The Eaton Reds are far from strangers to the Highland Huskies. Separated by no more than five miles, Eaton High School and Highland High School provoke a certain familiarity between themselves. Rivals, siblings, and the battle for superiority come to mind when Highland and Eaton are mentioned in a conversation.
It’s a feeling of irritation and irrelevancy, but also a feeling of thrilling competition, not only between the athletes but between the students. On Feb. 2, 2024, those familiar feelings emerged again, but this time in the home of the Huskies. Eaton boys basketball played in Ault, where a fiery matchup ended with the Huskies on top scoring 75 to 63. A tough opponent, but a familiar one for the Reds. Last year the Reds beat the Huskies 79 to 74, and every year, those same feelings make an appearance when these rivals play.
This year as the rivalry continues, those familiar feelings and thrills left the court and flooded social media. In this generation, the popular sports blog and media site Barstool Sports has surfaced, and it has become a trend to “copycat” the company by creating an individualized barstool tailored to one’s high school. The account is unaffiliated with both Barstool Sports and the high school and is usually run by multiple people throughout the school. The account created is intended to promote school spirit. While the posts are usually successful in doing so, the lines of appropriateness and inappropriateness are crossed regularly.
Following the conclusion of the Highland game, the back-and-forth nature of the rivalry showed itself. The Instagram account, “new_hhs_barstool” posted a picture of Calvin, from the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes, portrayed as Highland, with his pants down, peeing on the ground, which was depicted as Eaton. The post manifested in the form of bad-mouthing, which is a technique present in most rivalries, but especially during the Eaton-Highland rivalry. Eaton’s own barstool soon responded with an Instagram story stating, “Congrats on winning a Super Bowl we didn’t know we were playing in.” The post was an ode to Eaton’s idea of their “irrelevant” opponents.
Eaton High School senior Kade Gentry said, “I don’t think it’s much of a rivalry between us, I think every time they play us it’s some huge game to them, but it’s just another game for us. It’s funny how big it is to them. I wouldn’t even give them the satisfaction of thinking they are our rivals; they are irrelevant.” Eaton’s rivalry against Highland has almost always only come to light during basketball and wrestling. During spring sports, the competitive gap displays itself as Eaton baseball beat Highland 15 to 2 last year.
Highland High School student Harper Nielsen (24) said, “I think it’s kinda funny because at the end of the day, it’s all in good fun and I think the rivalry itself is kinda strange considering the fact that Eaton and Highland only go against each other in like wrestling and basketball.”
For some students, the rivalry is intense when their school becomes the butt of the joke. Nielsen said, “I think some kids get genuinely heated over things like when Eaton makes fun of Highland but I just laugh at it.”
The Eaton-Highland rivalry is a rivalry to take notice of every year. Whether it’s the students or the athletes competing against each other, the rivalry takes many forms on and off the playing field. Students of both schools look forward to the thrill of competition on social media and the playing field. The rivalry is unique and it exemplifies school spirit and student competitiveness on every scale.
