Correspondent photo / David Dermer Liberty’s Chris Cunningham celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of their game last Friday night at Liberty High School.

LIBERTY — When the Liberty Leopards and Girard Indians first met in the Battle of Belmont Ave., the Beatles were only several months removed from their breakup, a new Pontiac GTO would have ran you $3,446, and an aroma of chlorine from the fountains at the newly christened Eastwood Mall filled the air.

A lot has changed since Girard’s 20-6 win over Liberty in 1970. Pop-rock isn’t in vogue, Pontiac is no more, and the umbrella ceilings at Eastwood are long gone.

Liberty’s old gym still stands, along with the woodshop on Churchill Ave, but the rest of the building met the wrecking ball. Girard’s old school, tucked on the corner of Ward and E. Liberty Street fell nearly a decade ago.

Nothing ever remains the same though, except for the Liberty-Girard rivalry, a mainstay within the Mahoning Valley for nearly 50 years until disputes over open enrollment canned the matchup two years ago — until now.

This year’s seniors were freshmen the last time The Battle of Belmont Ave was fought.

“We always try to teach the history of our program, and we let our kids know about what’s come before them, and the marks and the tradition they’re leaving for the future,” Girard coach Pat Pearson said. “We’ve done a good job this week of trying to educate our kids on this game, and what this game means not only what it means to this team, but also to a lot of former Indians.

“The kids understand that, and they know that when they put the red and black on their chest, they represent something special, and they’re committed to going out there and doing it the right way, and making this program’s alumni proud.”

Of course, life always has it’s way of coming full circle. Vinyl records and flared pants are something you’ll see at malls again, but this specific game comes even more full circle for the two head coaches – a pair of coaches that played versus one another.

In his first-year at the helm, Liberty coach Joe Simon understands the meaning behind the game as a ’00 graduate of LHS, same for eighth-year head coach Pat Pearson, a member of Girard’s class of ’99.

Traditionally, the matchup was always held as the first game due to the two schools playing in different conferences before switching to an end of season matchup. Now, the game finds itself in an odd position during week two.

“It doesn’t take away from it, maybe it took away from that victory last week, because I didn’t have much time to celebrate,” Simon said. “I had to turn to Girard right away, there’s too much at stake in this game, and there’s too much that goes into it on a lot of different levels.

“As soon as Saturday morning hit, I was ready, shoot it might have been Friday night, I was already thinking about Girard and what was to come.”

Pearson recalls many great wars versus the Leopards, including his freshman year when he had the opportunity to dress on varsity for the big game, losing in overtime to the Leopards 35-28 back in 1995, but coming back with a huge blowout win during his senior campaign.

Simon recalled a 27-6 loss as a senior in 1999, the only game contest he didn’t start that year.

“(Girard) scored two touchdowns on my replacement, and that still bothers me,” Simon said with a laugh about the first half. “My position coach back then is on my current coaching staff. He’s a really good coach, I still think he’s a good coach. I think he was stupid for benching me for that half, but other than that he’s a great coach.

“So I came out, and I played pretty well in that second half, we kept it tight for most of the game, but that was kind of a memory that I still think about.”

The Leopards come into this evening with a 30-12 home win over Western Reserve, with Girard finding themselves on the wrong end of a 70-35 loss on the road versus a juggernaut Streetsboro team.

Tonight’s edition of Girard-Liberty will be played at Leopards Stadium, but if you take a gander toward the south end of Arrowhead Stadium in Girard, you’ll see a liberty bell and a Native American totem pole, a pair historic symbols for two communities that share a geographic border.

“I think you have two communities and two programs that love their teams, and they love their football. Both are really proud of their traditions and really proud of their kids,” Pearson said. “When you get two communities together that feel that strongly, it’s always an unbelievable atmosphere, it’s electric.

“That’s what this game always is, it’s always an unbelievable game no matter what the records are, who’s up or who’s down. When these two teams come together, it’s going to be a battle.”

sports@vindy.com