The history of Anchorage's oldest football rivalry has a murky beginning, because for four years the city's only high school was home to two teams.
Anchorage High School fielded the city's first high school football team — the Eagles — in 1951. In 1957, the team was split into two squads — "Orange" and "Black" — with Gambell Street providing a geographical dividing line for players.
Things stayed that way until 1961, when East High opened and Anchorage High School became West High.
And that's when the East-West rivalry truly began, according to Don Winchester, an Anchorage high school sports historian.
"By my mind — and we are writing history here and are certainly open to argument — 1961 was the first conference game," Winchester said this week in advance of Friday night's state championship game between the city's two oldest high schools.
The first official meeting between East and West happened on Sept. 23, 1961, during a week when Yankees slugger Roger Maris was hogging headlines in his pursuit of Babe Ruth's single-season home run record of 60.
The Saturday afternoon game was deemed homecoming for both East and West, according to the Anchorage Daily Times. Students from both schools attended a Friday night dance, at which a pair of homecoming queens were crowned.
The dance wasn't the only thing the schools shared. The East High building wasn't ready at the start of the school year, so everyone attended West High for the first several weeks. Kids who lived west of Gambell attended classes in the morning; kids who lived east of Gambell attended classes in the afternoon.
The Sept. 23 game was the last meeting between the teams "before East moves out of West High for its new quarters across town," the Daily Times reported.
On game day, the Eagles reigned:
"Fast Backfield, Strong Defense Give West 14-2 Win Over East," said the Daily Times headline.
"It's beginning to look like West Anchorage High School's Eagles are destined to become the New York Yankees of local football," the story began. "Coach Truby Shaw's youngsters continue to win the big ones, just like the Yankees do on the baseball field."
East, coached by William Neher, took the kickoff and turned the ball over on downs. West responded with a 4-yard touchdown run by Bob Thornton, followed by a one-point PAT run by "fleet-footed fullback" Steve Kaatz.
West scored again after an interception by Kaatz. Quarterback Lance Anderson capped a long drive with a two-yard sneak, followed by a PAT run by Thornton.
East got on the scoreboard by tackling the West punter for a safety.
The win helped propel West to an undefeated season. The Eagles capped a 6-0 campaign with a 7-6 win over East in the season finale; the T-birds finished with a 4-2 record. Both high schools went 4-0 against teams from Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Air Force Base.
The 1961 season kicked off a long rivalry between East and West. The teams have met 72 times, by Winchester's accounting, with East owning a 40-32 advantage.
Friday's 7 p.m. championship game will mark the second time the teams have played for the state championship. In 2016, East beat West 13-7 for the state title.
This story has been edited to reflect East's win over West in the 2016 state championship game.