The Daily Sentinel

Woodville coach James Pair had a several people ask him about the Week 6 Skyline game earlier in the season.

"We're not playing Skyline this week," he'd say.

Pair acknowledges the difficulty for the community to escape the lure of the rivalry, even when it's still weeks away.

"For us, this is a rivalry that's like an Alabama-Auburn or a Michigan-Ohio State," he said. "This week, we can talk about Skyline now."

The Woodville Panthers and Skyline Vikings face off tonight at 7 p.m. at Section High School. It's the fourth meeting between these archrivals, who both beganplaying varsity football in 2006. Woodville leads the series 2-1.

"It's us and Woodville," said Skyline coach Ray Swinford. "It's going to be a hard fought game. Both sides get fired up for this one."

Said Pair, “If you need to be pepped up for this one, you don’t have a heartbeat.”

The teams enter the Class 1A Region 6 game at 0-3 in region play and 0-5 overall. Skyline lost 39-14 last week at Jacksonville Christian Academy, while Woodville fell 48-8 at Westminster Christian.

Sickness and injuries have forced the Panthers into varying starting lineups this season.

"We've still got three or four sick, but we're getting healthy," said Pair, whose team's Week 4 game with Collinsville was delayed three days due to sickness within the program. "Injury-wise we're pretty good right now.

Woodville quarterback Grant Ball, Jackson County's leading rusher with 491 yards, returned from injury in Week 4 and has run for 358 yards the past two games.

"He's a leader," Pair said. "He's just a freshman, but the other kids really look to him. It was a shot of adrenaline when he came back.

“He has a good understanding of the offense and he can fix things on the field."

Skyline counters with a rushing attack led by Jackson County's second leading rusher, Josh Beam, who has totaled 488 yards this season.

"They've got some size, some really big backs in the backfield," Pair said. "Size is something we don't have. Tackling (well) will be very important."

Swinford said he was pleased with Skyline's overall performance last week against JCA.

"Hopefully we'll improve on what we did last week and play even better football (tonight)," he said.

"We've got to be ready to play. Woodville plays hard and they've got some good athletes. We've got to play hard to have a chance to win."

As if the rivalry wasn't enough for motivation, Swinford has frequently recalled the outcome of last year's matchup. Woodville scored a school-record in points in a 30-8 rout of the Vikings.

"(Woodville) took it to us last year," Swinford said. "We've mentioned that several times."

The series has been a one-sided for the "home team."

Neither school has an on-campus stadium, but the team that has been the "home team" has won the previous three meetings.

Woodville won when it hosted the 2006 game at Section and the 2008 contest at Madison County Junior High in Gurley. Skyline won when it hosted the game at Pisgah in 2007. The Vikings are the "home team" this season.

While the rivalry aspect is important, Pair wants his young Panthers to continue to show improvement in the tonight's contest.

"It's a slow process with young kids," he said. "But we're halfway through the season, so they're not rookies anymore."

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