FORT SMITH (KFSM)- One of the biggest games in local high school football happened in Fort Smith Friday night (Nov. 7).
The rivalry between the Southside Rebels and the Northside Grizzlies is a tradition dating back decades.
Fort Smith Schools Athletic Director Jim Rowland said he expects 9,000 people to attend the highly-anticipated match up.
“The atmosphere is just electric,” said Southside High School band director Sean Carrier.
There is a lot of history behind the rivalry.
School officials said Fort Smith High School was the original high school in the city, until Southside High School was completed in 1962.
“It is special because the people you know the people. You go to church with them,” Carrier said. “They are people you have grown up with and all of a sudden you are put up against them.”
But the teams and their fans still have one thing in common: they love football.
“The best thing about all of it is that that every single group here does well,” Rowland said.