Big dispute about the best high school football rivalry and the best place to see a game in our area and throughout the state

Posted on by Andy Durham

Best place to see a high school football game and what are now considered the best rivalries in the state of North Carolina???

We have some of the best stadiums for seating right here in our area with Jamieson Stadium, Simeon Stadium over in High Point, Burlington Williams’ Stadium which used to house the Williams Bulldogs and Elon Univeristy/Elon College, Bowman Gray Stadium over in Winston-Salem will host WS Carver vs. WS Parkland on occasion, plus all of the rivalries with Page-Grimsley, Dudley-Smith, High Point Central-High Point Andrews, Carver-Parkland, NWG-Northern Guilford, Eastern Randolph-Asheboro, Williams-Cummings in Burlington, and now many are picking up on Matthews Butler-Mallard Creek and Butler-Charlotte Independence, along with Richmond County-Scotland County and many more are being mentioned….

Look at the comments below and you will then know, that there is a lot to be said about these high school football rivalries and the stadiums in which they are being played in…..

Good money for the boosters says:
July 18, 2012 at 2:22 pm
What is the seating for some of our locate programs such as Page, Northern, NW, Grimsley, Dudley (new seating) and others (if anyone konws) ? I would think Northern has the most seating from what I have seen.

Andy Durham says:
July 18, 2012 at 3:25 pm
Nobody around here can out-seat/out-hold Grimsley….Jamieson can hold up to 10,000 on the squeeze and next up would be Simeon Stadium in HIgh Point where they could excess 7,500 on a tight fit….Those are your two top high school stadium capacities in Guilford County….The other schools will take you 4,500 with fans standing around the tracks……..If you put people on top of the building roof-tops and had them climbing and hanging in the trees you might hit 6,000 at the other schools….Grimsley should do 8,500 for the East-West All-Stars Football game tonight, but they won’t all be paid….Coaches in town for the HS Coach’s Clinic will make up most of your fan-base and they will get in free with the Clinic Pass, but they did pay to attend the Clinics and that is where the NCCA(North Carolina Coaches Association) makes their money and this allows them to continue the games…Without the Coaches’ Convetion/Clinic there would be no games….

Check on those attendances and I think you will find I am on the money….Have always been ‘Right On’ before…..

ad4deacs says:
July 18, 2012 at 5:33 pm
You are correct Andy. Also like to ad that in the early years the game paid for the clinic now the clinic pays for the game.

JD Higgins says:
July 19, 2012 at 7:09 am
People can write anything on the internet and everyone thinks it is the truth, Andy please deal in facts before you comment Simeon Stadium holds 10,000 plus if you need to check just google wikipedia for the facts, thank you for looking into this matter and correcting your mistake.

Andy Durham says:
July 19, 2012 at 10:03 am
That’s not what the Fire Marshall told me….There is a lot of out-dated material on Wikipedia and the last time Simeon could seat 10,000 was probably 1979….Someone needs to go on Wikipedia and get those numbers updated and corrected….Last time I was over at Simeon for a HP Central game they has about 850 fans in there and half of them were from the opposing team’s fan base out of Ragsdale…..Find someone to update Wikipedia….They may want to print my numbers there….I have several articles linked to Wikipedia already…..

Billy C.Smith says:
July 19, 2012 at 10:55 am
The High Point Central vs High Point Andrews game has the highest attendance of any game in Guilford County every year usually close to 10,000 always more than Page vs Grimsley because when one team wins every year like Page it’s not much of a rival game anymore.

Andy Durham says:
July 19, 2012 at 11:57 am
Page at Grimsley beats Central-Andrews every time….Smith-Dudley is a real big one too, but nothiing in this state can match the crowds, the rivalry or the pagentry PAGE-GRIMSLEY……If it can, I’ve never seen or heard of it…..Year in-year out, it is happening in Greensboro at Jamieson Stadium….

