One unheralded Catawba County HS football rivalry is among the best in North Carolina
OK, high school football fans, it’s time for a test. The category is Prep Football Rivalries. It’s a multiple-choice question.
Which one of the following statements about a longtime area high school rivalry is NOT true?
1. It took 28 years for one of the teams to register a victory in this rivalry.
2. One of the meetings between these two teams was decided by a drop kick.
3. One of the best-known pranks between the two schools never even happened — at least, not in the way many people thought.
4. One year, the winning team left the scoreboard running all weekend, so celebrating fans could pose for pictures under the final score.
5. The athletics director of one school is the brother-in-law of the AD at the other school, and there’s an ample supply of trash talking at family gatherings.
Followers of Maiden and Bandys high schools, in the southeast corner of Catawba County, about 45 miles northwest of Charlotte, know this is a trick question.
All of the answers in this quiz are true.
Some of the state’s rivalries might be better-known (we’re looking at you, Concord-A.L. Brown, Shelby-Crest, and Richmond Senior-Scotland County), but the 69 previous meetings between Maiden and Bandys have produced more color and memories than you might think.
The teams meet for the 70th time Friday at 7:30 p.m. This year, the game will be at Bandys High. That’s the place where the scoreboard was left running for a weekend.
Natural rivals … or maybe not
Maiden and Bandys are neighboring schools, and at one time, a sizable chunk of their student bodies both attended Tuttle Middle School, a kickoff’s length west of N.C. 16.
“For a number of years, the kids were in school together,” said Christy Davis, a retired Duke Energy employee now in his 55th year as a member of the sidelines chain crew at Maiden High.
Tuttle Middle School athletic teams were a Catawba County behemoth.
“One year, we lost a game in girls’ softball, and we didn’t lose a game or match in any other sport,” said Eric McCombs, who played at Bandys in the late 1970s and is now the school’s assistant athletics director. “Those Tuttle Middle School teams were amazing.”
After eighth grade, half of the students would move on to Maiden, and the others to Bandys.
“So they were friends, but they also were rivals,” Maiden athletics director Caine Houser said.
About 15 years ago, Catawba County built new middle schools, and the feeder arrangement changed. Now, there’s not a lot in common between the schools — except for the rivalry.
Maiden, billed as the “Biggest Little Football Town in the World,” has a population of 3,400 with a distinct small-town feel. Driving into downtown Maiden, you’ll see “Go Big Blue” signs on front lawns and in front of businesses.
A few years ago, the New York Times visited Maiden for a story about high school football.
In the lobby of the school, there’s a framed copy of the article, with a photo of the team at practice. Standing about 25 feet to the right of the huddled team is one of Maiden head coach Will Byrne’s young sons.
“I really love that photo,” Byrnes says.
In Bandys, there is no “downtown.” In fact, there is no town named Bandys. The school is in a rural area that — given its proximity to Lake Norman — is rapidly giving way to subdivisions and large homes.
“Sometimes I wish we had a downtown,” Bandys athletics director Brandon Harbison said. “Our area is changing. People are moving here from California, New York, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas. They want to live near Lake Norman, and they see that our test scores are high, and they move here.”
When Maiden wins
Maiden has a 52-14-3 record against Bandys. The Blue Devils have won 10 of the past 12 meetings.
And it took almost three decades into the rivalry before Bandys won.
The Trojans nearly broke through in 1961, tying 0-0. Bandys appeared headed to another scoreless tie in 1962, but that’s where the rivalry’s strange history added a chapter.
“The late Jackie Moore drop-kicked a field goal near the end of the game, and we (Maiden) won 3-0,” Davis said. “I don’t think some of the players even knew what was happening. The drop-kick was something from an earlier time.”
A big reason for Maiden’s domination was the late Tom Brown, the Blue Devils’ legendary coach. He had 330 victories in 35 seasons at the school, and the success continued when his son, Brian, replaced him.
“Coach Brown didn’t like to lose that game,” Davis said.
Brian Brown, who is now also retired from coaching, said his father gave off an image of being all business.
“But the truth is — and I said this at his funeral — that he was really a guy who loved being a grandfather,” Brown said.
“He was a grandfather who would cheat at Parcheesi to beat his grandkids,” he added with a laugh.
Byrne, the Blue Devils’ current head coach, said his players “know the history about this game. They know it’s a big deal.”
When Bandys wins
The Trojans’ first victory in the series came in 1981. They beat Maiden, 9-6, on their home field, with Scott Wesson kicking three field goals. The next victory came five years later, again by a 9-6 score on a field goal.
“I still have a T-shirt from that 1986 game,” said Carol Parker, a Bandys alum who is now the school’s cheerleading coach. “The shirt said, ‘We Beat Maiden,’ and we all wore them.”
“Lots of people came by and took pictures of themselves at the scoreboard,” McCombs, the assistant athletic director, said.
Harbison added, “You know, I think we could finish 1-9, and if the victory was over Maiden, people would say we had a great season.”
You need a scorecard
As might be expected for two schools so geographically close, the rivalry cuts across family lines.
Houser’s wife, Heather, is Harbison’s sister.
“That makes for some trash-talking at family gatherings,” Houser said.
“But it always stays good-natured,” added Harbison, who despite graduating from Maiden, says he “bleeds Bandys green.”
Brian Brown once was an assistant coach at Bandys and coached against his father for a few years in the big game. Justin Brittain is Maiden’s boys’ basketball coach. His wife Nicki coaches girls’ basketball at Bandys.
“One thing that people don’t realize is how often these two schools have rallied together,” Houser said. “We’ve done things together to raise money for cancer victims and others in need.”
Bandys’ Harbison noted, “When we had a staff member diagnosed with cancer, the Maiden folks got together with us and helped.”
As with any rivalry, there are always pranks, like painting the school’s spirit rock.
“One year, someone delivered a bouquet of black roses here before the game,” Houser recalled.
In 2019 the rivalry was in the headlines when someone vandalized cabins at a church campground near the two schools. Initial suspicion focused on fans of the schools, but law enforcement later said it was not related to the rivalry game.
“I think the two schools have done a nice job of keeping things under control,” Houser said. “Don’t get me wrong … it’s intense. But at the end of the day, we’re neighbors, and often members of the same families.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
