Heated Rivalry
DeSales. Those seven letters fill the hearts of every CAL student with fiery emotions. The mere sound of the word draws the attention of everyone here at our school. There is nothing that arouses such rivalry in Centurions than the colors of orange and brown. Every year we go to war with them, on and off the field. We fight for bragging rights as the superior team. Our entire season in sports revolves around the outcome of a single game of football.
Roughly twenty miles southwest of our beloved Christian Academy of Louisville is where our fellow 2A high school resides. There are several other schools between here and there, so you may ask, why DeSales? Why do we Centurions find such angst with these “Colts”? Well to begin, the reason that many of us already know all too well is that they have been the unbreakable wall that we cannot get past in the playoffs. For the past three years, we have beaten them in the regular season by a good margin. Every year, we went on only to lose to them in the playoffs, when it really mattered. Every year, we thought it was our year to bring the “ship” home and be declared state champions, but DeSales had other plans for the outcome of our season. On and off the field, we battle back and forth over who is the better team and the better school. Where most rivalries between schools start the week of their game, our rivalry starts weeks ahead of time. Senior football player, Howard E., had this to say about our football team: “We prepare weeks ahead of time and all of our focus is on them. Everyday, we work as hard as we can so that when it comes game time, we’re ready to go home with the win.”
It’s 2015, and the recurring theme of victory against DeSales in the regular season has presented itself again. Now, the question remains. Can this year be different? Will this be the year to rise above and conquer the competition? Our student section stands strong behind our team. They are as much a part of this rivalry as the football players are. Senior Blake C., also known as “The Centurion” had this to say, “This is our time, this is the year that we give DeSales what they deserve.” We are all ready to break this recurring theme of bad luck. Our players have worked harder than ever, and their talent heavily outweighs the opposition. They are hungry for a state ring and to kick DeSales off the seat of victory that they continue to sit on. Our students are more hyped than ever. They are ready to scream and cheer for our team until the game clock hits zero. The only thing left now is for us to go and take what is rightfully ours.
Photo by Derrick Dixon Photography
