The Battle of the Oar: one of Ransom Everglades’ longest-standing traditions. Every year, students get excited for what is likely to be the most electrifying game of RE’s football season, in which Ransom Everglades plays Palmer Trinity. Each year, the winner of the game gets to take home a wooden oar imprinted with scores from all past matches between the two schools.  

“The Battle of the Oar is basically the Super Bowl for us. It’s our biggest game of the year not only for the team but for the school and especially for our seniors,” said linebacker and right tackle Michael Kaye ’24. 

This year, students from both schools arrived at Palmer Trinity’s campus in Palmetto Bay to cheer on their team. On September 19, RE retained the oar for the fourth straight year with a 21-16 victory. After a 20-60 disappointing loss to Somerset Academy on September 9, the Raiders hoped to bounce back against Palmer Trinity, and they did just that.  

Junior Ryan Bienstock ’24 and senior quarterback Jackson Pegg ’23 led the offense’s dominant second-half performance to come back and beat the Falcons. The Raiders’ defense made a major contribution to the win by holding the Falcons’ offense to 195 total yards.  

While the Battle of the Oar remains one of the most anticipated games every football season, RE has dominated the Falcons since the rivalry game began in 1989. Of the 30 showdowns between the two schools, the Raiders have only lost 5 games to the Falcons.  

“Since we haven’t lost the oar in many years, it’s no longer a rivalry for [RE], but more like a tradition that we need to uphold,” said team captain Jordan Gonzalez ’24. “The oar also gives the team something to look forward to, something that unites the team, and brings a [common] vision.”  

Looking towards the 2023-2024 season, the Raiders will be losing 7 valuable senior players. Regardless, RE should be able to continue to build on their recent collection of wins against the Falcons, judging by the significant impact this year’s junior class has had on the team.  

With three games left in the regular season, Gonzalez hopes to “not get too confident. We need to stay humble, work as a team, and work hard. It’s not the outcome that we care about the most, but more the process to the outcome.” Kaye also believes that the team will “still keep our underdog mentality and put in the work for the next opponent.” 

Led by coach Jake Caron, the Raiders hope to continue dominating this season after another win against Marathon High School, 48-8. RE kicks off on Friday, September 30th, at Coral Shores.