Over the years, St. Paul’s School has made many rivals both academically and athletically, but none are currently so heated as the rivalry between St. Paul’s and Jesuit High School, a Catholic high school located in New Orleans.

As two of the premier catholic boys schools in the South, St. Paul’s and Jesuit are natural rivals. In addition to competing on a variety of academic levels, both in actual competitions and through statistical comparisons, the rivals have heatedly competed in sports such as soccer and lacrosse, and most recently football.

The rivalry has been dubbed the “Battle of the Blues” because the primary school color of both schools is royal blue, prompting St. Paul’s students to call for a “Gold Out” dress code when facing the Blue Jays.

In recent years, the rivalry has become a match-up that never disappoints if one is looking for two halves, 4 quarters, or even 3 miles that will leave spectators biting their nails and sitting on the edge of their seats.

A recent chapter in the rivalry was when the two teams met on the football field on Friday, Sept. 13. The game was close to the the very end, but St. Paul’s finally pulled ahead after a last-second field goal by senior, Grant Hebert.

“Best part of senior year by far,” posted Hebert on the social media site Instagram, in referral to his game-winning field goal.

The two sports teams have continuously reached the state championships in both soccer and lacrosse, dominating the playing field quite literally in both sports, both reaching the soccer championship for a consecutive three years and lacrosse for a consecutive two years.

“Playing in the championship was a great opportunity that I really enjoyed,” commented Christian Caragliano, SPS senior and three-year varsity soccer player. “Even though we lost both years I’ve been on the team, the experience has been irreplaceable, honestly. I can definitely say that being the underdogs last year, it hurt less to lose than the year before. And I know that coming off of such a great year with such a young team, we can achieve great things this upcoming season.”

Both schools will likely continue to excel both on and off the field, and that means that the intense rivalry between the Wolves of St. Paul’s and the Blue Jays of Jesuit will continue to thrive, pushing both schools to continue to reach new heights.