Pickerington schools renew rivalry with a lot on line
When he interviewed last spring for the job opening as Pickerington North’s football coach, Nate Hillerich wondered if he was entering a hornet’s nest.
“One of the first questions they asked was, ‘Can you beat Pickerington Central?’
and I was taken aback a little,” he said. “They explained to me the rivalry was like Ohio State-Michigan, and a lot of people would judge me based on how we fare in that game.”
North and Central’s rivalry doesn’t have the age of OSU-Michigan, but it certainly has evolved into one of the fiercest athletic competitions in central Ohio.
Central (11-1) and North (10-2) will square off at 7:30 tonight before a purple-clad, jam-packed crowd at DeSales for a Division I regional title. Central won the regular-season meeting 24-21 on Oct. 13 and went on to win the Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division title. Even more is riding on the rematch.
“The hype surrounding the first game was crazy,” Central coach Jay Sharrett said. “It fires up so big around here for about a week, I really try to tune it all out. I wish I could say our players would do the same, but with social media and all the banter going back and forth, I know that’s next to impossible.”
In 2003, when the original Pickerington High School split and North was established, district officials insisted that the schools be placed in different OCC divisions to de-emphasize any conflicts. The detente period lasted five years, until OCC realignment left both in the Ohio Division.
Central has won five straight meetings for a 10-3 series lead. This marks the fourth playoff meeting, but the first with a final four spot on the line.
“Going into the season, I think the general feeling was that both teams would be really good — if not the two best teams in the area, certainly right there at the top,” said Mark Aprile, director of student activities for the district and a former coach and administrator at both high schools.
Aprile said the dynamics of the district make the rivalry even more compelling. Of its two junior highs, Ridgeview feeds Central and Lakeview feeds North. But there is crossover among the elementary and middle schools, where lifelong friendships are born.
“I grew up in the Central district and I still live there,” North standout senior quarterback Jimmy Weirick said. “I’m close friends with practically every starter on the whole Central defense. We’re cool. We talk all the time, just not this week.”
Central linebacker Grey Brancifort happens to be one of Weirick’s best friends.
“Some of our guys and their guys are friends off the field, but it’s all business when we hit the field,” Brancifort said. “You’d think there’d be a lot of trash talk between players this week, but there really isn’t. There’s more of a serious tone because we all know what’s at stake.
“I can’t speak for the students of the two schools, though. It’s a community divided. They’re going to talk, for sure.”
After relocating to Pickerington, Hillerich quickly discovered the importance not only of football, but athletics in general.
“You go to Kroger or Roosters or any other place, everybody’s always talking about sports,” he said. “This is a crazy sports town and for good reason. There are an awful lot of good teams and athletes here.”
While North boasts recent state titles in baseball (2016) and boys track and field (2015), and the football team reached a state semifinal in 2012, Central, the original school, has a stronger resume in football. Central has won or shared 12 straight OCC division titles in football, while playing in two state championship games and three final fours.
In boys basketball, Central’s 75-58 win over North in the Division I regional final last season also remains fresh in the minds of fans.
“I can’t say if football is more important in Pickerington than it is in other suburbs with sister schools, but it’s fun to see the student sections and the communities all hyped up in their colors to support their teams,” Sharrett said. “We also have rivalries with Lancaster and Reynoldsburg, but we look at each one differently. The more competitive our programs have gotten, the more intense the CentralNorth rivalry has gotten because there’s always something at stake when we play.”
Aprile said he is eagerly awaiting the showdown, though he added he’ll be relieved when it’s over.
“The most positive spin I can put on this is that one of our teams is going to be in the final four at about 10 o’clock Friday,” he said. “The same scenario happened last March in basketball. How many communities can say that?”