Hickman renewing rivalry with Jefferson City on SportsZone Football Friday

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The second-oldest high school football rivalry located west of the Mississippi River will soon be renewed.

Hickman (4-1) and Jefferson City (2-3) will write the 122nd chapter of their storied rivalry in Week 6 of the high school football season.

Ahead of Friday's game, the Kewpies clinched their best five-game start to a season since 2012 with their 19-point win over Smith-Cotton last week, rising to the top three of the Central Missouri Activities Conference (CMAC) standings. Hickman has already won four of its first five games to match its highest regular season win total in more than a decade, which has been fueled by strong second halves and defensive play.

"I think number one is our understanding of how we can play ball in the second half. When you go back to the Capital City game, where it all started, we're down 10 points in that game going into the fourth quarter, and we were able to respond and play from behind. I think that built a lot of confidence in our program," head coach Justin Conyers said. "A lot of it's due to the way our defense is playing right now, too. They've been putting our offense in a lot of great situations throughout the course of the game and making sure that they're manufacturing turnovers for us, which has been big this season."

The Jays are aiming to get their season back on track after suffering losses in their last three games. Jefferson City has lost its last two games by a combined nine points, dropping CMAC showdowns with Smith-Cotton and Capital City by three and six points respectively. However, the resilience that the team showed in those games is giving them confidence that they can make a run in their district tournament.

"I think the biggest thing that you can say about our team, especially last Friday night, there just wasn't any panic on the sideline. We knew that we had given up some big plays. We knew that we had opportunities on offense, and we stayed in that fight and we stayed positive. I think that's a credit to our kids for really buying into that," head coach Eric Thomas said. "We're about four plays away from being 4-1 right now, between that Sedalia game and last week here at home against Capital City. We're halfway through the season now and really you're down to these last four games building into districts. How do we become the best team we can be by Week 10?"

Hickman and Jefferson City's historic rivalry dates back to 1911, and the two schools have faced each other every season since 1919. Most recently, the Jays enjoyed a 12-game winning streak over the Kewpies (2013-23), but Coach Conyers guided Hickman to a win in this annual showdown in his first season at the helm of the program, snapping their lengthy losing skid. The roots of this rivalry started more than a century ago, but the significance of this game to both teams has stayed steady through time.

"I think it starts with, you know, all the way back when there's only one Jefferson City school and there's only one Columbia school. Obviously, that's going to create that natural rivalry being 30 minutes apart," Thomas said. "We've got a mannequin in our locker room with a jersey on it, and last week was No. 71. We did that to honor the 71-game win streak that happened in the '60s. Who ended that 71-game win streak? Columbia Hickman. That's part of where some of this rivalry continues and begins with Coach Adkins, and I believe it was Coach Travis back in the day. It's a big-time rivalry, and we're going to get after it on Friday night."

"I think we get so wrapped up in the Battle and the Rock Bridge rivalries but don't forget about this one," Conyers said. "I had the opportunity in high school to play these guys three times, and we were 0-3. The closest we played them was a 14-7 game on our homecoming one year, and I still remember the score and how the game went because that's how much this game meant to me. So, I want to bring that fire back to our program, what this game really means."

While both teams are currently trending in opposite directions, records become an afterthought in rivalries like this. Hickman and Jefferson City are two programs that pride themselves on their physicality and that will be put on full display on Friday night.

"I think our physicality has completely changed. I think whenever you step in between those white lines and you see us on either side of the football, our guys want to get there on both sides. Not just blocking and tackling, but our guys are flying around, 11 hats to the ball, defensively every single Friday night," Conyers said.

"We've grown in our physical toughness. I think it has grown more than I thought it was going to throughout the summer, if I'm being honest," Thomas said. "When we've been at our best in football games, we've been physical. When we're not so good, we haven't had that physicality, so we've got to continue to build on that."

From both a rivalry and regular season perspective, Friday's CMAC showdown is viewed as critical for both schools. Hickman has its sights set on reaching the five-win mark in a single season for the first time in 13 years, and Jefferson City is striving to start building itself into postseason form.

"The middle-third hasn't been as kind to us as the as the first-third was, honestly, but stay the course, right? We've played a couple tight games here. We're definitely competitive in everything that we're doing right now, but there is that time that you start thinking about the end game, you might say, and really the push is on right now," Thomas said. "The next chance you have to compete for a trophy is that district title. So, how good can we get in the next, four to five weeks here, before we play in that week 10 game? What kind of position can we put ourselves? That's why these games are really crucial right now."

"We have a chance to go 3-0 in the middle part of our season right now. I think that's pivotal for this program to be able to get out of this game 1-0 for the week, 3-0 in the middle part of your season, 5-1 overall. I think it's going to speak volumes of where we're trying to bring this program to right now." Conyers said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Adkins Stadium.