Whenever Langford Area and Hitchcock-Tulare meet in a boys' sporting event, emotions run high and the stakes are often higher.
That promises to be the case once again as the two unbeaten Class 9B squads meet in a non-conference football battle at 7 p.m. Friday in Langford during the American News Game of the Week.
"Hitchcock-Tulare and Langford have had some great battles the last five years," said Hitchcock-Tulare coach Kenny Huether. "There's been a lot of them. This is going to be another fun one."
What makes the contests more intriguing is that it always pits Huether against Paul Raasch, the head coach at Langford Area. The two men coached together for 10 years at Alpena and are cut from the same cloth.
"We have similar philosophies. It's kind of like looking in a mirror," Raasch said. "We have the same type of kids. It should be a fun game."
Both squads have shown an ability to run the football so far this season.
Langford Area (2-0) is led on the ground by Drew Planteen, who Huether said is a "threat to go the distance every time he touches it. He's certainly a dangerous weapon."
Huether is also concerned with Bo Fries and Donte Blanchard.
Meanwhile, the Patriots (1-0) have a potent back of their own in Cole Chaplin. Huether would also like to make sure quarterback Chase Bixler is in the mix.
"He's got a great arm," Huether said. "We like to throw the ball just as much as we like to run it."
Langford's starting defensive unit is unscored upon in two games and features speed and experience.
"We're playing faster and we're getting to the ball a lot better," Raasch said.
However, the veteran coach knows a stiff challenge awaits that unit on Friday. Hitchcock-Tulare reeled off 46 unanswered points to erase a deficit in its victory last week.
"I wouldn't be surprised to see a few points put on the board," Raasch said. "Hopefully, we can slow them down a little bit."
Last week, the Lions fumbled the ball six times and while they did not lose all of them, Raasch said his team cannot afford to continue to put the ball on the ground.
"We have to value the ball," he said.
Raasch is also hoping that this will be the week that the two components of his offense come together.
"The first game we threw the ball pretty well and the second game we ran the ball pretty well," Raasch pointed out. "We don't feel like we've combined the two yet."
Huether would prefer not to see it combined against his team this week.
"Our defense has to be a bend-but-not-break defense," Huether said. "They're going to have drives. We just can't let them score on all their drives."
Watch the game online
Who: Hitchcock-Tulare vs. Langford Area
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Langford
At stake: An early-season battle between two unbeaten nine-man squads and a chance to grab some power points in Region 1 of Class 9B. Langford is tied for fourth in the latest 9B poll and Hitchcock-Tulare is receiving votes.
Watch it: The game can be seen Saturday at www.aberdeennews.com/sports with Will Elkins of the American News providing commentary.