Last year, East Webster entered the annual Maroon Bowl as a decided underdog to rival Eupora.
But on a rain-soaked field, anything can happen in a rivalry game and the Wolverines took a hard-fought 7-6 over the Eagles to give head coach Ron Price his first win in the series.
This year, it appears as if the roles have been somewhat reversed.
Eupora enters the game with a 3-6 record and appears to be the underdog to the Wolverines who are 7-1 on the season.
But East Webster coach Ron Price said none of that matters when the Eagles and Wolverines line up.
“First of all, it’s East Webster and Eupora and it’s a rivalry game, you can throw everything out the window,” Price said. “Basically, both teams are playing to be the No. 2 seed in the division. It doesn’t matter what our record is or what their record is, it will be a 48-minute battle.”
Eupora enters the contest with a 2-1 record in Division 2-2A play, despite losing five out of the six non-division contests they played.
“We are playing for the No. 2 or No. 3 seed,” Eupora coach Stephen Edwards said. “We are blessed and fortunate to be able to play for something like this. If we win, we have a home playoff game and that’s a big deal. East Webster has good players and are well-coached and we will have to match their intensity. That’s something we didn’t do last year. We have to match their intensity.”
With a bye week last week, Price and his staff will have two full weeks to prepare for the Eagles. Price has been preaching to his team to not overlook the Eagles and remember where they were at last year.
“We have tried to stress to our team to not take them lightly,” Price said. “Last year, we were the team that was struggling and the home team. We were able to make some plays and got all the breaks and bounces and were able to get the win. Anything that needed to go our way last year did. It was the best week of practice we had last year and I hope it will be that way this year.”
Edwards said said the game takes on a bigger meaning for the players and the communities.
“We have bigger goals than just beating East Webster,” Edwards said. “Last year, we were the better team. This year, the roles might be reversed. Last year, they got the calls and the bounces. Our main thing is we have to match their intensity. We have to play with passion from the first through the fourth quarters and see what happens. Everybody has them picked to win this game so all the pressure is on them and that’s the way I like it. I feel like we are playing with house money at this point.”
Price had a lot of praise for the Eagles.
“They have found a way to win two division games and get in the playoffs,” Price said. “They have not quit and have found a way to win. I give their players and coaches a lot of credit for that. It says a lot about them that they have kept on fighting and haven’t thrown in the towel.”
