The Glenbrook Apaches and Claiborne Academy Rebels will meet on the gridiron tonight to settle a rivalry rich in tradition and high on drama.
The two teams have played a number of close ones over the years with this year’s contest being no exception.
While at a Glenbrook practice back in August I could already hear chatter amongst players about this week’s game. You can bet that almost 30 miles down the road in Haynesville the Claiborne team was having the same talk.
The time for talking is over now though, and the play on the field will determine who has the bragging rights for the next year.
This is Glenbrook head coach Chris Norton’s first year in the rivalry but he knows all too well what it means.
“Everybody kind of knows each other,” Norton said. “The players know each other and the two coaching staffs have ties to each other. When you get a game that has that personal touch to it, it means a little more.”
Key to an Apache victory this week will be limiting the turnovers.
“We have to hold onto the football first and foremost,” Norton said. “Claiborne has a scrappy football team. They’ve beaten Prairie View and they gave River Oaks a great game.”
Norton added that his team feels good coming into the game about the way practice has gone.
“We had a really good week of preparation,” Norton said. “We feel like we have a good gameplan in place. If we can hold onto the ball and execute, then we feel like we’ll have a fun ride home Friday.”