For decades, siblings, parents, cousins, best friends and significant others have found themselves on opposite sides of the Old Rivalry, and RedEye decided to highlight three examples.
Boyfriend & Girlfriend
Marisa Blakey is currently a junior at Manual and Dallas Douglas is a sophomore at Male.
The couple meet at a very young age in kindergarten, but became friends in middle school and didn’t start dating until Blakey started Manual in the fall of 2014.
Despite the rivalry between their schools, Dallas and Blakey didn’t want to keep their relationship under wraps.
“I haven’t ever tried to keep it a secret,” Dallas said. “If anybody asked me if I were going out with her, I would tell them that I am.”
Marisa and her family were very familiar with the Old Rivalry since she knew many people from both schools.
“My parents didn’t have a problem with the rival schools just because my brother goes there and I have a lot of family that went to Male even though my mom went to Manual,” said Blakey.
The couple both agreed that the spirit weeks going on at each school will not affect their relationship and that everything will be normal between them no matter who wins the game on Friday.
Brother and Sister:
Tejah Moore graduated from the HSU magnet at Manual last spring and her younger brother Tyren started school at Male this fall.
Manual was always Tejah’s dream school to go to, and she is very proud to call herself an alum.
“Just know that when you graduate, the rivalry will not end,” Tejah said. “Once a Crimson, always a Crimson!”
Tyren plays football and basketball for Male and has loved the school spirit so far.
“This is my first year of experiencing the rivalry for myself.” Tyren said. “Tejah had always dressed up and supported Manual, but it’s my year now.”
Tejah and Tyren’s mother Tanya Dow is a huge Male fan now that her daughter no longer goes to Manual.
“Honestly, it hurts my feelings how much my mom loves Male,” Tejah said, “She already has sweatshirts and she loves sitting with the other football moms.”
Tejah supports her brother at as many games she can go to, but never will she ever cheer for Male. Instead Tejah will only cheer for each individual players such as her brother and his friends throughout the game.
Tyren is excited to go to his first Old Rivalry game as a Male student in hopes to keep the barrel at Male, while Tejah hopes that Manual will finally bring the barrel back home.
Best Friends:
Brock Cassin and Brent Williams are both currently seniors at Manual while Jack Cameron is a senior at Male. Jack has been friends with Brock for years but recently met Brent last summer.
The Old Rivalry does not get in the way of their friendship.
“We really just talk about the game and we joke on each other but it’s never as hectic as both schools get,” said Cameron.
The rivalry is the only thing that keeps them from watching the game on the same side.
“At the Male-Manual game we sit on opposite sides, but at other games he’ll come over to the Manual side and I’ve been to Male games before,” said Cassin.
They all have a strong friendship but that doesn’t stop them from staying true to their school. “We’ll probably just trash talk because that’s all he does,” said Williams.
