Tuscola–Pisgah rivalry

Pisgah Dominates Early Years (1966-1971)

The rivalry started prior to 1966 when the now defunct Waynesville Township High School Mountaineers and Canton High School Black Bears would meet in an intense battle. The intensity only grew when the county consolidated all of Haywood County's high schools into two in 1966. The first "Haywood County Championship" game between the new schools took place on September 23, 1966. Pisgah got off to an impressive start in the series, winning the first seven meetings. Pisgah would go on to win the 3A Football State Championship in 1966 and 1969.

Rivalry Becomes More Competitive as Tuscola Rises (1972-1977)

During this period, the two teams won 3 games each and tied once. Tuscola won its first game in the series on November 17, 1972 when the Mountaineers got revenge on the Black Bears in the NCHSAA State Playoffs and went on to take the 1972 State Championship title. Tuscola would win the next two meetings before a 1974 playoff meeting ended in a tie. Since overtime was not yet included in NCHSAA rules, Pisgah was allowed to advance based on total yardage in the game. Following the 1974 tie, Pisgah went on to answer Tuscola's 3-game winning streak with 3 wins of their own. During this era Pisgah won the 3A Football State Championship in 1975 and 1976.

Tuscola Wins 10 Straight (1978-1987)

Tuscola was not content with its 3–10–1 series record and defeated the Bears every year for an entire decade, a winning streak which still holds the record as the longest in series history. By the time Tuscola finished its 10-year winning streak, the Mountaineers held the series lead 13–10–1. Tuscola has not trailed in the series since their 20–6 win over Pisgah in 1985, though the series has been tied a number of times.

Rivalry Balances Out (1988-2006)

Pisgah finally put Tuscola's winning streak to an end with a 19-0 shutout of the Mountaineers on November 4, 1988. As the rivalry game moved into the 1990s, the series became more balanced with Tuscola winning 1989-1990, Pisgah winning 1991–1993, Tuscola winning 1994–1995, Pisgah winning 1996, Tuscola winning 1997, and Pisgah winning 1998–1999. Since the turn of the millennium in 2000, the series has been the most balanced it has ever been. In a Friday the 13th match up that Tuscola fans dubbed "Nightmare on Pisgah Street", Tuscola won the first meeting of the new millennium 23–21 on October 13, 2000. From 2001–2006, the series went in pairs with Pisgah winning 2001 and 2002, Tuscola winning 2003 and 2004, and Pisgah winning 2005 and 2006. Pisgah's 56-10 beat down of Tuscola in 2006 was the largest margin of victory by any team in series history.

Tuscola Dominates Late 2000s, Early 2010s (2007-2012)

After the most humiliating loss in the rivalry's history, Tuscola surged back in 2007 and shocked the Black Bears 22-6 en route to the first three-peat by either team in the rivalry since the early '90s. Tuscola won 5 out of 6 meetings during this period. The 2008 game was the first to be played on an artificial turf surface, and was the first game of any kind ever played on Pisgah's artificial turf. Tuscola hung up a banner and printed shirts that read "Breaking in Your Turf- Mountaineer Style" before fulfilling their promise by defeating the Bears 28–10. In October 2009, the game returned to conference play as both teams joined the NCHSAA's 2A/3A split WNC Athletic Conference (Pisgah remained 2A and Tuscola remained 3A). Since 2009, the game has been given national attention by the Great American Rivalry Series which is sponsored by the United States Marines. Online audio and video broadcasts have been made available nationwide by iHigh and a player from each team receives a scholarship. In 2009, Tuscola quarterback Tyler Brosius received the MVP award, and the Tuscola team received a trophy for winning the game 41–10. In 2010, Pisgah's Matthew Inman received the MVP award after returning a blocked fieldgoal 81 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the first half- swinging the game's momentum in Pisgah's favor- ultimately winning the trophy for the Bears. In 2011, the Mountaineers and Bears fought to the finish and nearly took the game into overtime when Pisgah tied the ball game with 7 seconds remaining. However, a roughing the kicker penalty against Tuscola was accepted by Pisgah, who opted to take the tying point off the board and go for a two-point conversion. Pisgah's attempt to win the game in regulation was denied when Hunter Creson tackled Josh Noland at the one-yard line to save the game for the Mountaineers, 28–27, the closest margin of victory by either team in series history. In 2012, the rivalry game went into overtime for the first time in history with the Mountaineers winning 24-21 on a field goal by Logan Lambert. The MVP award went to Tuscola's Bryce Myers who returned a kickoff for a touchdown to swing the game in the Mountaineers' favor before halftime.

