Rivalry City:Memphis High School Football

In SEC country, there is no bigger hotbed of talent than in Memphis, TN. Filled to the rim with athletic, quick kids from a lot of good programs, Memphis continues to send star football players to the best football league in the country. Going into fall camp, there is not one SEC school that does not have a player who calls Memphis home on it. In fact, half of the teams have more than five Memphis products on it.

Having said that, the football talent in Memphis is a product of one of the most intense areas of high school competition in the country. No disrespect to the teams in Dallas, Los Angeles, and the heart of Ohio, but it could be said that no where in the country is there such an abundance of quality programs who prepare young men to play on a Division 1 level like the Memphis metropolitan area does.

In the midst of these great, storied programs and the championships that they have won are three rivalries that are as intense as a Big Ten matchup and as fun to watch as any Saturday afternoon in the SEC. One rivalry pits the top inner city schools against each other. The second rivalry is an annual tangle between the staunch suburban championship school and its private counterpart. And lastly, that same suburban public champion against its backyard rival is the top rivalry in the area.

When you look at rivalries there are a couple of elements that make a rivalry so rich. One is tradition. The greatest competitions are based on a respected tradition of excellence and success. Additionally, both parties must have an intimate knowledge of each other. True rivalries usually are born out of a hated, respect for the other party. Fan support is also an indicator of a big rivalry game. When schools cancel classes to have pep rallys and parents carpool and tailgate before a game the scent of rivalry is in the air. And then lastly, no rivalry can be experienced when blowouts occur on a continual basis. In fact, it could be said in the most intense rivalries that if you lose every game but your rivalry game the season has been a good one. Does that sound crazy? Not if you know football in Memphis.

Now on to the rivalries:

The classic rivalry in Memphis pits two inner-city programs whose students love to hate each other. Their coaches are both well respected and the programs annually compete for region titles. What makes the Melrose High School versus Whitehaven High School rivalry so great is it is a match between programs and philosophies. For five straight years at the turn of the century, Melrose went to the state championship game. Whitehaven on the other hand, found itself the spoiler, often being the lone loss on Melrose's otherwise unblemished football resume. In this game you saw a contrast in styles that you could not see anywhere else. Whitehaven High is a throwback school with a vaunted rushing attack straight out of the hallowed halls of the 70s. Melrose on the other hand has a high octane attack, based completely on the pass. Imagine watching a game where one team runs the ball fifty times while the other team throws the ball around fifty teams. That is the Melrose versus Whitehaven rivalry game.

In the suburbs there is always this chasm between public and private school kids. It is not that they do not like each other. It is just some unwritten law that says that they cannot get along. Or maybe that is just the experience when Germantown High School and Christian Brothers High School get on the field against each other. Germantown is a perennial public school state championship contender in the toughest class in the state. While Christian Brothers fights for the same honors in the private school division. These football players are neighbors and church members but when they strap on their helmets the third Friday night of September it is a no-holds barred battle to see who will raise their flag on the field that night. Before 1995, this game had region implications but when Tennessee classified private schools to their own division this regular season matchup became the battle of battles.

The premiere game of the year happens as the fall colors are blooming and the winter cool is setting in. The last Friday night of every October, Germantown High School and Houston High School wage war for bragging rights of Memphis' largest suburb, Germantown, TN. Fifteen years ago there was no Houston High School. Because of overcrowding at Germantown, the school board siphoned off a segment of the city and started Houston High School and it has been a battle for bragging rights ever since. Germantown is the most storied program in the Memphis area while Houston has fought to build its credibility as the one program able to unseat the proud Red Devils as top football program in the area.

Every weekend this fall, football will be played on fields around this country. Some games will be more intense than others. But nowhere will you find a more dynamic, and comprehensive brand of football than what you will see in Memphis and the suburbs around it. Where else but in Memphis will parents tailgate for three hours before a game? Where else but in Memphis will the suburb stores shut down and place their respective high school flags out in support of their home team. It is Memphis. And there is no rivalry for it.