Black and Blue Woodbury's High Schools
Black on one side. Blue on the other. Regardless of whose colors they were wearing, local residents came together Friday night at the new East Ridge High School for the first ever meeting between the Raptors and Woodbury Royals football teams.
Jim Arble said he sold out of the 1,000 game programs for the East Ridge-Woodbury matchup more than a half hour before kickoff Friday. Staff photo by Hank Long
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- Regardless of whose colors they were wearing, local residents came together Friday night at the new East Ridge High School for the first ever meeting between the Raptors and Woodbury Royals football teams.
The Raptors End Zone Club had nearly sold out all their black "A tradition begins..." t-shirts before the 7 p.m. kick off, said Dan Stout, vice president of the team's booster club.
On the visitors side, Woodbury fans were clad in blue with banners that read "A tradition continues."
Many WHS students upped the ante by sporting "Roast the Raptors" t-shirts they purchased from the local Woodbury Sports Foundation. But one of the Royals faithful, sophomore Jacky Bandholz, said the screen printed ribbing of their new rival school was all in good fun.
"We have friends over there in the East Ridge stands," Bandholz said. "On the field it will be an intense rivalry, but once the game is over the colors we're wearing now won't matter as much."
Liz Tracy's allegiances were split right down the middle of her hooded sweatshirt Friday. A mother of a senior at Woodbury and a sophomore at East Ridge, Tracy decided to put her sewing skills to the test to make a hybrid "Woodridge" sweatshirt to show her daughters she supports both of their schools.
"I'd been thinking about it for a few weeks and decided it was the fair thing to do," Tracy said of the sewing project, which she wore to the football game.