JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A quick trip down Moncrief Road — less than a mile apart — you’ll find Raines High School and Ribault High School nestled on the Northside of Jacksonville.
“This is a big week here,” Ribault football head coach Aaron “Ram” Pinckney said. “They call it the Northside week.”
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Saturday at 2 p.m. the Vikings and the Trojans will go head-to-head in a rivalry match up on the gridiron, a game that Raines head coach Donovan Masline knows well. He played for the Vikings and was an assistant coach before taking over the program.
“It’s just a great atmosphere for the kids to actually be a part of that,” Masline said. “A lot of kids grew up with the mindset of ‘I want to go to Ribault. I want to go to Raines so that I can play in a game like this’.”
The Northside tradition brings the community together to support both programs, but once the whistle sounds for the opening kickoff — thousands of fans will be screaming their allegiances to either sideline.
“There’s not much you have to say to this game to pump those kids up,” Pinckney said. “It’s all about when you hit that field and that ball kick, it’s on.”
This year, the game will be played at First Coast High School instead of Ribault High School because the school is undergoing renovations.
“Nothing like having it in the neighborhood,” Pinckney said.
Added Masline: “Mindset is it doesn’t matter where the game is played. This is a district game, so we have to be mentally prepared to come out and execute our game plan.”
Last season, Raines beat Ribault 30-19. The last time Ribault won the rivalry game was back in 2016. This game is not just a rivalry between two historic schools, it’s also a district game with playoff implications on the line.
“We have to be mentally prepared and physically prepared in order to come out 1-0 in the district,” Masline said. “The kids understand what’s at stake. They want to have aspirations of continuing to play in the playoffs. This is a game that we need to win.”