Sure, there’s the rivalry part of the equation that adds some weight. Players and fans have friends on both sides, and that just makes a high school football game more meaningful.
But as the Titans and Huskies prepare to meet on Hough’s artificial turf for the first time, there’s added incentive for each team: they both need wins, albeit for different reasons. And whoever wins Friday will have an infusion of momentum going forward to accompany those precious bragging rights they’ll hold for a year.
“It could be a springboard for either team,” says Hopewell coach David Johnson. “For whichever team comes out on top, it really could be the start of something going through this year.”
Hough enters the 7 p.m. contest with a 2-3 overall record, and the Huskies just won their first-ever IMeck Conference game by defeating Vance 21-7 on the road last Friday. So for the Huskies, a win would go a long way on multiple fronts.
A Hough win would be the first over one of its two primary rivals (the other being North Meck, of course), the program and season’s second I-Meck win and would give the Huskies three victories in a season for the first time. It would also keep the Huskies at the top of the I-Meck with a 2-0 record.
For a young program trying to make a name for itself, there’s a lot at stake.
“It is a big-time hometown rivalry now, and our kids are waiting for this one,” says Hough coach Bobby Collins. “It’s at home, it’s Hopewell and it’s after we got our first (I-Meck) win under our belt. So hopefully that will be the second win in the conference for us. Obviously, this is a big one.”
Collins says his players remember last year’s demoralizing 35-0 defeat at Hopewell, but believe they have improved significantly since that time.
“I think that my kids are understanding the game of football a lot better, reading and reacting a lot better,” said Collins. “That’s when you can pin your ears back and have some fun.”
A victory is needed for different reasons at Hopewell. The Titans opened the season with a 41-13 win over Providence, but enter the game having lost three straight games. Hopewell is 1-3 and lost its IMeck opener 16-7 to West Charlotte last Friday. A win would not only give Hopewell a 2-0 edge in meetings with Hough, but would also provide the Titans with a chance to get back on track and pull to 1-1 in the I-Meck and within a win of a .500 overall record.
But Johnson says it won’t be easy. While at Berry Academy last year, he saw Hough in a preseason scrimmage. He says the Huskies are much better in year two.
“I expect it to be extremely competitive and expect it to be a down-to-the-wire game,” he says. “We’ll have to see who makes the plays at the end.”
— Gordon Bengtson contributed to this story.
