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From the Sidelines: Friday's game could be 3A's best

Sports reporter

If my mother put on a helmet and shoulder pads and a uniform that wasn't the same as the one I was wearing, I'd run over her if she was in my way. And I love my mother. — Former NFL and MLB star Bo Jackson

I'm not advocating violence toward anyone's mother. But Jackson is right, football players do anything they can to win.

That's exactly what the players will be doing in Friday night's Marion-Hoisington match-up, more so than any game so far this season.

This time last year Josh Kelsey, Josh Smith, and the rest of the Marion Warriors football team were mopping the floor with a young Hoisington Cardinal team that finished 4-5. Kelsey hooked up with Smith three times in the end zone, en route to a 25-7 road blowout.

What a difference a new season makes.

Friday the #8 Warriors and #7 Cardinals will play each other with identical 5-0 records, and a league title possibly on the line.

"We're a year older," Cardinal head coach Lonnie Irvin said. "We also had a great year in the weight room."

The two newest teams in the talented Mid-Central Activities Association are the league marquee match-up of the week, if not the year.

The Cardinals have recorded impressive victories against Minneapolis and Claflin, while the Warriors are coming off arguably their best game in two years with a 48-21 victory at Ellinwood.

This game also is the last before district play for both teams. Neither coach wants to see his team back-pedal into the playoffs.

"We just want to do something a little bit better each week," Irvin said. "But after Friday it's a brand new season for everyone in the state of Kansas."

The Cardinals take on Marion one week after a 14-13 victory against Halstead, a team Marion knocked of 34-13 on the road. But as any sports fans know, each week is a new ball game. It doesn't matter who did what when two teams played before. They know the only thing that matters is what happens when the two teams step on the same field. Thierolf, like Irvin, knows this test won't be easy.

"They're well coached, they run multiple defenses, they excel at everything," he said. "They've got a good core group of kids that enjoy playing with each other."

While both coaches are quick to compliment each other, don't confuse Friday night with Valentine's Day once the two teams hit the field. This match-up will be physical, and could feature a balanced attack of long runs and passes.

It will be an entertaining game, and no one's mother will be hurt.

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