SportsZone Football Friday game of the week preview: Jefferson City vs. Hickman

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

The rivalry a century in the making is making its annual return to Mid-Missouri, as the Hickman Kewpies host the Jefferson City Jays on Friday night.

You can watch the game live on KZOU over the air channel 17.3. Here is a look at other local listings:

• DirecTV - channel 18
• Dish Network - channel 32
• Mediacom - channel 12, 709
• Centurylink - channel 12
• Spectrum - channel 183

Watch a replay of the game in the player below.

Both the Jays and the Kewpies come into this one with momentum, two-consecutive wins.

Jefferson City's Scott Bailey found his first win as head coach on September 18 over Smith-Cotton and found another over Capital City the following week.

In those two victories, Bailey's defense allowed just 16 points collectively.

"Week one to week five, we're just getting more guys to the ball and that just comes with the level effort that's being played," Bailey said. "Our defensive coaches are doing a really great job of creating schemes that our kids understand, so that there isn't any confusion and they can really play fast."

Funny enough, Hickman actually got its first wins of the season over the same teams, Smith-Cotton and Capital City, just on opposite weeks.

Kewpies head coach Cedric Alvis said the wins definitely boosted morale on his squad.

"They're confident, considering everything, from how we started and how we've been able to play recently," he said. "Just understanding that if we can play together, if we can play as a team and play assignment-sound, then we have an opportunity to win a football game."

On Friday both teams will look to extend that win-streak to three games and take one of the most historic rivalry games in Mid-Missouri.

Rivalry week is different for both coaches.

On one hand, Friday night will be Bailey's first game against Hickman as Jays head coach.

Although he has experience with rivalries in the past, he said they don't play as much into the game as fans think.

"The best football teams that I've ever been apart of, they were the ones that from week-to-week, you could't really tell if they'd won or loss the week before. Their practices are pretty similar, the prep leading up to the game, and even the game day," he said.

On the other hand, Alvis has a lot of experience in this rivalry, beyond just being a coach. The Columbia-native went to Hickman and played in this very game.

"It's being able to relive those emotions that I had in high school and also being able to see those things in my kids," he said.

Alvis said Friday's game brings up a lot of memories and traditions, but one specifically.

"I had a pair of red undershorts, right, my girdle was red and Coach Monroe saw my red girdle underneath my pads and made me run because I had red on. It's something I didn't even think about," he said. "But, I get it. It's Jay week. I tell my kids that same story, so it's that understanding that when you're going against this opponent, how much it means. It's bigger than you or I."