Blue Mountain.

“It’s different playing against them because we have been rivals for a very long time,” sophomore soccer player Samantha Day said.

Blue Mountain is Pottsville’s fiercest rival. But why?

For starters, the schools are the two biggest in Schuylkill County. That means we meet each other often, not only in regular league games, but also in league playoffs, district playoffs and possibly state playoffs. In fact, the boys’ basketball team played against Blue Mountain in playoff games twice this past year, in the league and district championships, with Pottsville winning both meetings.

From the athlete standpoint, playing against Blue Mountain is always tough. Along with the always loud crowd Pottsville vs. Blue Mountain games draw, the teams from Blue Mountain are almost always very talented.

“Blue Mountain is our rival, so it is always a big deal. They are always good as well; therefore, it’s good competition,” senior volleyball player Kyra Schenk said. “We want to beat Blue Mountain so bad every time we play them.”

Whenever any team plays its biggest rival, it usually prepares for game time a little differently. However, that’s not always the case. The Pottsville football team treats it as just another game.

“From a coaching standpoint, it is not really different,” Mr. Tom McGeoy, head football coach, said. “We prepare for Blue Mountain the same way we prepare for any other team on the schedule. The difference between the Blue Mountain game and other games is the emotion that both teams bring to the rivalry.”

Lots of hard work goes into Pottsville playing Blue Mountain, but when the result is a victory, it means a lot more than any other win.

“It is more of a victory when we beat them and more of a loss when we don’t,” Day said.