COLUMBUS, Ohio — The next chapter of an intra-city rivalry will play out Friday night on the football field.
What You Need To Know
- Westerville South and Westerville North High School football plays Friday night
- Westerville North has not beaten Westerville South in football since 2005
- Tyler Kielmeyer on South's team and Jon Jon Stevens Jr. on North's team will be playing together at Northwestern next year
While Westerville South has dominated Westerville North over the past two decades, that doesn’t mean there’s any less pride on the line.
Friday’s game means a lot to a pair of former and future teammates.
“It’s a really big deal, we have had success in the past, so to be able to continue that is a super big deal for us, for the community, for everyone in Westerville,” said Tyler Kielmeyer, senior, tight end at Westerville South High School.
Tyler Kielmeyer knows a thing or two about the rivalry between Westerville South and Westerville North.
In his four years at South, the senior tight end has never lost to the school that’s less than three miles up the road.
North safety Jon Jon Stevens, on the other hand, is ready for the tide to turn in the game that determines who “rules the Ville.”
“We all just want to do better for this program. It’s been like 18 years since we’ve beat South, we’ve never beat South and Central (in the same year) so we’re trying to change it around,” said Jon Jon Stevens Jr., senior safety, at Westerville North High School.
The last time North beat South was in 2005, before either Stevens or Kielmeyer were born.
But while they’ll be squaring off against each other on Friday night, soon they’ll be back on the same team.
“I’m excited to go to Northwestern with him,” Stevens said.
Both Keilmeyer and Stevens have committed to play at Northwestern next year, a reunion of sorts, after the two were teammates in middle school.
“We’ve always kind of kept up with each other, so it’ll be fun to have someone from Columbus come in with me to Northwestern,” Kielmeyer said.
“We were both good athletes, in my math class, doing homework together and all that stuff. He’s just a cool dude,” Stevens said.
Kielmeyer and Stevens said being teammates in middle school created a unique dynamic between the two.
“Yeah we’re rivals, so it’s super fun to, you know, obviously hopefully have bragging rights going into next year and being able to play against him for so long is super fun,” Stevens said.
The boys are still close. Stevens said he texted Kielmeyer ahead of this week’s game.
“I was checking up on him. I had seen in film he got hurt the first play last week, so I was checking up on him, seeing if he was good for this week and just wishing him luck. We always text. He’s my guy,” Stevens said.
Rivals under the Friday Night Lights, but future teammates next season, as they chase their dreams of playing college football.