Mason Miller is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sunrise Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com

 

Since 2016, week three has become one of the biggest and most important regular season matchups for Sunrise Mountain. The reason? It’s a matchup against crosstown rival Liberty High School.

 

The schools sit a little over two miles apart in the town of Peoria. Players on both teams have grown up playing with and against each other in Pop Warner football. But those kids have grown up and represent their respective high schools. Whoever may have been their childhood friend is now their biggest enemy on the field.

 

Few understand the rivalry between the schools better than Sunrise Mountain running back Tommy Arnold. Arnold has been on Sunrise Mountain’s varsity team since his sophomore year, and only in his senior year was he able to help the team get a victory over Liberty on October 16, 37-33. A victory in which he ran for 115 yards and two touchdowns.

That win moved Sunrise Mountain 3-0 on the season, and now the Mustangs look toward a push to the playoffs.

“We’re not friends during the game,” Arnold said. “We always want to beat them and look at it as one of our biggest games every season.”

In high school, varsity players will see Liberty a maximum of three times, once per year. To outsiders, that might be enough to start a rivalry. To the local players, however, they’ve been matched up against this team dozens of times.

“Most of the players live in the same neighborhood,” Sunrise Mountain coach Steve Decker said. “They’ve grown up knowing each other, playing each other in youth football. It's been a rivalry for years.”

“We know the majority of their team, we’ve played with some of them,” Arnold said. “Anything sports-related with them, we’re always talking smack.”

A game against your biggest rival can hold a lot of meaning for a team, especially just a few games into the season. It’s a chance to prove yourself against the team that wants to beat you the most. 

“There are two games this year we looked at as the biggest. Liberty and the State Championship,” Arnold said. “Not having packed stands makes the game a little less exciting, but losing against Liberty these last two years made this year's game really exciting for us. With us winning that game, it gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the year.”

Most fans understand the importance of the game as well. Fans come out in droves to support their respective schools.

“We usually have the most packed stands when we play them,” Arnold said. “Except for this year obviously with everything going on.”

“It’s like a playoff atmosphere,” Decker said. “Normally there’s anywhere from 6,000 to 10,000 people at the game.”

One could describe this rivalry as somewhat of a sibling rivalry. There isn’t any story behind the bad blood, only the distance between the two schools, and most players knowing players on the other team. 

“It’s just a more on the field type of bad blood. Off the field, there’s nothing really that goes on,” Arnold said. “We’re not friends during the game, but after the game we’re friends.”