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Putnam Home To Some Heated High School Sports Rivalries

PUTNAM COUNTY, N.Y. -- The matchups simply roll off the tongue. Mahopac vs. Carmel. Yorktown vs. Lakeland. Kennedy Catholic vs. Brewster.

Mahopac vs. Carmel is one of Putnam's most heated rivalries.

Mahopac vs. Carmel is one of Putnam's most heated rivalries.

Photo Credit: File photo

Some of the most storied high school sports rivalries occur regularly in and Putnam

The annual Mahopac vs. Carmel football game is known as the "Battle Of Putnam," and the two schools compete for the Bryan Higgins Trophy.

Mahopac took last year's game 27-7 and has won five of the last six meetings against Carmel in football.

Sometimes, the rivalry has gained notice for incidents not involving the games themselves.

At  a basketball game between the two squads in January, racially charged language was allegedly directed at a Carmel player. A basketball game in 2005 ended in a melee.

In Yorktown, the annual Yorktown vs. Lakeland/Panas  lacrosse and Yorktown vs. Lakeland crosstown baseball games are circled on the calendar. In lacrosse, the two schools play for the Murphy Cup and in lacrosse, they meet for the Sorrentino Cup.

"Any game is huge when it comes to Lakeland and Yorktown," Yorktown Athletic Director Fio Nardone said.  "The Murphy Cup is about as good as it gets." 

Nardone said players raise their intensity when they face Lakeland.

"The stakes are higher," Nardone said. "I'm sure Lakeland feels the same way. Both teams want to win."

As an athletic director, Nardone said he looks for a tough competitive game with good sportsmanship on both sides.

"I let the competition play itself out," Nardone said. "I like when it's a closely contested game and a Yorktown player comes through with a big play. It's a good positive moment for the players. Yorktown-Lakeland is a rivalry that will always be in place and never go away."

The Brewster vs. Kennedy Catholic rivalry seems to have faded, Brewster Athletic Director Dean Berardo said, since Kennedy Catholic moved to a different league.

"The opportunities are not as plentiful as they used to be," Berardo said. "The rivalries vary by sport."

Berardo said football games against Somers are a big deal and he's hoping with games scheduled against Horace Greeley, Fox Lane, Yorktown and John Jay-Cross River, rivalries get re-established.

"It's one of those things that would be great to get back to," Berardo said. "The leagues are simply not what they used to be with the new alignment."

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