[2] The intensity of the rivalry is caused by the fact that these are the only two high school football teams in Haywood County, North Carolina and are located less than 9 miles apart.
[3] Tuscola High School is located on a hill outside Waynesville, North Carolina that serves students from the western part of the county, primarily Waynesville, Maggie Valley, Crabtree, Fines Creek, Jonathan Creek, and western portions of Clyde.
Since overtime was not yet included in NCHSAA rules, Pisgah was allowed to advance based on total yardage in the game.
Tuscola hung up a banner and printed shirts that read "Breaking in Your Turf- Mountaineer Style" before fulfilling their promise by defeating the Bears 28–10.
Since 2009, the game has been given national attention by the Great American Rivalry Series which is sponsored by the United States Marines.
Online audio and video broadcasts have been made available nationwide by iHigh and a player from each team receives a scholarship.
However, a roughing the kicker penalty against Tuscola was accepted by Pisgah, who opted to take the tying point off the board and go for a two-point conversion.
[8] In 2012, the rivalry game went into overtime for the first time in history with the Mountaineers winning 24–21 on a field goal by Logan Lambert.
The MVP award went to Tuscola's Bryce Myers who returned a kickoff for a touchdown to swing the game in the Mountaineers' favor before halftime.
Pisgah found themselves down to Tuscola 20–16 in the third quarter before scoring 21 unanswered points late to win the game 37–20.
Just before halftime, Pisgah QB Houston Rogers connected on a touchdown pass to Trey Morgan to cut the lead to 10–7.
In the second half, RB Daniel "Dutch Count" VanVaerenbergh scored on a touchdown run and with the PAT, Pisgah led 14–10.
Pisgah had enough time to tie the score at 17–17 on a Tanner Fox field goal, sending the game into overtime.
In its first possession of overtime, Tuscola drove inside the 1 yard line, and then elected to go for the TD on 4th and goal.
Initially stopped by the Pisgah line, QB Zach Webster pitched it to another Tuscola player, who tried to lateral to another.
In 2017, the rivalry was moved back to a non-conference game on Labor Day weekend due to the NCHSAA realignment.
If the game had been canceled rather than postponed, it would have marked the first season in which Tuscola and Pisgah did not play since the schools were formed.
The 2022 game celebrated a century of Haywood County Football (including the Waynesville Township vs. Canton years).
Friday the 13th of October 2023 marked the first rivalry game for Jonathan Crompton as Tuscola’s head coach.
The game was originally scheduled to be played on October 11 but was rescheduled to November 8th, allowing time for the stadium to be repaired.
The Haywood County Championship game draws crowds of between 10,000 and 15,000 fans per year, filling both stadiums to capacity.