Tonight, Napa and Vintage high schools square off in the battle of the year.

More than 7,000 people will pack Napa Memorial Stadium for the annual Big Game, the showdown between Napa’s rival high school football teams. Generations of Napans, for one night, will be young again.

“It brings out the teenager in Napa, the whole Big Game experience,” said Joe Moussa, freshman class president at Vintage High.

Moussa, 14, attended his first Big Game when he was 11 years old. This year, his first as a Crusher, is bound to be something special, he said.

“This year, I can actually dress up as a Crusher and show my spirit,” Moussa said. “It’s just such a big deal.”

Lena Bandoni, a freshman at Napa High, will attend her first Big Game tonight. From what she’s heard, it will be like nothing she’s seen before. Big Game, Bandoni said, is the ultimate high school experience.

She can picture it already: “It’s going to be really loud. The band’s going to be awesome, as usual. The game is more exciting than ever, and the half-time show’s going to be big.”

“There’s nothing like Big Game,” Bandoni said.

While a class of freshmen readies itself for the quintessential high school experience, a class of seniors is preparing to say good-bye to what will soon be four years of memories.

“I’m kind of sad, because it’s like coming to an end, and next time I’ll just be watching it,” said Vintage senior Shelby Holliday, a spirit leader who will perform in her last Big Game tonight.

“I am going to cheer my heart out,” she promised.

Marco Delaroche, a senior in the band at Napa High, will enter Memorial Stadium with mixed emotions.

“I’m excited, because senior year is the most important one,” he said, but the night will be bittersweet for Delaroche.

“I’ll never be able to do it again,” he said.

Delaroche advised his younger schoolmate Bandoni to savor the experience tonight.

“You want to be sure you’re able to look at it and remember it fondly, because it has the potential to be a really good memory,” he told her.

That’s why so many generations of Napans still turn out every year for the annual Big Game, said Vintage Assistant Principal Jennifer Kohl.

“There’s something nostalgic about it,” she said. “For the community, it’s nostalgia. It’s that old feeling of pride.”

“It’s like the whole community comes back to their high school days,” said Holliday, “and (remembers) what it’s like to have that first or last Big Game.”