There’s nothing like a good old fashion rivalry to make football come alive under those Friday night lights. The Crown Point Bulldogs took on the neighboring Lake Central Indians on football season’s first bitterly cold night.
For seemingly once in these past few weeks, the main focus of the night wasn’t lightning, but the thunderous rivalry between the two teams. Students and fans showed up in droves to root passionately for their respective teams as they played neck and neck for most of the game. By the time the second quarter was finished the score was tied 13-13 and the contention to be the winning team reached an ultimate high.
The best example of a rivalry is through its fans - and the student sections for both high schools made it loud and clear about how true that statement is. Olivia Pillar, a senior at Crown Point High School, said that the riff between Crown Point and Lake Central has been going on for years.
“It really does feel like it has been going on for ages. Even back when my sister was here at CPHS, Lake Central used to dress up to mock us, its been a big thing every year.”
Pillar also explained that no matter how hard LCHS tried to intimidate them, their school showed their pride in numbers, “I think we’ve had a bigger student section than the whole DAC and everyone around. We’ve blown Lake Central out of the park. Even our principal said that this is the biggest student section that he’s seen in a very long time.”
Lake Central’s students, though, didn’t let that deter them. Andy Tellas, a senior from Lake Central High School, said that even though they might be a smaller crowd their spirit was just as high. “Tonight’s rivalry is probably the best that I’ve ever been a part of. There’s a lot of hatred between the two teams. Two years ago [Crown Point] trashed our locker room and pool after they beat us. So there's a really good motivation to come out and try to kick their butts.”
Pillar went on to say that their cheering wasn’t mainly for Crown Point, but to inspire their team, “We’ve tried to be really loud tonight, not just to show off our student section, but to motivate our team to give them the drive to beat Crown Point.”
In the end Lake Central’s cheering seemingly worked. The Indians went on to make it 27-13 in the fourth quarter, securing them a win over the Bulldogs.