Pisgah Dominates Mid 2010s (2013-Present)

While the stakes in the rivalry increased once before when Tuscola and Pisgah joined the 2A/3A split WNCAC in 2009, even more was put on the line when it was announced that Pisgah would join Tuscola in the 3A classification for the 2013-2017 realignment. For the first time in many years, the rivalry not only affects conference title hopes, but also state title hopes (as the two teams became eligible to meet each other in the NCHSAA playoffs). On October 18, 2013, the two schools met for the 50th time. Pisgah made a huge statement in their first year as a 3A school by beating Tuscola 27-7 in their first win at C.E. Weatherby Stadium since 2005. Senior quarterback McKinley Brown received the MVP award. The 2014 match up started out as an intense game with several lead changes in the first three quarters. Pisgah found themselves down to Tuscola 20-16 in the third quarter before scoring 21 unanswered points late to win the game 37-20. In the 2015 contest, Tuscola jumped out to a 10-0 lead late in the first half. Just before halftime, Pisgah QB Houston Rogers connected on a touchdown pass to Trey Morgan to cut the lead to 10-7. In the second half, RB Daniel "Dutch Count" VanVaerenbergh scored on a touchdown run and with the PAT, Pisgah led 14-10. Late in the 4th quarter, Tuscola drove down the field and scored a touchdown to lead 17-14. Pisgah had enough time to tie the score at 17-17 on a Tanner Fox field goal, sending the game into overtime. After failing to score on its first three downs, Pisgah again turned to kicker Tanner Fox, who nailed the field goal to give Pisgah a 20-17 lead. In its first possession of overtime, Tuscola drove inside the 1 yard line, and then elected to go for the TD on 4th and goal. Initially stopped by the Pisgah line, QB Zach Webster pitched it to another Tuscola player, who tried to lateral to another. The ball was fumbled, and Pisgah recovered the ball to seal the win. Pisgah RB Daniel "Dutch Count" VanVaerenbergh was named the game's MVP. In 2016, a match up between two 7-0 teams with WNCAC title hopes on the line went into overtime for a second straight year (and third time in five years) as Pisgah rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to defeat the Mountaineers 23-20. Pisgah's Chase Henson had a crucial interception late in the game and was voted the MVP. This marked the first game that Tuscola had been held under 40 points all season. Because so much was on the line, the game drew a massive crowd of over 13,000 and sent the half-and-half raffle winner home with over $19,000.

Fan support

The Haywood County Championship game draws crowds of between 10,000 and 15,000 fans per year, filling both stadiums to capacity. Dedicated fans are known to arrive as early as 3:00 in the afternoon. Fans from both schools, often seen arriving at the games in the back of pickup trucks waving school flags, dress decked out in school colors and have become notorious for hanging the other team's mascot on nooses.

Vandalism

As is a part of many fierce rivalries, vandalism has also been a part of the Tuscola–Pisgah rivalry. Pisgah fans became notorious for spray painting the water tower and sidewalks on Tuscola hill, while Tuscola fans have bleached the grass and torn up the field at Pisgah. To counteract vandalism, security at the schools has been increased around the time of the rivalry and Tuscola's water tower that was once painted gold with a Mountaineer logo (and plenty of graffiti) has been painted hunter green in order to camouflage it. Despite these efforts, vandalism has continued to plague the rivalry- most recently in 2007 when graffiti was found spray painted on the Tuscola High School field house.