Is this the year Virgin Valley High School gets revenge on archrival Moapa Valley High School in the annual “Battle of the Valleys?” The Pirates come into the Dawg Pound with a 3-2 record against the Bulldogs at 4-1. The game begins Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Dawg Pound.

Led by all-purpose running back Jacob Leavitt, the Pirates’ two losses came against 4-A teams. The Pirates blew out Boulder City 37-0 last Friday night in their Sunrise League opener. Leavitt ran for 180 yards on only 11 carries and quarterback Daxton Longman completed 9 passes in 12 attempts for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Leavitt leads the defense with two interceptions this season and Dalyn Leavitt leads in tackles. Pirate coach Brent Lewis seems to reload his team every year. Lewis and his staff have been together for more than 12 years. Lewis hasn’t lost to the Dawgs since the 2007 season when the Dawgs beat Moapa 34-14.

The Bulldogs come into the big game riding a four game winning streak since losing 34-13 to Cedar City Utah in the opener. The Bulldogs are coming off a 24-20 win over Spring Valley and are led by workhorse running back Jaden Perkins who has more than 600 yards in in five games. The Dawgs call a running play more than 75 percent of the time. Spring Valley stacked the line in attempt to stop Perkins giving QB Hogan Fowles the opportunity to open the passing game.

No doubt Pirate coach Lewis will have a defensive scheme of his own to shut down the Bulldog running game. Will Bulldog coach Yori Ludvigson counter with play action passes and sweeps to open the middle? Either way it should be a great game and worth seeing. Friday night lights don’t get any better than this.