Rivalry.

It’s the word that gets the heart of any sports fan or athlete pumping with excitement and anticipation. It sparks memories of what has been and the contemplation of what is to come.

The 2004 high school football season opens Friday night with two such games that could live up to such high rivalry standards. One game pits the Southside Panthers versus the Selma Saints at Memorial Stadium. The other game Friday night has the Dallas County Hornets traveling to Maplesville to take on the Red Devils.

With their similar styles of play and their ability to evenly compete against each other,

Selma and Southland have the quintessential rivalry. The two teams have battled heartily the past three years, with Southside winning two of those games. The Panthers scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes to win last year’s game, 14-3.

Two years ago, Selma claimed a 14-12 win, while Southside pulled out a 22-14 victory in 2001. However, both competitions are also based on geography. Southside and Selma are just a few miles apart on Highway 80.

Southside head coach Chris Raymond is looking forward to the next chapter in his team’s rivalry with the Saints.

“I enjoy it. To me it’s what the whole season is all about,” he said. “We can test ourselves against a quality opponent.”

Selma head coach Woodrow Lowe Jr. agrees.

“This game is something you look forward to,” he said. “It gets the blood boiling for our kids. It give you momentum early in the season.”

Lowe’s Saints are coming off a 33-0 win over Keith High School in their preseason jamboree last Friday. Lowe said he and his team will pay close attention to the basics this week, rather than the importance of the game.

“We’re going to concentrate on not making mistakes,” he said. “We’re going to take attention away from the game and put it on our execution.”

Raymond cautions his players that a win Friday night does not make the season.

“If you beat Selma, is it going to be your everything?” Raymond said. “I try to stress to them that it’s just another game and we have the entire season ahead of us. It’s going to be a big game for us, but if we lose it won’t hurt us too much.

“Selma’s not going to underestimate us,” Raymond added. “And we’re not going to underestimate them.”

The other rivalry game pits two schools separated by a 10-mile strip of Alabama Highway 22. The Dallas Count Hornets have dominated the past two games against Maplesville, scoring a combined 101 points in those contests.

As far as Dallas County head coach Rick Bush is concerned, the sign that marks the end of Dallas County and the beginning of Chilton County should be painted red.

“There’s a lot of tradition and a lot of rivalry in this game,” Dallas County head coach Rick Bush said. “When you see the Chilton County sign just up the road, you know (Maplesville) is right there. It’s definitely one of the biggest games on our schedule, if not the biggest.”

Maplesville head coach Brent Hubbard concurred.

“This is a tough way for a first-year coach at Maplesville to start out,” said Hubbard, whose father, Jim, led the Red Devils to a state title in 1996. “(The Hornets) have a Division I player (senior tight end Michael Johnson) and two other players that should be running track in (the Olympics).”

Bush doesn’t quite see it that way, especially since his team played an exhibition jamboree while Maplesville was rained out.

“The advantage has to go to Maplesville,” Bush said. “They know what we’ve got and what we’re going to do. It’s home field advantage for them.

“That makes our job tough around here,” Bush added. “The kids and the community are excited over there. They’re ready for this.”

Neither team would want it any other way – in either rivalry.