A House Divided: Inside Gainesville-Eastside Rivalry

A half hour before the 7 p.m. kickoff at Citizens Field on Friday, the Gainesville and Eastside high school administrative staff met with police and school district officials to discuss security for the rivalry game between the Hurricanes and the Rams.

The plan included using fences to separate GHS and Eastside fans into their own sections on each sideline. 

“Kids want to argue, they want to fight, conflicts occur,” said Cody Sheppard, an Eastside assistant principal. “Our job is to make sure everybody’s safe, they have a good time and we make Friday night lights amazing.”

Longtime city rivals, the Gainesville Hurricanes and the Eastside Rams both play their home football games at Citizens Field. That means the rivalry game is played in the same space.

“This game separates households, separates families, separates the city,” Sheppard said. He compared the matchup to college football’s Florida-Florida State rivalry.

“It’s just electric,” Gainesville assistant principal LaTorria Mosely Johnson said.  “It’s very intense.”

Johnson is a GHS alumna, having graduated in 2006. Gainesville-raised, she has first-hand experience of how this rivalry can divide a household.

“I got a lot of family members who went to Eastside, and I kind of broke away from the mold and said ‘I’m going to Gainesville High School,’” Johnson said. “We got a couple cousins who went there before me. But a lot of my family, especially from east Gainesville, went to Eastside.”

Janet Williams, who graduated from Eastside in 1978, faces a similar situation with her family.

“One of my kids played with GHS for a couple of years, and then put back over to Eastside,” Williams said. “But my cousins all went to Gainesville High School. […] Tonight, they’re going to be here, but they’re cheering for GHS. And my kids are here, we’re cheering for Eastside.”

Both the Eastside and Gainesville pep bands play chants at the same time during the game, something Williams calls the “Battle of the Bands.” 

There can also be a lot of “friendly trash talk” according to Williams, because  the fans “pretty much know each other from being in the city together.”

That trash talk was present Friday night, with both sections chirping at one another throughout the game.

Not every fan thinks the atmosphere is different, however.

“It’s like going to any game,” Hurricanes fan Charles Riviere said. “These kids are just kids. […] But you bring more officers and officials in there, then you create an environment that more people are more tense and saying, ‘Wow, something’s gonna happen.’ There’s no need for all that, in my opinion.”

Gainesville athletic director Phillip Knight said the preparation came down to wanting to “know where everyone is in case something happens.”

“There’s probably twice as many people here as we normally have if it’s not a city game,” Knight said. “There’s a great atmosphere for both schools, and these kids went to middle school and elementary school together. We get here and get to compete against each other, and then they’re back to friends next week.”

Though remaining friends, GHS fans will get bragging rights against Eastside fans after the 24-10 win broke a four-game losing streak against the Rams.

Category: Eastside High School, Gainesville High School, High School Sports