The Rubber Band Game
Some of the most passionate rivalries in all of sports occur in high school football. Some of the best rivalries; Plant/Armwood, East Bay/Riverview, Brandon/Bloomingdale, Gaither/Sickles…to names a few. But in New Tampa, the Wharton/Freedom battle is never without intensity and fireworks. What makes the high school football rivalry so intense?
High school football is a sport where every week counts, especially the money (district) games, which determine if a team will be playing in the post season. Each and every week, teams are giving 100% effort, but there are definitely some particular games where the team seems to have an extra incentive or motivation. “We don’t lose to Freedom”, Wharton junior ATH, Vernon Hargreaves expressed. “We are really excited to play this game. Everybody knows how important it is”.
The Geographic Proximity of the schools, adds gas to the fire. Wharton and Freedom are separated by 5.4 miles, 14 minutes (given it’s not rush hour or construction), approximately 113 trees, 4 gas stations, 1 Wal-Mart and a busy Movie theater. Some of that you may have to check on, but my point is, the schools are not far from each other. Very often the two teams that have a heated rivalry game each year are very close to each other in geographic proximity. The players share the same communities and interact with each other on a daily basis. “All we have been talking about is starting a new season. Going 5-0 and that starts this Friday with Freedom”, says Hargreaves.
Both Wharton and Freedom currently sit towards the bottom of their respective districts. Freedom, 1-1/1-5 in 7A-7 and Wharton is 0-1/1-4 in district 8A-6. Technically, both teams have a chance to earn a playoff berth, but both need to build confidence and momentum. “We aren’t doing any trash talking. No Facebook, no social media trash talking. We are focused and about our business Friday night. We will let our play do the talking for us”, Hargreaves expressed.
Familiarity of Teams provide extra incentive. These teams know each other all to well. They will battle it out a little more than those any other contest. Even though Wharton’s Hargreaves says there won’t be any trash talk coming from the Wildcats during the week, hours before the game, I guarantee both teams will be chirping like birds. These players often see each other during the offseason and a little competitive conversation is bound to occur. Many times rivalries are within the same district or with a team that is on the schedule year in and year out. These two teams have faced each other every year since 2002.
Tight Battles over the Years: This game typically brings out the best in both schools and provide for a gripping grudge match. A good rivalry is often built on the fact that the games become an instant classic. The history of a great rivalry generally includes a slew of high quality football games that leave the fans wanting more. Over the years, Freedom and Wharton have played each season since Freedom was established in 2002. The two teams did not start playing each other for varsity records until the following year in 2003. The series is dead even at four wins per team since that time period with each team winning two times in a row since 2003. There has only been one lop sided game, 2006, Wharton win 36-0. The rest have been some what competitive. This game has been named “The Rubber band Game”, by the BCP historian because of how tight the series is.
Wharton est. 1997
Freedom est. 2002
2002 *JV 23-3 Freedom*
2003 28-7 Wharton
2004 28-13 Freedom
2005 24-14 Freedom
2006 36-0 Wharton
2007 20-0 Wharton
2008 29-24 Freedom
2009 16-7 Freedom
2010 36-14 Wharton