DEFIANCE, Ohio — High school football is an American tradition. So what better way to kick off the season than with one of Ohio's oldest rivalries: Defiance versus Napoleon?
Local city officials and community members alike stress the rivalry is more than just a football game
"Cleveland-Pittsburgh. Michigan-Ohio State. You know, this is our rivalry," Defiance Mayor Mike McCann said.
The crowd, the cheers and the action all returned to Defiance for the annual River Rock Rivalry to kick off the football season.
"It's a rivalry game," Napoleon parent Chad Moll said. "As far as the team skill, their record the rest of the year, sometimes that goes out the window and it's all about this game."
The big game has always been played at the beginning of the season. But last year, the pandemic pushed it to the end. Now the student section is back and both teams are once again seeking bragging rights.
"It's very important," Defiance High School and Bulldogs football alumnus Robert Ramsey said. "It was that way when I played in the mid 70s and still is the same."
Fans say the rivalry, and high school football in general, unites people in a way few things can. After a year of pandemic restrictions and being apart, this marks not just the return of football, but also the return of community.
"You either have a kid on the team or the band, you have a grandchild, a neighbor. It's part of our community," McCann said.
Moll says all of his children have played on the gridiron and so did he. High school football brings everyone together.
"Trying to get back to normal as much as we can," he said. "People that need to take precautions, take the precautions you feel you need to take. But get back in the community and let's try to get back to normal here."
Last year, attendance was limited to just family. Most stadiums were pretty empty. So the game was a much-needed return to normal in a year overshadowed by uncertainty.