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The residents of Haywood County are some of the friendliest
people you would ever meet. Most are polite, respectful,
work together, attend the same church, are charitable
and hospitable.
Until one Fall Friday night when a football game becomes
the centerpiece for two communities and it matters, matters
a lot what side your allegiance is on.
That’s when Pisgah meets Tuscola on the gridiron in the
state’s most exciting high school football rivalry known as
the combustible County Clash.
The two schools are nine miles apart and since the doors
opened in the Fall of 1966, the County Clash has flamed
the intensity of the rivalry, where families, marriages,
friends, business associates, classmates, and alumni are
firmly divided. Each year when prep football schedules are
released, the first game everyone looks for is the date of
the Tuscola-Pisgah game.
The first County Clash was on Friday, Sept. 23, 1966 and the
Pisgah Black Bears beat the Tuscola Mountaineers, 26-12.
Over the years, the two high schools’ combined enrollment
has remained consistent at the 2,000 student mark. Some
years a little higher and some years a tad lower. Each high
school’s football stadium can comfortably seat approximately
7,000 fans. But without fail, on the night of the
County Clash, north of 10,000 fans walk through the
ticket gates.
Every year, season ticket holders fill up the reserved
sections, which leaves the rest of the seating to
general admission, and it’s on a “first come, first
serve” basis. Days leading up the game, people enter the
stadium and place blankets down where they will sit. Gates
on the day of the game open around 4 p.m. and by 5:30
p.m., each side of the stadium is filled.
People of all ages from the mountains, small towns and
big cities in North Carolina as well as Pisgah and Tuscola
alumni from all over the United States make their annual
pilgrimage to the County Clash. On several occasions,
there have been fans who lived overseas in attendance.
In addition to the incredible annual attendance figures, the
concession stands also do a booming business as well as
the traditional 50-50 raffle. Aw yes, the infamous half-andhalf
raffle.
In the 2018 game at Pisgah Memorial Stadium in Canton,
the 50-50 brought in a total of $41,862 with the holder of
the lucky ticket taking home $20,931.