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Westchester Is Home To Some Heated High School Sports Rivalries

HARRISON, N.Y. -- The matchups simply roll off the tongue. Rye vs. Harrison. Yorktown vs. Lakeland. Kennedy Catholic vs. Brewster.

The defending New York state champion Yorktown boys lacrosse team plays archrival Lakeland/Panas Cup in the Murphy Cup May 2 at Yorktown's Charlie Murphy Field.

The defending New York state champion Yorktown boys lacrosse team plays archrival Lakeland/Panas Cup in the Murphy Cup May 2 at Yorktown's Charlie Murphy Field.

Photo Credit: Skip Pearlman
Rye vs. Harrison football is simply known as "The Game."

Rye vs. Harrison football is simply known as "The Game."

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue

Some of the most storied high school sports rivalries regularly Westchester.

The annual Harrison vs. Rye football matchup is simply known as "The Game" and has been played 84 times. Crowds regularly reach 10,000 for the game and the winning team jumps into a brook to celebrate.

Games have had memorable finishes, including a "Hail Mary" pass in 1993 to give Harrison the upset win and Rye finished off Harrison in 2010 with a long drive to win 19-18.

In 2014, Rye defeated Harrison 24-13.

Harrison leads the series 42-39-3.

In Yorktown, the annual Yorktown vs. Lakeland/Panas  lacrosse and Yorktown vs. Lakeland crosstown baseball games are circled on the calendar. In lacrosse, the two schools play for the Murphy Cup and in lacrosse, they meet for the Sorrentino Cup.

"Any game is huge when it comes to Lakeland and Yorktown," Yorktown Athletic Director Fio Nardone said.  "The Murphy Cup is about as good as it gets." 

Nardone said players raise their intensity when they face Lakeland.

"The stakes are higher," Nardone said. "I'm sure Lakeland feels the same way. Both teams want to win."

As an athletic director, Nardone said he looks for a tough competitive game with good sportsmanship on both sides.

"I let the competition play itself out," Nardone said. "I like when it's a closely contested game and a Yorktown player comes through with a big play. It's a good positive moment for the players. Yorktown-Lakeland is a rivalry that will always be in place and never go away."

The Brewster vs. Kennedy Catholic rivalry seems to have faded, Brewster Athletic Director Dean Berardo said, since Kennedy Catholic moved to a different league.

"The opportunities are not as plentiful as they used to be," Berardo said. "The rivalries vary by sport."

Berardo said football games against Somers are a big deal and he's hoping with games scheduled against Horace Greeley, Fox Lane, Yorktown and John Jay-Cross River, rivalries get re-established.

"It's one ofI those things that would be great to get back to," Berardo said. "The leagues are simply not what they used to be with the new alignment."

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