There’s a universal truth in sports. If there’s one team you love above all others, there’s one team you despise above all others, too.

Love the Boston Red Sox, hate the New York Yankees. Love the Boston Bruins, hate the Montreal Canadiens. Your team is the one that always rides in on the white horse. They’re the gang that has goatees and an eye patch and sneers a lot.

Love Winslow, hate Waterville. Love Cony, hate Gardiner.

It’s high school football rivalry week, the best time of the regular season. It kicked off on Saturday with the Battle of the Bridge between Waterville and Winslow, and continues next Friday with games all over central Maine.

Among the things that make a good high school rivalry are proximity and competitiveness. Despite the lopsided 35-7 Winslow win on Saturday, the Black Raiders and Purple Panthers have each of those.

Waterville and Winslow high schools are separated by five red lights and the Kennebec River. In Maine, only rivals Cheverus and Deering in Portland are closer to each other on a map. On the football field, the Black Raiders and the Purple Panthers are the top two teams in their conference, but the gap between one and two might be wider than thought prior to the game. It certainly was on Saturday afternoon, as Winslow forced five Waterville turnovers and never trailed. There’s a chance Winslow and Waterville could meet again this season, in the Eastern Class C championship game in November. They did last year, and Winslow pried a little revenge from the game. After losing to the Purple Panthers in the 2013 regular season, the Black Raiders took the playoff rematch and advanced to the state championship game.

That’s another great thing about high school football rivalries, the rematch.

For three straight seasons, from 1989 to 1991, my high school, Mt. St. Joseph Academy, met crosstown rival Rutland in the Vermont Division I (the equivalent of Maine’s Class A) championship game. Each year, the winner of the state game lost the regular season matchup. In those moments, what’s more important, bragging rights or a title belt?

Ask Skowhegan. Last season, the Indians lost the regular season finale to rival Mt. Blue. The very next week, Skowhegan won the playoff rematch to advance in the Pine Tree Conference Class B tournament. Beating your rival is sweet, but beating your rival while ending its season is glorious.

Two years ago, Lawrence and Messalonskee met in back-to-back games, the regular season finale and the first round of the PTC A playoffs. Each game was a shutout. Reasserting your dominance is just as sweet as turning the tables.

Winslow and Waterville was moved up a week from the traditional regular season finale to Week 7 in what can kindly be called a scheduling mixup on the part of a schedule maker who has no regard for the league’s longest and deepest rivalry. In the end, it doesn’t matter. Fans, players and coaches got to experience the rivalry on a perfect fall afternoon. Ask most of the players involved and they’ll probably tell you they’d play the game on the Fourth of July on a barge tethered to the Two Cent Bridge if necessary.

On Friday, we’ll have Cony at Gardiner, the oldest rivalry in the area and one of the oldest in the nation. Skowhegan will be at Mt. Blue. Messalonskee plays at Lawrence. Winthrop/Monmouth plays Maranacook, a newer rivalry since the schools only recently began playing in the same class.

If we’re lucky, we will see some rematches in the playoffs. That’s another thing about a good rivalry. You want to play it as often as possible.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM