Ask anyone that goes to Pattonville which school is better: Pattonville or Ritenour, and the answer will come without hesitation. Pattonville will be the clear winner. And in my father’s case, some Huskies agree. He was a Ritenour graduate of 1987.

While attending Ritenour he played varsity soccer for four years. He was a part of a family with three siblings, all of them played soccer. He received an honorable mention for his contribution to his high school team.

He was able to reminisce about his high school glory days recalling a specific game between the two rival schools.

“I scored two goals alone,” he said about a game played on Pattonville’s football field. “But that wasn’t enough.”

The rivalry between the two schools goes back before my father’s time he said. My father had friends and relatives that went to Pattonville while he went to Ritenour, which made the rivalry personally even stronger.

“We were rivals in every sport, not only in soccer,” Mike Judson said.

The rivalry continued outside of school he explained. “We even raced cars against Pattonville kids.”

They did whatever they could to get bragging rights, just like teenagers do today.

But stats don’t lie. Mike Judson gave credit where credit was due and said that Pattonville won the majority of the time.

“Pattonville won most of the time in every sport, not just soccer,” Mike Judson said. “We just weren’t as good as them.”

He said football especially was disappointing.

“Ritenour football was an embarrassment,” he said. “Out of the four years I went there; I do not remember a single win.”

The great debate between the two schools superiority will live on, but after talking to my dad, I have learned that an old dog, in this case a Huskie, can learn new tricks.