Hereford High School is only an hour away from The Baltimore Sun offices on Calvert Street, but much further in terms of atmosphere.

When you drive into the parking lot at Hereford, following the one-way signs, and circle around the building, you see field hockey fields and tennis courts tucked in between rolling hills. You drive down a sloping hill and continue to circle and proceed through what in the city would be called an alley, but in the country might be perceived as a simple winding lane, past the gym. Past a parking lot.

And still, you haven’t seen the football field.

To get to the field, you have to get back on York Road and follow it north another 100 yards and turn right onto a road that winds up another hill to a parking lot. Up there, you’ll see the field, a little above you still. Ringed with lights on a foggy, misty night.

Fans, dressed in their team colors and carrying blankets and a few umbrellas are eager, hurrying up the hill, looking for a bleacher seat before they’re all gone. The Perry Hall cheerleaders are laughing happily as they find their way to the sidelines. Hereford’s marching band is positioned in the stands, ready to play the National Anthem and pep songs.

Friday night, it was standing room only, as about 1,300 fans from Hereford and Perry Hall made it to the game where then-No. 5 Hereford was hosting then-No. 9 Perry Hall in a newly fashioned rivalry.

"I used to coach at Overlea," said Perry Hall coach Keith Robinson. "So I’d been to Hereford before. But the Hereford-Perry Hall game has an intensity the others don’t have."

It’s an old-fashioned football game. With a new, but old-fashioned rivalry. Just four years old, it fell into place when Hereford moved up to compete at the Class 3A level, making them a challenge for 4A Perry Hall. In four games, the Gators of Perry Hall have gone 3-1, but each game has come down to the closing moments. The last three to the series. The last two to the last play. A goal line stand. A field goal. And Friday overtime, when a missed Hereford field goal assured Perry Hall a 17-14 victory.

Throughout the night, as the players slipped and slogged through the wet grass and mud, the fans cheered and booed. At one end of the field, the Hereford mascot -- Harry the Hereford bull -- dug his feet in the ground. At halftime he appeared at midfield on a leash and frolicked in a threatening way, his horns seemingly pointed at the group of Perry Hall fans in the stands.

It’s the country, where a live bull mascot can spend the night acting as a symbol of strength for his team, and at the same time be a representative of the beef industry.

A trip to the concession stand and a question about the burgers and hot dogs, brings this information: "Our burgers are wonderful. They’re made from real Hereford beef, raised right over there," said a volunteer at the stand, pointing generally across the field in Harry’s direction.

The hamburger was good.

The game was even better.

And Harry the bull could take pride in both.

-- Sandra McKee