TALLAHASSEE (WTXL) - Week three of the high school football season kicked off Friday night for schools in Georgia, while it's week two for Florida schools. For the Tallahassee "Big Five," that is, Godby, Chiles, Lincoln, Leon, and Rickards, there is nothing more coveted than a city championship.
Rickards and Leon begin that quest this week against each other, and both schools are coming off big wins. Leon defeated Suwannee, a team that fell in the Class 5A State Semifinals a year ago.
With the offense not producing in the low scoring win, head coach Tim Cokely praised the defense, who gave up just 47 yards in the second half. Leon beat the Raiders of Rickards last year, and Cokely acknowledges there will be a lot of emotion Friday night, and said he's ready for a good, evenly matched opponent.
"I think more than anything, winning brings winning, and the same with losing," he said of the team's mindset heading in to the big match-up. "Our guys feel really good about themselves, and I think that's going to lead to really good play. All these games, you hear the cliches all the time, all these games come down to the mistakes. Who makes the least mistakes and who can capitalize on them. Especially emotional games, because when emotion wears off, execution takes over and we really need to lean on that execution."
Rickards is also coming off of a big win, as the Raiders defeated Madison County, their first win over the Cowboys since 1995. Quintin Lewis threw out the typical coach speak on Wednesday afternoon, saying that his boys have the 'one game at a time' mentality, and said this week, they're working on preparing for a tough Leon team.
He said having the momentum from Saturday's win over Madison is a perk, and with the goal of winning city bragging rights on the line, he said the Raiders are ready.
"Everybody in the city is our rival," he said. "Our first one is Leon and we're trying to get revenge off of last year's loss to them. They're big and their fast. I think their offensive and defensive line are the best parts of their team. That's how you win football games. We have to somehow put together a good game against those guys and it's going to take everything we have to win."
Rickards vs. Leon kicks off at 7:00 at Gene Cox Stadium on Friday night.
