JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One fan who will be in the stands to watch Raines and Miami Northwestern battle for the Class 3A title is in a dilemma.
He has allegiance to both teams.
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Archie Gallon starts his day eating breakfast with friends every morning at The Pig Bar-B-Q on Lem Turner Road on Jacksonville’s northside.
But on Friday morning, Gallon was wearing quite the outfit. He was rocking a Miami Northwestern hat and a shirt matching Raines High School colors.
“I want to represent both of them,” Gallon said. “I have no favorite. Both of them are my teams. Both of them.”
That is because Gallon won a championship with the Bulls as a player, and coached in several capacities at Raines High School for 30 years. So he has some loyalty to both schools.
“I live here [in Jacksonville],” he said. “I don’t want to be ridiculed for the rest of the while I’m here, but I also don’t want to go home and the same thing would happen at home.”
Gallon grew up in Miami and played offensive center for Miami Northwestern, helping the team win the school’s first championship in 1964.
He moved to Jacksonville after high school where he played football at then Edward Waters College, which is now Edward Waters University.
He eventually spent decades helping coach spring football, track and field, and wrestling at Raines.
Gallon says seeing two schools that mean a lot to him playing against each other on the biggest stage is a full-circle moment.
“A lot of the kids that attend Raines, I had their parents in elementary school and a high school,” he said. “A lot of these kids, we have some connections there, too.”
Gallon also has high praise for the Vikings' head coach, Donovan Masline, who is also a Raines High alum.
“His dad and I kind of grew up together. We worked together a lot,” Gallon said. “[Masline] has a lot of young kids that are going to be looking up to him. Whether he knows it or not. There are quite a few, not just his football players, but the community.”
It is a unique situation for this champion and longtime coach. He says he would not change a thing.