By JMC 597 students
Murray State University
It’s more than just numbers on a scoreboard.
It’s bragging rights for a year.
It’s memories. It’s community. It’s a big-time high school game played under the lights at a college stadium.
When Murray High and Calloway County meet, an ordinary Friday night football game becomes more than a game. It becomes a community event where parents may root for both teams because they have one child attending one school and one child attending the other. Or one parent graduated from Murray and the other from Calloway.
But still, the rivalry remains.
Friendly rivalry
Missy Dawson’s shirt summed up the feelings perfectly for some fans: #Frenemies painted in scripted letters over a circle half filled with black and gold for the Murray Tigers and red and Carolina blue for the Calloway County Lakers.
One of Dawson’s daughters wore a black and gold cheerleading uniform while the other wore cropped jeans with a Calloway jersey.
“There’s been a lot of talk in our household this week about who was going to win and who was going to lose and what colors we were going to wear,” Dawson said. “But all in all, we all live in Murray, and it’s our hometown. We’re all family at the end of the day.”
The rivalry dates back 40 years. According to posts in Murray Kentucky Memories Facebook group, Calloway started football in the late 1970s. Calloway consolidated six smaller schools in the county to form the district in 1960.
Carl and Joy Doron both attended Calloway in the 1970s and early 1980s, but on Friday night, they sat on the Murray side to watch their daughter, Cassa, cheer for the Tigers. Their son, Clay, played in the Tiger Band. Both remember when the rivalry was more intense with insults hurled on both sides. Murray fans called Calloway fans “Swamp Rats” while the Calloway fans called the Murray side “Cream Eaters,” a reference to the old practice of cruising Dairy Queen and downtown on Friday nights.
“Now you’re just as likely to see Murray and Calloway people out together after the game,” Carl Doron said. “In a group of 10 or 12 of them, half of them could be Murray High or Calloway, and that didn’t happen in 1976 or 1980. They were pretty segregated.”
Murray High Assistant Coach Stephen Connor graduated from Calloway County in 1989 and coached for the Lakers.
“I still don’t want to lose,” Connor said. “I do still bleed a little bit of Laker colors, especially when they’re playing somebody else. But it doesn’t matter when I’m here or over there, I don’t want to lose. I do whatever I can to prepare my kids to win.”
Rivalry Outgrows Schools
The games were played at Murray’s Ty Holland Field and Calloway County’s Jack Rose Stadium when Connor was in school.
The schools now take turns hosting the game and the concession stands at Roy Stewart Stadium.
“We used to have our games at the high school at Ty Holland,” said Teresa Speed, Murray High principal. “But our crowds grew and our parking shrank and we were very fortunate that my athletic director contacted Murray State and they said yes, they’d be glad to let us host here so every other year we swap who the home team is and who’s game it is and we just enjoy the atmosphere.”
Rivalry Builds Community Spirit
Besides the athletic competition, both bands host a friendly competition to raise money for their programs. Dubbed the “Backyard Brawl,” the fundraiser allows people to simply place spare change in buckets at area restaurants or send donations directly to the schools. The Murray High Tiger Band won for the third consecutive year.
Murray High teacher Laurie Edminister came to Murray in 2000 when her husband, Warren, started teaching at Murray State.
She believes the Crosstown Classic is more than just another regular season football game but a joining of the residents and fans in the city of Murray.
“Well it brings out everyone in the community,” Edminster said. “So it’s a great community building activity and it’s a healthy rivalry. We go to church together. We work together. We just live in the same community so I think the community spirit is exciting.”
The fans and the players are not the only people that add to the special rivalry, but the radio commentators must provide the fans not at the game with the action.
Jeremy Bell, Murray High football radio commentator, has been involved in this neighboring schools clash for nearly 20 years and he believes it’s the “greatest rivalry” in the state.
“This is a great game,” Bell said. “It gives both these schools you know a lot of confidence going into the basketball season. It’s bragging rights but such great history involved in these games. It’s nice when you can come here, when you can play it at Murray State University and kind of showcase the university as well.”