As Robert Wells once said, “There are no enemies here. There’s just good, old-fashioned rivalry.”
This sentiment echoes true in Naperville every October when on two separate Friday nights Central takes on North and Neuqua takes on Waubonsie under the bright lights of NCC’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in the annual crosstown classic high school football games.
For more than 10 years, these games have brought the community together to enjoy high school football at its very best: the athleticism and competitiveness of the players, the high-flying stunts of the cheerleaders, the show-stopping moves of the dance teams, the stirring music and performance of the marching bands and the unending enthusiasm and support of the student spirit sections. Fans young and old join together to help their team earn bragging rights for the next year.
And while the community gets to enjoy the spectacle of the game, what they don’t often get to see is the hours of practice, the pep-rallies and coach’s speeches that are all part of the tradition of high school sports.
For the last seven years, NCTV17 has brought Naperville the highlights and results of these classic games, but this year, led by Alex Symonds, Host and Producer of Naperville Sports Weekly, we went behind the scenes and beyond the highlights to capture the preparations each of the four schools went through as they got ready for their big moment on the college stage in an all-access sports documentary, “We Are Rivals.”
While the scores of each game are already history, you can relive the excitement of these two classic high school football games when NCTV17 premieres “We Are Rivals” at 8PM on Fri., Jan. 17 at Wentz Hall.
We invite you to grab your fellow Huskies, Redhawks, Warriors or Wildcats and join us for a fun night out to benefit your local TV station. Tailgate tickets are $50 and include cocktails and hors d’oeuvres starting at 6PM.
General Admission tickets for the show are $15. Tickets can be purchased through the Wentz Box Office, on-line at: http://tickets.noctrl.edu/ or by phone (630) 637-SHOW (7469). Put on your school colors and join us for a fun night of rivalry!
Visit NCTV17.com for more information and the complete weekly schedule.