Pirate Spectator says:
July 19, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Correct Andy…Usually the people who say things like that have never been to a Page – Grimsley game, nor do they know about the whole week events prior to the game…People think this rivalry is just a game, but it is way more than just a game…It is also about the events leading up to the game, and it is hard to keep the kids focused with all the events that are taking place…

No matter the records of the teams, this game is always a spirited affair…Best high school atmosphere that I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen them in Virginia, Florida and now here…The Page playoff games were fun this past year, but not all of the spectators there were Page fans…There were lots of other team fans and players there to watch, but Grimsley and Page has fans and past alumni…Fun game to be a part of…

Billy C.Smith says:
July 19, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Same way with Central-Andrews, you have 2 or 3 classes having class reunions alumni from 30 40 50 years always come to this game I don’t think Andy has ever been to a Central-Andrews game so he doesn’t know until he has been there.

Andy Durham says:
July 19, 2012 at 2:09 pm
I have been to Dudley-Smith now for 15 straight years and Central-Andrews falls right in behind Dudley-Smith when it comes to the rivalries, but nothing comes close to PAGE-GRIMSLEY…..Central and Andrews are now the first game of the year and to be playing that early, well, they must have other fish to fry…..

Roger Roger says:
July 19, 2012 at 8:14 pm
Nothing can top Butler vs. Mallard Creek. Best in the state and Charlotte’s Memorial Stadium is the best place to watch a football game. Page-Grimsley, Smith-Dudley, High Point Central-High Point Andrews, Richmond County-Scotland County, Asheboro-Eastern-Randolph, Parkland-Carver etc, don’t even come close.

Nothing can touch Butler-Mallard Creek at Memorial Stadium.

See you at the game or you won’t be watching football that night.

Just Sayin!!! says:
July 19, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Scotland Richmond is a lot bigger than Butler v Mallard Creek and so is Page v Grimsley. Butler v Mallard Creek have been playing for what?….. 1 year now? Hell Butler v Indy is bigger than Butler Mallard Creek……Just cause both schools have been good for 3 years now doesn’t mean the rivalry is bigger or better.

Here are a few really good ones in our State……

Scotland v Richmond
Concord v AL Brown
Page v Grimsley
HPC v Andrews
Dudley v Smith
East Forsyth v Glenn
Butler v Indy
NW Guilford v Northern Guilford (Western is the old one but this Northern one is getting pretty nasty)

Roger Roger says:
July 20, 2012 at 3:52 pm
Just wait till they turn on those Friday Night Lights, there is no comparison to Butler-Mallard Creek. Nobody else even comes close.

All of the others are playing for second place!!!!!!!!!!!

hahaha says:
July 20, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Roger Roger,

Yeah, thats what they said last year too, and we know how that turned out for them; however, I will give you that the Butler-Mallard Creek game will be a doozie…

10 thoughts on “Big dispute about the best high school football rivalry and the best place to see a game in our area and throughout the state”

  1. A.J. Simeon Stadium
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    A.J. Simeon Stadium
    Full name A.J. Simeon Stadium
    Location High Point, NC
    Owner Guilford County School System
    Capacity 10,000
    A.J. Simeon Stadium is a 10,000-seat multi-use stadium in High Point, North Carolina. It is the largest stadium in High Point and is the home of the High Point Central High School, T. Wingate Andrews High School football and soccer events. The stadium was also the home of the Carolina Dynamo professional soccer team of the USL Premier Development League from 1996 to 1999. Currently, the stadium is home to the Carolina Phoenix of the Independent Women’s Football League.
    Coordinates: 36.004335°N 80.030782°W

  3. AL Brown vs. Concord….Dubbed the “Battle for the Bell”, the two high schools face off for bragging rights and a coveted 1940s Southern Railway Bell, which was donated to promote sportsmanship in the series for the 1950 game. The Bell is painted in transom of the winner’s colors, a tribute to the textile heritage of Kannapolis and Concord. Played continuously since 1931, the oldest rivalry in N.C. regularly draws 11–14,000 fans and is preceded by a week of activities (both charitable and rivalry-oriented) at the two schools. In many years during the 1980s-1990s, the game – traditionally the season finale – also decided the South Piedmont Conference title. Concord and A.L Brown have both won two state titles in the past 20 years, and are among the state’s traditional football powers.
    Page vs. Grimsley would take second place. It is the greatest high school sports rivalry this city has known and regularly draws upward of 10,000 spectators regardless of records and the Pirates’ on-field dominance through the years.
    Page went undefeated in 27 consecutive regular-season meetings with Grimsley from 1972 through 1998, a span including two ties and marred by a stunning, three-point Grimsley victory in the 1987 playoffs.
    Four games have been decided by a single point. Three games ended in ties, including a 13-13 deadlock on a Friday the 13th.
    Twice they’ve met in the playoffs, with each team winning.
    Page leads the all-time series 38-11-3.
    There is your top 2, enough said.

