Those who have grown up in the Slate Belt know the importance of the yearly match-up between the school football teams, Brewer said.
For many, the one game between the schools each year is more important than the entire season.
"Toss out all the other games," Bangor Area School Board Director and Karen Brewer's husband Ken Brewer said. "This game is won or lost on heart."
Pen Argyl fans cheer on their team during the 2014 game against Bangor.
The game is typically played the last week of the football season. Before 1975, games were played on Thanksgiving Day.
Karen Brewer said there are many stories that show the passion of the rivalry. She is aware of one Pen Argyl man who threw out his Thanksgiving turkey, which had been roasting all day, after a particularly hard loss to Bangor.
Stories of pre-game antics also have become legendary, she said. One story tells of Bangor students in the 1920s who purposely flooded the field with water the night before the game during a particularly cold November.
While Pen Argyl players were slipping and sliding, the Bangor players, who anticipated the icy field, came with special cleats suited for the conditions, Brewer said.
Brewer said, despite the rivalry, the people who favor either Bangor or Pen Argyl have a mutual respect.
"We're not perpetuating an unkind rivalry," Brewer said. "It is a historical rivalry."
written by- John Best | Lehighvalleylive.com contributor