After a six-year hiatus, one of Dallas County’s longest running rivalries is set to make its return on the gridiron in the 2012 season.

The Meadowview Christian School Trojans and the Morgan Academy Senators will meet on the gridiron for the first time since 2005, marking the 40th meeting between the two local Alabama Independent School Association programs.

Meadowview Christian head football coach Lebo Jones, who played football at Morgan Academy from 1987 to 1990, was instrumental in wanting to get the rivalry started again after he took over as Trojans’ head coach last season, and said the return of the game is great for the city.

“We’re excited about playing them again,” Jones said. “I think it’ll be good for the town of Selma to get that rivalry back. It was a huge rivalry in the 80s and 90s, and I just think it’d be good for both schools involved to get it going again.”

Jones and Morgan Academy head football coach Bob Taylor both said the idea to bring back the rivalry started with conversations between Jones and former Morgan football coach Brian King during last year, and the process of getting the game on the schedule simply involved the two schools agreeing to play and then approaching AISA athletic director Roddie Beck about scheduling it.

Taylor said the game is scheduled for week two of the season at Morgan, which would fall on Friday, August 31, but he added that both teams are considering moving it to Thursday.

“We’re kind of excited about it. We’re toying with actually trying to move it to Thursday where we might even have a bigger crowd, we think,” Taylor said. “We’ve talked about it, we’re just not sure yet. We’ll have to kind of talk over the summer about that.”

Taylor agreed with Jones that a return to the field for a game between both teams will be good for the city.

“I think it’s going to be a great thing for the city, I think it’ll be a great thing for the Morgan and Meadowview families to have that rivalry renewed, that friendly rivalry I guess,” Taylor said. “And I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to be good for the whole town.”

Jones said the rivalry’s return will also be great financially for both schools.

“Economically, I think it’d be great for both schools to have a big crowd that night,” Jones said. “We’re so close together I think we should be playing.”

Taylor agreed travel was something that was considered when the idea of renewing the series was brought up.

“They’re close. Gas is $4 a gallon,” Taylor laughed. “Gas prices are going up and they’re less than a mile from us, and I think it’ll just be good for everybody. Everybody doesn’t have to travel for one night for a change, and that’s going to be big I think.”

While Morgan and Meadowview games of old had festivities such as parades leading up to game day, Taylor reiterated that nothing has officially been planned other than the playing of the game.

Bruce Fuller, owner of Fuller Building and a former Meadowview player from 1977 to 80 said he’s glad to see the game return.

“The rivalry is good. I think it’ll be an asset to Selma again. It used to be standing-room only back in the 70s and 80s when we were playing. The fences were covered and you had to get there an hour and a half, two hours before game time sometimes to get a seat,” Fuller said. “Sometimes it was a lopsided rivalry, but most years it was very close and a very heated rivalry.”