Central and Halls have a rivalry spanning back over 40 years. The two schools’ proximity to each other has created an animosity that is rarely seen in High School football games across Knox County.
Central first met Halls in the 1975 season, where they would win the meeting 34-0 in a dominating effort under legendary coach Tom Schumpert. Schumpert and the Bobcats would continue to dominate the average Red Devils under Dink Adams, including a 14-20 OT thriller that the Bobcats would capture.
Halls’ Red Devils would win their first in the series after Schumpert’s departure, winning 18-14 in yet another low-scoring affair. Despite a 2nd place finish in District 2 Halls would drop a game to a lowly Central team, getting shut out 18-0 by the 2-8 Bobcats.
The two would exchange blows until 1999 when they would meet in the class 4A playoffs. Central would win by merely a field goal 20-17 en route to a state championship appearance. The teams would clash again in the playoffs more recently in 2020 with the first-seeded Bobcats breezing by the third-seeded Devils 28-14 in a revenge game after a mid-season loss.
This past season, 7-5 Central survived a lowly 2-9 Halls team 21-16 in a rivalry thriller at Halls. So what about this year? The soaring Red Devils burst into Central with a 7-2 record, though they’ve struggled in District play with losses to Powell and West. The 5-4 Bobcats, coming off a thriller vs Heritage, will look to clinch a winning record and defend a 2-game streak against Halls on their home turf.
This could be as good as the rivalry gets. Central, though worse than Halls in overall record has shown to be similarly matched in district play as they sit tied for 4th in a competitive region 2. So the question is, will the favorite Halls prevail, or can the Bobcats pull the upset at home as the two playoff teams fight for seeding Thursday Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
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