One river was all that separated Bexley High School and Columbus Academy when they each opened. In 1911, Columbus Academy opened their first campus on the southwest corner of Franklin Park along Nelson Road. Just 11 years later, Bexley High School opened on Main Street in 1922. Since then, Columbus Academy has relocated to Gahanna. In 1932, Bexley High School also moved to its current location on Cassingham Road. However, the connection initially made by the close distance of the two schools lives on in their rivalry. While the specific origins of the rivalry are unclear, it is heightened not only by proximity but also the closeness of the schools' students. Class of 1986 Bexley High School alumnus Preston Elliott said many of his childhood friends from Bexley ended up attending Columbus Academy. Two of his best friends went to Maryland Elementary with him before attending Columbus Academy for middle and high school, Elliott explained. “The rivalry felt even more heated when I was at Bexley simply because of the fact that I was playing against people I used to go to school with,” he said. “There would be people I was close with that would be standing on the other side of the ball.” Academy senior Will Bundy said he lives in Bexley, so he knows many of the people he plays against. He added he played football and lacrosse for Bexley in middle school while attending Academy. This connection to Bexley’s sports teams causes him to care more about the games, Bundy said. “For me, it definitely makes the rivalry games more personal,” he said. “It just hypes it up more.” Academy senior Bebe Smith said the connection between the student bodies makes the rivalry more enjoyable. “It’s kind of fun because you’ll see your friends around and then play them in sports the next day,” she said. Traditions that surround the game allow the rivalry to stay relevant. An example of this is the bridge tradition, which class of 1991 Academy alumnus Tamre Edwards explained was when the bridge over Broad Street near Nelson Road was painted by the winning team after the rivalry football game. Edwards added the tradition started years before he was in high school and ended sometime around 2000. Painting the bridge was a fun reward for the winning team, Elliott explained. “It was a way for the winning team to not only memorialize the victory, but also rub it in the other team’s face,” he said. Smith said she has heard about the tradition, even though she never experienced it. “My dad went to Academy and played football, and he always talked about how the winning team would get to paint the bridge,” she said. “It’s definitely a big thing.” Class of 2024 Bexley High School alumnus Eli Tyson said he remembers the intensity during the games but never actually hated his opponents. “Those games definitely felt just a little bit more intense than the rest,” Tyson explained. “However, I don’t think there was any kind of fight or battle that I can recall. It was overall a pretty respectful match.” Elliott said physical escalations never occurred during his time at the high school. Both teams played with care for one another and didn’t take the competition too far, Elliott said. “It is a very clean rivalry,” he said. “Definitely mutual hatred, but also mutual respect.” Senior Grayson Sherman said he doesn't feel affected by the rivalry during games. “We both know that what’s said on the field is simply in the name of competition,” Sherman said. Smith said her school made sure students are aware of the rivalry from a very young age. “As someone who has always watched Academy sports, it was definitely a thing right away,” she said. Elliott said he was aware of the rivalry from a very young age because of his family. “I can recall at an early age my older brothers talking about Columbus Academy, and I knew that that was the team I wanted to beat,” he said. Smith said one major event that occurs at Columbus Academy pep rallies is a staged fight between Lion and Viking mascots, in which the Viking always comes out on top. She added this event was supposed to foreshadow an Academy victory on the football field. Sherman explained one tradition Bexley has is the removal of the letter A in social media posts and around the school on days Bexley plays Academy. Sherman explained the tradition stems from the iconic Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, since Ohio State students cross out all M's on campus before the football game. Sherman added he puts his own twist on the tradition during game days. "The entire day I try to avoid the letter A,” he said. “I write my name as ‘Gryson’ just to give me more motivation.”