southern's schedule.
Mount Carmel on the other hand has a three solid regional rivalries on its schedule with Southern, Shamokin and North Schuylkill and that adds a level of excitement to each game that is seen rarely outside of high school football.
"A competitor wants to be in big games," DeFrancesco said. "You want kids to expose your kids to big game atmospheres week in and week out. You really want your kids, your coaches and your fans to be a part of that."
This game, however, exceeds the bounds of geographic rivalry. It pits two of the most successful programs in the state since the PIAA playoffs were instituted. However, this is the first time in four years the game won't play a large part in deciding who claims the Heartland Conference Division II title. To some that might make the game harder to schedule and thus endangered, but rest assured an annual Tigers-Tornadoes tilt is not going anywhere.
"It's two very successful programs that have a lot of pride and that's what it's about," DeFrancesco said. "We're neighbors, the kids know each other, it's a big game for us and the position on the schedule will never change that rivalry."