This photo was taken in 1934 before the first Ripon High football game in history. This was also the first time Ripon High played football against Escalon. If there is anything the people of Ripon know, it’s that the rivalry between Ripon and Escalon has been going on for longer than most of them can remember.

It goes all the way back to 1934, the very first football game against Escalon in Ripon High history. The rivalry between these two towns arose over time due to the constant vacillating wins between the teams, one year Ripon would win and the next year Escalon would win.

This resulted in the hot tension that now takes place between these almost twin-like towns.  In the time of the World War 2, Ripon High and along with some other high schools could only play football with six-man teams because not very many young men believed playing football was appropriate in this time of crisis.

Though the heated competition between the two teams still stayed in place. It was also known that before football games against Escalon that took place at Ripon High, Escalon players and students would burn a tire on Ripon’s football field.

In retaliation to this, Ripon would burn a big R on Escalon’s football field before games too. In the early seventies, there was a period where Escalon beat Ripon four years in a row. After the fourth year, Ripon came back with a win of 12-0.

It is now 2018 and Escalon is still our current rival, even though there is no more burning tires and grass  on each other’s fields there are still little fights here and there that take place at these aggressive and emotional games.

It has been noticed that even the cheerleaders compete with each other. Last year the Escalon cheerleaders were seen mocking and making fun of the Ripon cheerleaders dance routine after performing.

Erin Cutino says “A lot of the girls in volleyball know each other because of club volleyball so they play really hard against each other.” Cutino explains that “Escalon plays much harder against us compared to any other team because of the rivalry.” she says “No matter what you can neither side can count the other one out because when it comes to the rivalry, they will always step up their game against us.”

Sophomore Meredith Lundrigan says “I remember them laughing at us and pretending they were falling because one of our flyers fell”. It doesn’t seem like this rivalry will be ending anytime soon but many are excited to see what this competition will bring us for the next few years.