Hickman vs. Battle: SportsZone Football Friday game of the week
Watch a livestream of the game in the web player above.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
For the first time in their head coaching careers, Battle's Matt Herman will host Hickman's Cedric Alvis in a cross-town rivalry game on Friday night at 7 p.m.
The Spartans and the Kewpies are our KZOU game of the week. You can watch the game live on KZOU over the air channel 17.3 at 7 p.m. 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
It will be far from the first time Herman and Alvis, old friends, have taken the field at Battle High School together. The pair worked for former head coach, current Hallsville football coach, Justin Conyers at the same time. In fact, they were both on staff when Battle won its first-ever state championship in 2014.
However, now the two will take the field and go to opposite sidelines, for the first time as head coaches. In a game like this, Herman said the Spartans always know they are going to get Hickman's best shot.
"Coach Alvis does a phenomenal job with their program," he said. "Him and I are great friends, call each other brothers, so really it's going to be a joy to face each other on Friday night."
You can watch the full interview with Herman, ahead of Friday's game, in the video player below.
After coaching in Hawaii for a couple of years, Herman returned to Battle High School, the program that gave him his first coaching opportunity, less than a month before the 2023 season. The Spartans are still looking to get the first win of the new era, but Herman said he already knows he made the right decision to come back to Columbia.
"Get chills talking about it and thinking about it, honestly. Getting back on that field Friday night, I turned to one guy on our coaching staff, one of my best friends, and I was like 'this is where I'm meant to be, this is home.' It's pretty phenomenal for myself, but now it's making sure we get a win," Herman said.
Alvis said he has been impressed with the tradition that Herman is bringing back to Spartan football. He added that he's done a great job of getting his guys positioned for the goals they want to hit.
Both teams will look for their first win of the season in this rivalry action. Each head coach said that just adds to the emotions of it all even more. But a win would mean even more for the Kewpies, as the program has never beaten a Battle football team since the school opened in 2013.
"We've never beaten the guys, so for Hickman to get a win on Friday would be huge," Alvis said. "Again, a win is a win, but just being able to finally beat the team out East would be huge for us. Community wise, I'm sure it would be a huge thing. School wise, I think it would be a huge momentum thing, so, again, anytime you can get a win is awesome, but to do it against a team that you haven't beat will make it even better."
You can watch the full interview with Alvis, ahead of Friday's game, in the video player below.
Battle and Hickman will kickoff at 7 p.m. on Friday at Battle High School. Don't miss the highlights on SportsZone Football Friday at 10:15 p.m. on ABC 17.
