As rivalry atmospheres go, this one had it all as Sierra hosted its annual game with Harrison for the first time since 1984.
UFC fighters - Raquel Pennington with her title belt draped over her shoulder for Harrison, Elijah Smith from Sierra - walked out on either side for the coin toss. The crowd filled the seats to overflow on both sides. The teams gathered together for a postgame prayer and the winners were awarded the large Superintendent's Trophy.
"It's amazing," Harrison quarterback Jeilo Hamenyamana said after throwing for three touchdowns and running for two more in the Panthers' 47-6 victory. "Most of us, we know each other. We hang out outside of school, so it's fun to come out here and just compete.
"We're all just like one big family. Even though it's competitive, we just came out to show love and compete."
Really, the only thing lacking on Friday night was an evenly matched football game. Harrison outgained Sierra, according to The Gazette's unofficial stats, 285-12 in the first half and built a 41-0 lead.
The second half was then played under a running clock, with Sierra scoring its points on a 36-yard touchdown run from senior quarterback Chance Zamora on a drive kept alive by a fake punt.
"We just had a really undisciplined performance," said Sierra (0-3) coach Joe Roskam, whose team had a pair of penalties and a turnover on its first series. "We don't have that type of team to get over those things."
Harrison touchdowns came on a succession of big plays. Hamenyamana's touchdown passes went for 51 yards to Darion Marion-McGraw and a pair to Maurice Martin for 25 and 15 yards. His scoring runs covered 44 and 15 yards. Gulong Craft added a 20-yard touchdown run and Phillip Pogue scored from 12 yards.
The victory marked a rebound for Harrison (3-1), which fell 21-20 last week against Pueblo County.
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"We were on the right side of the result tonight," said Harrison coach and athletic director Al Melo, who returned to the sidelines after a four-year hiatus. "We had a good week of practice, and I thought we played better than we did last week. Slowly. It's progress."
More than the strong performance from the Panthers, it was the atmosphere that stood out. Sierra put $3 million into its football field to be able to host games, as opposed to playing games at Harrison's Memorial Stadium. This was the first time they were able to serve as host in this district rivalry game in four decades.
The topper was the appearance from the UFC fighters. Pennington, a 2007 Harrison grad, is the current title holder in the women's bantamweight class. She'll defend her title on Oct. 5 against Julianna Pena in Salt Lake City.
Smith, a 2020 Sierra grad, won a fight on Tuesday on Dana White's Contender Series that earned him a UFC contract.
The two posed in fighter's stances prior to joining the teams' captains for the coin toss.
"It's an honor to come back," Smith said.
Pennington found a former basketball coach and basked in the atmosphere.
"This is a huge rivalry," said Pennington, who had been honored prior to a wrestling match at Harrison but nothing quite like this. "This was the game everybody waited for It's always been a rivalry, so to come back for it was pretty cool."