How the Wooster vs. Orrville game has changed over the years
The Wooster-Orrville rivalry encompasses many sports, years and traditions that have become deeply ingrained in the Wooster athletic experience.
Each year at the end of October, both schools prepare for the iconic, more than a century old, Wooster versus Orrville varsity football game.
Since the first meeting of the two teams in 1903, Wooster holds an edge in the series 52-42-9, according to a Nov. 1 article in The Daily Record. The rivalry is the oldest high school sports rivalry in Wayne County and one of the oldest in Ohio, according to a Nov. 12, 2012 article in The Examiner.
The Wooster-Orrville game is met with great anticipation from players, coaches and fans.
For Wooster head football coach Doug Haas, this game comes with great anticipation.
“This game is very important to our entire football team. I think from an intensity standpoint, there is more intensity because it is our rival,” Haas said.
Haas says the team has embraced many game week traditions such as attending the WHS marching band concert on the Tuesday before the Wooster-Orrville game.
On a personal level, Haas says, “I don’t feel any more pressure than the pressure I put on myself to make sure that the team is both mentally and physically prepared.”
Every game comes with great anticipation and the Wooster-Orrville game is no different, Haas says.
Before coming to Wooster, Haas coached at Cloverleaf High School where he says he was involved in various rivalry games. However, “each rivalry has its own uniqueness,” Haas said.
After two years coaching at Wooster, Haas now realizes that ”As an outsider, I don’t think I appreciated the rivalry nearly as much now as I do now as being a part of it.”
To Wooster running-back Martavius Dyson (12), the rivalry is unique. Dyson has played football for both Wooster and Orrville High School.
“The Wooster-Orrville rivalry is a big deal to everybody at both Wooster and Orrville. It’s been a rivalry for a long time so it’s become a tradition,” Dyson says.
Wooster takes on the Red Riders at Follis Field on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
