The ETHS Wildkits and New Trier Trevians will settle their 113-year-old rivalry inside a brand-new $875 million stadium on Friday, October 16, and players on both sides say the venue will raise the stakes on an already fierce matchup.

The game at Northwestern's rebuilt Ryan Field will be the first high school football game at the 35,000-seat venue, according to The Daily Northwestern. ETHS will serve as the home team and will not pay rent to use the facility, USA Today Sports reported. The stadium opens two weeks earlier when the Wildcats host Penn State on October 2.

"The Evanston-New Trier rivalry is a tale as old as time and is always the game of the year," ETHS rising junior linebacker Liam Race told The Daily Northwestern in a feature published Monday, July 21. "It's usually the most fierce, the most competitive, the most energetic and intense game that we have all season."

The rivalry dates back to 1913. Evanston holds a slim 57-54-6 edge in the all-time series, according to USA Today Sports, with the teams splitting the last four matchups. New Trier won in 2025 and 2022; ETHS took 2024 and 2023.

Players ramping up for October

Rising senior Jacob Maxwell told The Daily Northwestern the setting will amplify the intensity. On the New Trier side, rising junior offensive lineman Tyler Leonard said his team plans to train harder than for any other game because of the college stadium setting.

Rising senior linebacker Avery Whortenberry framed the opportunity in personal terms, telling the paper the game gives players a chance to compete in a college stadium when, for many, high school will be their last time playing organized football.

How the game came together

The matchup was announced at a surprise press conference at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Tuesday, May 26. ETHS players thought they were touring campus. They had no idea.

"I had the experience of playing at Soldier Field and what an experience that was," ETHS head coach Miles Oseo said at the announcement, according to USA Today Sports. "Putting that now at the high school level just brings out some real excitement and community."

Pat Ryan Jr., CEO of Ryan Sports Development and the lead figure behind his family's $480 million donation that launched the project, said at the May 26 event that the stadium was built for more than seven football Saturdays a year. Both Oseo and Ryan said at the press conference they hope the October 16 game marks the start of an annual partnership, with ETHS playing at least one home game at Ryan Field each season.

New Trier quarterback Jackie Ryder, a 2027 Purdue commit, learned about the game a week before the announcement. "Coach Doll kept a really good secret, and when we found out, it was like, 'Whoa. This is amazing,'" Ryder told USA Today Sports at the May 26 event. "It's the third game that will ever be played there."

ETHS sits roughly two miles from Ryan Field. New Trier is just over five miles away. The stadium features a canopy covering most seats and a standing-only student section called the "Wildcat Wall."

An ETHS-New Trier basketball doubleheader at Welsh-Ryan Arena is also scheduled for Friday, February 5, 2027.