After coming off a State Championship title last year against crosstown rival Wayne Valley, it came time to play them again in the regular season, on October 28th, at Wayne Hills Stadium. Hills was confident and preparing all week, getting ready to defeat Wayne Valley once again. But after the disrespect that occurred Thursday night, Hills was even more fired up than ever, when the team found out that their opponents had painted their rock that has been a proud, “good luck”, tradition of Wayne Hills Football for many years. The team was angered and ready to go right into the game heated.

When asked about his thoughts on the vandalism of the rock, Senior Captain Jason Modak, said “Personally, as captain, I used it to really motivate the team and myself.” With Modak being a major component of the game and a huge leader for Hills Football, his view towards the rock really helped to energize his teammates and push them even more. After motivating the team, we asked Modak about his thoughts before going into the game, and he responded saying his mission was to “start quick and not let them win!” Everybody who knows the two teams knows how different a Hills against Valley game is compared to every other regular season game, but it seems a little different for the football team. “It’s different for Hills personally, we usually have to make a major comeback, I can’t remember a time we were ever up at the half like we were this game, to then go on and win 31-0″ responded Modak. With this game being Modak’s last game against Valley, we asked him how he felt about never playing in this rivalry again, and he responded with, “I do feel relieved not having to deal with the outside drama anymore, but I’m going to miss beating them every year!”

With this game being so big, with a different outcome than most Hills against Valley game, usually having to comeback to win with a close score, we decided to ask Coach Peischl some of his thoughts on the players and game itself. We asked him who the most valuable player to the team was and he responded, “No one person dominated the game, everybody did their part exceptionally well!” But when asked his opinion on the Valley opponents, and which individual player was their biggest competitor, Peischl did have a very strong, straight forward answer. “I would say Nick Trani, offensively he’s moved everywhere, defensively he does everything, he’s a big problem.”

We then asked Junior Jaaron Hayek “Not knowing most of the valley kids, after coming here freshman year, how do you deal with all their hate towards you when they don’t even know you?” He promptly responded, “I really try to block out all the haters and focus on the game and my role as the quarterback.”

We also had a chance to talk with Junior Jojo Mongelli, who recently came back from a torn ACL. We asked him what it was like coming back from such a significant injury for a big rivalry game, which he responded to saying, “I came back confident and excited to play after such a long recovery of having to sit back and watch most of the season.” Knowing Jojo Mongelli, he is friends with most of his Valley opponents, we then asked him how he felt about a question that is often asked, “Whether or not the two teams should continue to play, or if the tension is just too much for young kids who were once teammates?” Mongelli said, “I like playing against them because of it’s big rivalry, it is more intense and exciting.”

All in all, despite all the controversy, Hills pulled out a great win against Wayne Valley, finishing off with a score of 31-0. These games may be a huge rivalry, but it’s the tension every year that brings the fans and makes these Hills against Valley games some of the most memorable of them all.