CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) — The last time the Rossview Hawks (1-3, 0-1) met the West Creek Coyotes (1-3, 0-1) on the gridiron was 2016 with the Hawks winning that meeting, 41-26. West Creek has not beaten Rossview since the 2010 season when the Coyotes won 21-14.

After the four-year hiatus between the teams, the 2021 edition offers more dramatics with it being a Region 5-6A contest. Rossview and West Creek will enter the game with only losses in the region. Rossview lost to Clarksville High School while West Creek lost to Gallatin, 54-12, back in week 3, but both teams are aware of the importance of this game.

“I tell our players, ‘It’s the next game,’” said West Creek Head Coach James Figueroa. “And this is a big one, a region game for us. I know they’ve got some players over there. I know Seneca Bradley is a good tight end, outside linebacker for them.”

“They’ve got some really big offensive guys up front,” said Rossview Head Coach Todd Hood. “Their quarterback throws the ball and runs very well, receivers are vey athletic. Their defensive side of the ball they’ve got four good front guys, they’ve got two really good sized defensive ends that play well, their secondary matches up routes really well.”

The road so far

Leading into the game on Friday, the Hawks have the momentum. After weeks of struggling to score and a heart-breaking loss to their rivals, Rossview finally picked up a win against Northeast last week, 27-22. Rossview shined in the first half, scoring all 27 of their points before fending off a second half surge by the Eagles.

“We are getting a little bit better each and every week, and we sort of found a little bit of a groove and found some personnel packages that we like. We seem to be excelling in those, so it’s been good for our kids,” said Hood.

As for West Creek, the Coyotes have one win on the season against Northwest back in week two, but have lost their last two, including their most recent contest against Kenwood. West Creek only lost to the Knights 25-14 after trailing 13-0 following the first quarter.

“We couldn’t run the ball against (Kenwood). They had a game plan going in that they were going to stop our run, so we threw the ball a little better,” said Figueroa.

Young quarterbacks

One similarity that the teams will have is playing young quarterbacks on Friday night. Rossview put Hezekiah Scott to the test against the Eagles, and the sophomore passed. Scott would throw for two touchdowns and also score twice on the ground.

“Heze has a little bit more of a shiftiness to him,” said Hood, “and I thought that would help us in the game plan to get an extra runner in the box.”

Scott has been one of three quarterbacks that the Hawks have used on the season, but Coach Hood was ready to go with Scott because of early play this season.

“I think early play has really helped him out. Garrett (Diemel) was down for about two weeks right before the season started, so Heze got two weeks of snaps, just very beneficial to him,” said Hood about Scott.

The Coyotes will also bring out a young arm in junior Kayden Pace. Pace has had bright moments for the Coyotes offense, including two touchdown passes against the Knights last Friday.

A familiar place

For several weeks, the Game of the Weeks have been rivalries, but this week is a little different. The Hawks and Coyotes see each other at 7-on-7 camps, and their athletes may bump into each other around town, but there have not been enough meetings to form a true in-town rivalry. This will even be the first time that Rossview Head Coach Todd Hood will coach against West Creek.

However, on the Coyotes sideline, Coach Figueroa knows the opposing school very well. For several seasons, Coach Figueroa wore red and gold and served as a coordinator for the Hawks. Now, he will make his return as the coach of the Coyotes, and he knows exactly the atmosphere that he will be walking into and what to tell his team to prepare.

“You never guarantee a game, you play each game like it’s your last, especially with COVID right now. We had 30 teams a couple weeks ago that couldn’t play, so I tell our players, ‘Play every game like it’s your last game,’ and that’s what they do. Rossview has a great crowd and atmosphere, we’ve got to keep that out of our minds,” said Figueroa.

What’s at stake

A win for Rossview would improve the Hawks to 2-3 on the season and 1-1 in the region. It would also be the second consecutive victory for Rossview on the 2021 season. For the Coyotes, beating Rossview would improve West Creek’s overall record to 2-3 and 1-1 in the region. It would also give the Coyotes their first win over the Hawks in almost 11 years, and snap a two-game losing streak.

The game

The Hawks and Coyotes will face off at Rossview High School tonight. This will be the second home game of the season for the Hawks and their first one in three weeks. Kickoff for the game is at 7 p.m.

Be sure to catch the game live on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM/540 AM and listen to the full interviews with the coaches starting at 6 p.m. tonight on Sports Night Clarksville, also on ESPN Clarksville.