What game is the greatest rivalry game in Pennsylvania? Here are a couple of games that come to mind for me.
1) Easton Area vs. Phillipsburg NJ – The annual Thanksgiving game has drawn as many as 20,000 fans. The two cities are separated by a bridge the crosses the Delaware River. This game has been televised on ESPN a couple of times. They even did a replay game of the 1993 game.
2) Mount Carmel vs. Shamokin – This game is known as the “Coal Bucket Game”.
3) Pottsville vs. Reading – Pottsville won last year’s “Lump of Coal” trophy with a 29-21 OT win over Reading.
4) Stroudsburg vs. East Stroudsburg South – These teams battle every Thanksgiving for the chance to keep the “Little Brown Jug”.
5) ???
42 Responses
Tyrone vs Bellwood-Antis
Central vs Hollidaysburg
Bedford vs Chestnut Ridge
Penn Cambria vs Central Cambria
Forest Hills vs Richland
Bellwood Antis vs Tyrone. David vs Goliath. The battle of the backyard brawl. The best central pa rivalry in history. Goes back 75 years
Scranton vs west Scranton for the battle of the bell
As a Lakeland fan of course I will mention our
best rivalries first but will most def add some heated battles from District 2
LAKELAND VS VALLEY VIEW
LAKELAND VS DUNMORE
LAKELAND VS CARBONDALE
LAKELAND VS RIVERSIDE {in recent years}
LAKELAND VS LACKAWANNA TRAIL
also from around District 2
ABINGTON HEIGHTS VS SCRANTON PREP
ABINGTON HEIGHTS VS WYOMING VALLEY WEST
ABINGTON HEIGHTS VS DELAWARE VALLEY
ABINGTON HEIGHTS VS VALLEY VIEW
ABINGTON HEIGHTS VS BERWICK {NEW}
OLD FORGE VS RIVERSIDE
OLD FORGE VS DUNMORE {NEW}
RIVERSIDE VS WEST SCRANTON
DUNMORE VS WEST SCRANTON { one of the oldest }
SCRANTON VS WEST SCRANTON
BERWICK VS WYOMING VALLEY WEST
WYOMING VALLEY WEST VS DALLAS
Downingtown East vs Downingtown West brings 10,000+ every year to the game
and it has been played for 105 years. First high school football game to ever be on ESPN and has been on 3 times. No contest in PA. Record high 24,000 fans
Easton Vs P’burg is right. What other game gets 10,000+ fans every year?
Upper Darby vs. Haverford. This Thanksgiving Day game is closing in on around 90 years old.
Mifflinburg vs. Lewisburg. Central pa’s version of the little brown jug game.
enough already
Although many years have gone by, the old game between Sunbury and Northumberland. I took Northumberland 63 years to finally beat Sunbury in 1956 season.
These schools were later combined and now form Shikellamy School District.
How about Northeast VS Central every Thanksgiving for at least 100 years.
How about Germantown Academy vs. Penn Charter? This year marks the 125th anniversary of this old rivalry.
BRISTOL VS LOWER MORELAND!( D-1 )
Too bad they don’t play in the regular season anymore, but North Penn & Neshaminy have put on some great ones. They might meet in the playoffs, they should both be there.
CB WEST VS CB EAST
Southern Columbia vs Mount Carmel…SCA has the most State Championships in the state history & MCA is one of the top ten winningest high school programs in the nation (plus there only separated by roughly ten miles)
ABINGTON-CHELTENHAM HAVE BEEN PLAYING SINCE 1917.
Tamaqua vs. Marian Catholic. Always competitive, nothing but hate on both sides, and years of accused scandal, theft, and mischief that makes it a game to remember every year.
I know this question is for the greatest high school rivalry, but my pick is the St. Clement vs. St. Barnabas games on Thanksgiving day. You see, back in the day when the West Catholic vs. Bartram game in Southwest Philly was cancelled indefinitely because of to much violence, the fans had to go somewhere. Enter two feeder programs, St. Clement and St. Barnabas. Tellme where in the world would you find CYO JV and Varsity elementary school games with upwards of 2000 to 2500 fans attending? And to top it off, the 8th grade kids would be team mates playing for West Catholic or Bartram the following year! Great rivalries build life long friendships.
Even though the Pennridge Quakertown Thanksgiving rivalry is closing in on 100 years, I would have to say it’s Pennridge vs Souderton which includes the burning of the “P” on the Souderton football field back in 1981 which was classic.
West Scranton and Scranton, the Battle for the Bell is always a great game to watch. So much bad blood between the 2 teams.
mahanoy area and shenandoah
Lenape Junior high vs Indian valley junior high. I believe ESPN is covering it live this year.
@ Dale- I agree with you about the Downingtown Civil War being one of the best new rivalries, but the 2010 rendition was the first where both teams combined for more than 40 points.
1. Downingtown East vs Downingtown West
… Battle of the Brandywine!
For the few years it has been around, it has brought out a crowd and some competitive high scoring games with a lot of ‘bragging rights’ on the line..
2. North Penn vs Neshaminy
It seems like these teams have intriguing games everytime they meet.. they seem to be two of the premier teams of the Suburban One Area… They have had a lot of exciting games in the past few years such as the exciting game then played in to OT at Wissahickon in 2004 I believe and the 2008 game at William Tennett seem to be a game for the first few drives
Think you nailed the top 2.
Scranton vs West Scranton or Old Forge vs Riverside
Coatesville & Downingtown before they changed the district playoffs!!! You had some real good games on Thanksgiving day!!!
Quakertown vs Pennridge on Thanksgiving is a great rivalry……quickly approaching 100 years
No doubt about it, Easton/P-Burg. One of the top 5 rivalries in the nation.
I’m going to keep saying it, Scranton Vs. West Scranton is easily a top 5 rivalry in Pennsylvania. The game attracks about 10-15 thousand people a year & is known as the Battle of the Bell. This game makes or breaks both teams season, it is an intensely passionate rivalry dating back over 50 years. The game is played at Memorial Stadium located near downtown Scranton. It was televised on PCN a few years back in front of more than a million people. Again easily a top 5 rivalry.
Ridley interboro
SCA vs MCA?
North Penn vs. Neshaminy
The best rivalry in District 1 would have to be Interboro v. Ridley, which annually draws between 10 to 15k on Thanksgiving.
Northampton – Catty At this game, throw out class designation and regular season records. It really isn’t too far behind the Easton P-burg game every thanksgiving morning.
Berwick and Wyoming Valley West in NE pa is the biggest game by far Every year almost 10,000 fans attend this game. this year Eugene Lewis comes to berwick. if you want to see a game where both teams hate each other this is the game to see. In 1998 when then coach catafio said to the reporters his team was king of the mountaim it seemed to put more coal on the fire. game is on week 4 of season
Pen Argyl vs. Bangor “Battle for the Slate” a great rivalry that is nearing it’s 100th anniversary… always brings large amounts of fans, and the bragging lasts all year after the game. With the long history of the two neighboring towns playing each other, the series is divided only by two wins, with Pen Argyl on top.
Although it’s new-
Downingtown East vs Downingtown West for the “Battle of the Brandywine” or the “Downingtown Civil War”
Mount Carmel and Shamokin
West Scranton vs. Scranton “battle for the bell”