    Vegas Mike

  4. There are a lot of ways to look at this, but one thing is for certain, the biggest crowd I have ever seen was in the early stages of the Smith-Dudley rival matchup when they were playing the game at N.C. A&T….Year one was right at 21,000 fans and year two witih Dudley-Smith at N.C. A&T was just over 19,000….Don’t know if anyone in the state can top that…The two teams Dudley and Smith, were both very competitive then and most of fans, unless you were there, have never seen any quite like that….

    Not the best rivalry in the state, but it has been a good one….A little different now that Smith-Dudley is now back on the high school campus, but the over all gate profit is probably better with the schools getting all of the proceeds and no dollars to the university….

    That was one heck of an event when it was at A&T…I used to have to get to A&T at 4:30 in the afternoon for that game….

    Still the best in my opinion is PAGE-Grimsley/Grimsley-PAGE….Concord-Kannapolis might be right there with for long-term tradition, as it appears that they go back further historically than do PAGE-Grimsley….I have not heard about the rivalry up at East Burke….

    I can see some real tradition building with NWG-Northern, if they can keep that going over the years….

    High Point Central-High Andrews seating 10,000 at Simeon Stadium…..I don’t see it unless they let them sit on the hills and those hills have been fenced in or fenced out in recent years as there has been no need for them due to smaller crowds….Coach Ken Helms would know for sure, he is the history man who knows North Carolina High School football…I you are going other places to get your history, you are coming up empty….Coach Ken Helms knows it and his son Wes, I think is, he was at Page last year and he knows it too….Contact Coach Ken Helms, if you can find him and he can tell you all about the history of NC HS Football….It is the history according to Helms….

    I like that Cummings-Williams matchup too….Much like the High Point meeting, but all of this one revolves around Burlington…..

    You would think that Thomasville would have picked up a chief rival over the years….With all of that history involving the Bulldogs….Maybe Thomasville-Lexingotn…..Thomasville-Salisbury….???

    How about Reidsville???? Maybe Reidsville-Rockingham County??? Reidsville has to have a key rival……Cummings, but Cummings already has Wiiliams…..

    Mnay more to look at and to talk about……

  5. I have to agree with you guys…..Here’s a few of my favorites

    AL Brown, Concord
    Page, Grimsley
    Scotland, Richmond
    Butler, Indy
    Andrew, HP Central
    Dudley, Smith
    NW Guilford, Northern Guilford

  6. I keep hearing Northern v NW Guilford. Yes its turning into a big time game with huge crowds but….The true NW Rival is Western Guilford. Lots of bad blood between these two schools!

    Andy,

    Any thoughts on the NW, Western Guilford Rivalry? How far does it date back? Some of the big name players and coaches from the past? what was the best football game between the two schools?

  7. Lots of history in the NWG-WG rivalry and there was a game few years back when WG played Northern in week one when NG had Keenan Allen maybe as junior and the WG-NG final was something like 42-38 or 42-36 in maybe OT and a week or two later, WG had to face NWG and that game went right down to wire and I’m pretty sure that NWG won that one too on maybe a two-point conversion play….

    Seems like the NWG fans are wanting to let the WG rivalry go and the Vikings want to pick up NG as their chief rival…..Where does that leave WG? I can remember a day when WG’s top rival was Ragsdale and before that it was Southern Guilford…..Hard to believe that WG’s top rival used to be Southern Guilford but it was even back when Southern was still Sumner……

    Long live WG-NWG and something tells me that Ryan Stell had some real big games against NWG back in his days as the WG QB…..I remember one key game where Stell and WG took down a highly favored Ragsdale and their top back, Toney Baker, one of the state’s all-time best RB’s……

    Will NWG and WG rivalry continue? Looks like it is up to NWG……

  9. SE vs Eastern Randolph use to be a good one. not anymore, I think its just hatred now. lol

  10. Eastern Guilford and SW Guilford could become a HUGE rivalry if they play each other anymore.

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