A sea of orange and blue surrounded both sides of the football field at Columbus North High School as about 7,000 fans gathered to see two crosstown rivals battle for bragging rights.
Hundreds of students from North’s Bull Dog Pound student section were decked out from head to toe in patriotic colors as part of their theme, “Bull Dog Nation.”
Trey Sams, a senior at North, was among an estimated 400 students who gathered to cheer on the Bull Dogs and said the football game was something everyone had been looking forward to all week.
Two fellow classmates also came wearing red, white and blue tutus they created, while others donned Americana apparel.
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“It’s a great event for everybody to come out to,” Sams said, wearing an American flag draped around his back.
Patrick McKinney, a board member with the North Athletic Booster Club, was also enjoying his seventh year attending the cross-town rivalry game between North and East, selling pop and other items to visitors.
“It’s friendly, but when they’re on the field it’s competitive,” said McKinney, whose two daughters, Sophie and Ava, attend North.
Supporters of Columbus East also made their presence known with orange shirts and the Fire Pit, East’s student section, where they also came with a theme of their own, “Frat,” that featured students wearing long-sleeved, polo-style dress shirts.
Drew Johnson, a senior and one of the co-leaders of the Fire Pit, said he was enjoying the moment and the opportunity to witness two Columbus football teams face off against one another in his final year at East.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” he said.
The cross-town rivalry game has become an annual tradition for Bull Dogs supporter Robert Grider, whose entire family has attended North.
The 1981 graduate said he has gone to the game for the last seven years with his wife Anita and their two daughters, Paige, who now attends Ball State University, and Lauren, a North sophomore who is on the cheerleading squad.
Robert Grider painted a caricature of an old-school Donald Duck carrying a football in his driveway as a way to show his support for the team, with the words “Go North” in blue and white colors.
He decided on the idea of caricature art after one of his neighbors displayed a banner with their child’s name on it outside their home in the past, he said.
“It was just a friendly thing going on,” Robert Grider said.
He has created different designs for the past five years in advance of the game. He added that he enjoys coming to the annual football game with his family due to the excitement and atmosphere that comes with it.
“I hope North wins,” he said in advance of the game.
A group of about 40 supporters from the Columbus East Quarterback Club also gathered outside the stadium, including Cathy Wichman, the mother of East football safety/wide receiver Jonah Wichman.
Cathy Wichman said parents such as herself have been blessed by the opportunity to interact with other parents from North. Still, she noted that while two crosstown teams were playing, the overall outcome didn’t necessarily matter.
She described those in the club as being family, adding that everyone wants to see the students be successful.
“There’s rivalry on the field, but when that’s over, they’re all friends again,” she said.
And as far as the team that would emerge as the winner, she predicted that would come down to the last few plays of the game as she stood outside enjoying the camaraderie with fellow club members.
“Rivalries are won by who’s the most passionate, not who’s the most talented,” Wichman said.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”By the numbers” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
7,000: Estimated number of people in attendance
400: Estimated number Columbus North student’s in the school’s student section
250: Estimated number of Columbus East students in the school’s student section
48: Number of times East and North football teams have played against each other
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