USA TODAY High School Sports Launches Second Annual Search for America's Most Heated High School Football Rivalry

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- USA TODAY High School Sports, the nation's leading source for high school sports news and information, today begins its second annual search to determine the most deep-seated high school football rivalry in the USA - and the competition is even bigger this year.

This year's competition features 255 of the biggest and longest-standing high school football rivalries in each state and Washington, D.C - an addition of more than 100 rivalries to the 2012 pool - selected by local media, state/school officials and USA TODAY High School Sports editorial staff. 

This year's competition, live now for fan voting at www.usatodayhss.com, will end Dec. 18 after three rounds of competition. The 51 state winners - each state plus D.C. - advance to one of eight regional rounds. The winners of the eight regions, along with two wild cards, move onto a final round of 10.

The winning rivalry will be awarded a $5,000 prize to be split evenly between the two schools, with other prizes going to all of the national finalists.

"Having launched the wildly popular 'Best Of' contest series only a year ago, USA TODAY High School Sports is thrilled to take the franchise to a new level by inviting even more high schools to vie for our various titles," said Derek Samson, director of content for USA TODAY High School Sports. "Beginning with the Best Rivalries Competition, we're giving schools across the country a chance to battle it out for honors such as 'Best Mascot,' 'Best Football Coach,' and the first-ever 'Best Basketball Coach.'"

The 'Best Of' series launched in November 2012 with Brookfield vs. Marceline in Missouri taking the first-ever Best High School Football Rivalry title. The teams celebrated their national title rivalry on Sept. 13 in Brookfield.

In January, Hartford (Vt.) was crowned as the People's Champion high school football team, while the Centralia (Ill.) Orphans took Best High School Mascot last spring ­ after 80 million total votes were cast during the competition. Last month, the Best High School Football Coach competition crowned Philip Haywood of Belfry (Ky.) as its champion.

For more information, visit USA TODAY High School Sports.

About USA TODAY Sports Media Group:
The USA TODAY Sports Media Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY Sports and Gannett's more than 100 well-known local media brands. It also includes the sports photography wire service USA TODAY Sports Images, leading high school sports destination  USA TODAY High School Sports;  For The Win, the first mainstream sports media property focused exclusively on "social news," and designed specifically to resonate on social networks and non-traditional media channels and platforms; Sports On Earth, a  joint venture with MLB Advanced Media dedicated to great sports writing in all its forms; and the hundreds of sites within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties, such as HoopsHype.com and mixed martial arts site MMAjunkie.com, among others. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (GCI).

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SOURCE USA TODAY Sports Media Group