The Berea-Travelers Rest football game is something every student from both schools looks forward to. Sophomore Evans Capps states, “As a Devildog, my experience of the atmosphere is awesome.” First off, the rivalry is not just under the Friday night lights but throughout social media for weeks. Senior Grayson Hightower says, “The hype and the anticipation never ends. It starts on social media and carries out onto the field, and it brings a lot more excitement to the game.”

Hightower also reports that “the rivalry between Travelers Rest and the Bulldogs is the most passionate rivalry in the district, from fathers inspiring their sons by sharing old stories of battling for the Dog Bowl with their brothers, to little league buddies finding themselves competing against each other.” It is clear that from generation to generation both teams have the same goal: to be able to brag and hold up that capital “L” towards the other Dogs.

On Friday, August 26, 2016, Berea and TR met for yet another throw down at the Dean “Chico” Bolin stadium. The Devildogs fought a good fight and held a healthy lead for the majority of the game, but the Bulldogs came back within the fourth quarter and stole the win right out from under TR. The humidity definitely played a huge role in the game that night, causing a few players from both teams to have extreme cramps. Despite the tough loss, the Travelers Rest student section kept their school spirit strong throughout, whereas the Berea student section seemed to be lacking people, which is unusual at a Berea-TR game.

The rivalry does not end with football; it continues into TR’s baseball, soccer, and especially basketball. With the competitiveness between two schools only a few miles apart from one another, both communities are close in every aspect. And as the years go by, the main thing that matters are those bonds. We’ll just have to see which Dogs come out on top with the Dog Bowl.